Cardinals @ Falcons Week 17 Game Preview
Neither the Cardinals nor the Falcons have any playoff implications, as both are out of the picture, but there may be some sneaky fantasy goodness here.
Cardinals at Falcons
Well, this is weird. This game seems to be the only contest in Week 17 without any playoff implications, as both teams are out of the playoff picture. My natural inclination was to overlook the matchup. Neither team has much motivation and one coach is already on the defensive. However, after digging into the fantasy plays, there’s some sneaky goodness here.
Arizona will have Colt McCoy back after clearing concussion protocol. Nobody should be looking to McCoy as a streaming QB option, but his 28.8 yards per drive (compared to 20.9 for Trace McSorley) puts the Cardinals’ offensive weapons back on the table for the fantasy championship.
The bad news is DeAndre Hopkins totaled four yards last week, but the good news is he earned ten targets. Across McCoy’s three full games, Hopkins dwarfed the rest of the receiving corps with a 29.9% target share. There’s no question Hopkins should be in your starting lineup, but ancillary options are a question mark.
Rondale Moore went on IR ahead of Week 15, but we didn’t see Greg Dortch take on a larger role until Sunday night. Dortch (80.0%) and Marquise Brown (50.0%) are the only receivers with more than half of their targets coming from the slot. With Atlanta struggling against interior receivers (Rashid Shaheed went 3-95-1 and Terry McLaurin went 5-48-0), both fall into WR3/flex territory given their uncertain workload. But we can’t say the same for James Conner.
Outside of a first and ten carry by Keontay Ingram, Conner secured every backfield touch on Sunday. He had 100.0% of the short yardage and two-minute work to go with a healthy 0.24 TPRR. The Falcons are dead-last in rushing success rate, which gives Conner the runway to close out the fantasy season as an RB1.
For Atlanta, I’m optimistic about their offense with Desmond Ridder at the helm. The passing volume is lacking (-16% PROE), but Atlanta’s averaged 35 and 34.3 yards per drive in their last two games. Ridder has been mildly efficient as a passer (18th in EPA per play), but we only care about one of his receiving options.
Drake London has amassed 20 targets in the last two weeks. You’d have to add up the target shares of the next three options to get past London’s 22.9% cut. But it’s not just the fact that he’s getting volume, as London is battling with Olamide Zaccheaus and Damiere Byrd for looks. It’s what he’s doing with the ball in his hands.
It’s a two-game sample, but Drake’s 2.72 YPRR with Ridder under center ranks tenth among all WRs (min 10 targets). And he’s only shifted to slot on a quarter of his looks. With the Cardinals ceding 136 YPG to receivers over their last three games, London has flex appeal in PPR leagues.