At least some San Francisco 49ers fans could likely take solace in the fact they started Larry Fitzgerald and/or Carson Palmer on their fantasy football teams this week.
Palmer and Fitzgerald were among the top performers in the Arizona Cardinals‘ 47-7 victory Sunday over the Niners. John Brown also had a respectable day, taking advantage of an almost nonexistent San Francisco defense.
You can view their final numbers below:
On one hand, you have to love Arizona coach Bruce Arians‘ desire to drop as many points on the 49ers as possible, per Adam Green of Arizona Sports 98.7:
Then again, this is Carson Palmer we’re talking about—somebody with his fair share of injury issues, something to which Nerdy Football’s Matt Camp alluded:
For now, Palmer is worthy of QB1 status unless you have one of the more elite signal-callers on your roster, and he should be a more cost-effective option in daily fantasy leagues when the matchup favors Arizona.
You should make sure to have a solid backup plan, however, given Palmer’s injury history and inconsistent play in recent years. He missed 10 games last year and averaged 249.8 yards, 1.5 touchdowns and 1.1 interceptions a game between 2009 and 2014.
Part of Fitzgerald’s value is inextricably linked to Palmer, which is somewhat concerning. He also failed to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in any of the previous three seasons.
Betting on Fitzgerald to consistently post WR1 numbers is a bit risky, but his floor should be that of a WR2 or flex option at the worst.
Meanwhile, WR2 is likely Brown’s ceiling barring an injury to Fitzgerald. You question whether he’ll get enough touches to break through into WR1 territory since he has been and continues to be the secondary option in Arizona’s passing game.
And if you have Fitzgerald and/or Brown on your squad, always keep in mind they’re an injury away from Drew Stanton or Matt Barkley being their starting quarterback.
Read more Fantasy Football news on NerdyFootball.com
Football
NFL
NFC West
Arizona Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald
Carson Palmer
