The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Seattle Seahawks players heading into their matchup with the Arizona Cardinals to help you craft a winning lineup.
Sam Darnold, QB
Sam Darnold orchestrated his first top-20 finish of the season last week (QB9 against the lowly Saints). While I’m not exactly buying the numbers produced against arguably the worst team in the league as sticky, we could see back-to-back productive weeks for the former Panther.
Like the rest of the world, I’ve got my questions about Darnold when under duress. That gets talked about a lot, and we love to pick apart the negatives, but he’s been pretty good for 13 months now when not under pressure.
Since the beginning of last season, the Cardinals rank 25th in total pressure rate and 26th when they blitz. They struggle to make opponents uncomfortable, and if that means Jaxon Smith-Njigba (22-323-1) can get loose, then we are in business. If Cooper Kupp finds the fountain of youth for a second straight week? Fuhgeddaboudit.
I’m not saying you start him in season-long leagues, but in a week-long sort of contest that includes all prime-time games? At cost, I’m interested.
Kenneth Walker III, RB
With Zach Charbonnet sidelined, Kenneth Walker ran for as many touchdowns in the first half as he had totaled in his nine games prior. He also set a season-high with 16 carries as the Seahawks absolutely steamrolled the Saints.
Wouldn’t that lead you to believe that we are in a ‘wheels-up’ situation for a back we all view as ultra talented? He carried 16 times for 138 yards and averaged more than 8 feet per attempt before contact.
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The range of outcomes on a per-carry basis might be as broad for Walker as they are for any player in the league, and I’m not sure the matchup even matters. With a profile like that, I need volume to be comfortable, which is obviously easier to achieve if his backup/committee member is out.
I’ll rank Walker over Charbonnet most weeks because in that flex conversation, I don’t mind taking on some risk if it means access to top-15 upside. Still, there’s no denying that this is a committee where both backs are talented, but neither is especially valuable.
Zach Charbonnet, RB
Zach Charbonnet missed the second game of his career on Sunday with a foot injury, a contest he nearly took part in after reportedly getting a good pre-game workout in.
Kenneth Walker III was featured in a great spot against the Saints on Sunday, a golden opportunity for him to assume the lead role moving forward. No dice. He scored twice, but 16 carries for 38 yards against maybe the worst team in the league?
The Seattle coaching staff has made it clear that they want to operate in a committee, and that has me ranking both of their running backs as viable flex plays with a wide range of outcomes.
I do have Walker ranked ahead of Charbonnet this week, and that will likely be the case more often than not. Charbonnet was RB26 in Week 1 thanks to a short touchdown, but he doesn’t yet have a target or a rush gaining more than seven yards.
Monitor this situation, but I’m actively making excuses not to play Charbonnet at less than full strength against a Cardinals defense that held Christian McCaffrey to 52 yards on 17 attempts over the weekend.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR
I’d never lie to you guys. When I was updating my rest of the season rankings after the dust settled on Week 3, the thought of Jaxon Smith-Njigba being a top-five receiver crossed my mind. The developing star has finished as a top-15 performer at the position in all three weeks this season and is pacing for a cool 124-catch, 1,830-yard season.
And that doesn’t even include the idea that his connection with Sam Darnold will improve with reps as this season progresses!
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He was the only Seahawk to catch a pass on their first drive last week (41 yards and a score), and until the league figures out how to slow him down, I’ll continue to assume it can’t be done.
JSN caught 11 of 12 targets while scoring in both Cardinals games a season ago. Get your popcorn ready and continue to enjoy the profits you’re getting from Smith-Njigba this season — the price will get expensive ahead of 2026.
Cooper Kupp, WR
Fantasy football is complicated enough, so there’s no need to overthink this one. Don’t do it.
Cooper Kupp was productive in Week 2 against a Steelers defense that isn’t as stout as we thought, but that’s it. In the two games sandwiching that Pittsburgh game (7-90-0), he failed to reach 25 air yards and finished under 6.0 PPR points.
We aren’t getting New York Jets Sam Darnold these days, and we also aren’t getting the Minnesota version, so two pass catchers won’t be coming along for the ride every week.
You’re playing Jaxon Smith-Njigba every week without a second thought. If you want to roll the dice on one of Seattle’s running backs, be my guest, but that’s all the interest I have in this team.
Tory Horton, WR
We are seeing rookies like Pat Bryant in Denver struggle to earn playing time, while others, such as Tetairoa McMillan, get on the field and thrive right away. Development is a non-linear process with a million moving pieces — never forget that.
The first piece in most equations is talent, followed closely by opportunity. Tory Horton has the former and is proving deserving of the latter.
He was held without a target on 17 routes in his NFL debut but has logged eight targets on 34 routes since, scoring in both games. Oh yes, and he pulled a reverse Kaleb Johnson and scored for the right team on special teams via a 95-yard punt return during their throttling of the Saints on Sunday.
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I’m not here to say that Horton is the next big thing. Kupp signed a three-year $45 million deal in March, and that alone will suppress Horton’s playing time. Still, if he shows the type of juice he did over the weekend consistently and the Kupp experience follows the trajectory from 2024, we could be looking at a late-season flex who is earning a handful of targets per game.
Those looks aren’t a lock to be valuable if you believe Darnold was more the creation of Kevin O’Connell than anything last season. Still, there is certainly a way for this to play out, where Horton faces a tapped-out Panthers team in sunny Carolina in Week 17, making a difference in your most crucial fantasy matchup of the season.
