Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is questionable to play today against the Los Angeles Rams. This is not the first time he has come into a Sunday game day questionable to play, much to the frustration of fantasy football managers.
Fantasy managers have been waiting for quarterback Kyler Murray to return to the starting lineup to truly unlock Brown’s fantasy potential. So this injury being a setback is making Brown a difficult start/sit decision today.
Is Brown going to play against the Rams? What is the latest on his injury status? And, if he does play, what is his potential fantasy outlook for today?
Is Marquise Brown Going To Play Week 12?
Brown comes into Week 12 questionable with a heel injury. He managed to practice on Wednesday, albeit in a limited capacity. However, he worried fantasy managers further by not practicing at all on Thursday or Friday.
However, Adam Schefter of ESPN Network posted an update for concerned fantasy managers on X this morning. He wrote, “Cardinals’ WR Marquise Brown, listed as questionable for Sunday due to a heel injury, is expected to play vs. the Rams, per source.”
Therefore, it is expected that Brown will play today despite not practicing for the majority of the week. However, what does this mean for his potential fantasy outlook vs. the Rams today? Let’s look at the matchup in more detail.
What Is Brown’s Potential Fantasy Outlook for Today?
Brown comes into Week 12 as the WR34 in fantasy football. After a purple patch between Weeks 2-5 where he scored between 13.1 and 14.6 fantasy points per game in each of these games, he has only managed to break the 10-point mark just once since.
His last three games have resulted in 4.4 points in Week 9, 3.3 points in Week 10, and 2.2 points in Week 11. He is also facing a Rams defense that is only allowing 25.8 fantasy points per game to wide receivers.
MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor
Our PFN Consensus Rankings have Brown currently ranked as WR29 for the week. Brown will be covered the majority of the time by Derion Kendrick, who is having a terrific season so far. According to FantasyPoints Data, Kendrick is only allowing 0.21 fantasy points per route run against him so far this season — he is only being targeted on 14.1% of routes run against him. Both of these are better than teammate Ahkello Witherspoon.
Brown has also seen a downward turn in targets since the return of quarterback Murray to the lineup. After averaging 8.5 targets per game in each of his first nine games, Brown has only averaged 4.5 targets in the two games since.
It appears Murray has been spreading the ball around a lot more to receivers like Greg Dortch and Rondale Moore, who were barely getting any targets under previous quarterback Joshua Dobbs. This is going to severely hurt Brown’s fantasy production.
Personally, I would view Brown as a borderline Flex option this afternoon against the Rams, putting him in the WR4 territory. Seeing as he is struggling with an injury, has not practiced much this week, and hasn’t gotten as many targets in the last two games, fantasy managers should be advised to sit Brown this week if they have better alternatives.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!
