The Arizona Cardinals will face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 12. Here’s fantasy football start-sit advice for every Cardinals and Seahawks skill player who has the potential to make a fantasy impact during the game.
Looking for more lineup advice? Head over to our Week 12 Fantasy Start-Sit Cheat Sheet, where we cover every fantasy-relevant player in every game.
Arizona Cardinals Start-Sit Advice
Kyler Murray, QB
Kyler Murray’s profile is evolving in a way I didn’t expect, and, to be honest, I’m here for it.
Murray’s passer rating on deep passes this season is up from 44.7 last year to 110.6 this year, numbers that were aided by him completing a franchise record 17 straight passes in Week 10 against the Jets. That game featured a season-low 4.6-yard aDOT, symbolic of an offensive shift (sub-6.5-yard aDOT in four of his past five games) that has him owning the highest passing floor of his young career.
We, as fantasy managers, have had to surrender some of the rushing production to get access to this growth. Murray opened the season with three straight games of 45 rushing yards, but he only has two such games since (two touchdowns against the Jets helped mask the limited rush count).
I’m more than happy to make that trade.
We know the rushing talent is in this profile and that it can reemerge at a moment’s notice. Murray has proven to be lethal from the pocket lately (79.7% completion percentage over his past three games), and if that proves sticky, he gives himself the ability to lead the position in points in any given week.
Could this be that week with Josh Allen on bye and Lamar Jackson in Los Angeles to face the Chargers? I think it’s possible — at the very least, Murray is set up to be the most productive QB on the DFS main slate.
James Conner, RB
That’s now four straight games with a TD or 100 rushing yards as James Conner continues to fend off Father Time with reasonable levels of success (though it should be noted that none of his 159 carries have gained more than 22 yards this season).
While the splash plays haven’t been there, just about every other box is being checked.
- Four straight games with 3+ red-zone touches
- Four straight games with a 15-yard gain
- Six straight games with at least three targets
- Six games this season with at least 18 carries
Seattle’s defense has regressed in a big way since its 3-0 start and doesn’t project as the type of defense that poses a threat to slow down the momentum of a rested Conner.
If you want to discuss Conner’s rest-of-season value, hit me up on X (@KyleSoppePFN), but when it comes to the Week 12 rankings, I’m pushing forward without any hesitation.
Trey Benson, RB
Trey Benson continues to show plenty of promise and deserves to be 100% rostered in competitive leagues due to his proximity to upside. Even in a secondary role, the third-round rookie has cleared 10 PPR points in consecutive games, posting both a 14-yard rush and reception in both contests.
Of course, he has a James Conner problem, which will prevent Benson from ranking as a Flex option on the granular basis that is Week 11. Yet, him being an injury away holds significant value from a roster construction standpoint.
Conner has been great, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is a 29-year-old who is averaging 20.3 touches per game over the past month and has missed multiple games in every season of his NFL career. Benson has produced 14.7% over expectation this season and would walk comfortably into my top 20 at the position should Conner find himself on the shelf at any point moving forward.
Marvin Harrison Jr., WR
Marvin Harrison Jr. has played in 10 games this season. If you remove one quarter from one game, his current 17-game pace is 50 catches for 628 yards and seven touchdowns (for reference, that’s almost the same as 2023 Brandin Cooks: 54-657-8). The overall success of Arizona’s offense has masked some of the stench of this profile, but we are looking at a player who has reached 55 receiving yards just once since September.
Targets per route by week:
- Week 6 at Green Bay Packers: 33.3% (aDOT: 9.5)
- Week 7 vs. Los Angeles Chargers: 23.1% (aDOT: 9.8)
- Week 8 at Miami Dolphins: 19.4% (aDOT: 20.0)
- Week 9 vs. Chicago Bears: 26.3% (aDOT: 17.8)
- Week 10 vs. New York Jets: 20.8% (aDOT: 8.2)
We don’t know what to think of Harrison because the Cardinals don’t know what to think of Harrison. The single-play upside and role remain promising, but that doesn’t make this season any less frustrating.
The Seahawks have bottom-10 defense across the board after a strong start to this season, and maybe that allows the rookie to get on track entering the fantasy playoffs (this is the first of two Seattle games in a three-week stretch). I hope it does. It should.
Harrison is a low-end WR2 for me until he shows me something resembling consistency.
Michael Wilson, WR
I’m going to stop trying to make Michael Wilson happen — for 2024. I reserve the right to fall for this trap again in August, but for the short term, there simply isn’t enough in this profile to make him roster-worthy.
Wilson’s size makes him a hypothetical big-play threat on a spreadsheet, though that doesn’t matter if the Cardinals’ playbook doesn’t align (single-digit aDOT in three straight games). Week 5 was the last time Wilson reached 35 receiving yards in a game, and with fewer than five targets six times this season, there’s no reason to hang onto this second-year receiver.
Trey McBride, TE
- Trey McBride has more rushing touchdowns than receiving touchdowns this season.
- Trey McBride has more fumble recovery touchdowns than receiving touchdowns this season.
It’s been a weird year for McBride in the scoring department, but I think you’re borderline crazy if you’re the least bit worried. He exploded last season and his target per red-zone route run this season is higher than in 2023, a major trend to buy into given the offense’s potency.
McBride has seen an end-zone target in consecutive games and has posted an on-field target share north of 23% in five of his past six games. Arizona’s budding star has six top-10 finishes this season without a touchdown catch at a position that is overly reliant on touchdowns, something that speaks to his consistency.
The volume keeps McBride ranked among the elite without good fortune, and if he can just live up to expectations when it comes to scoring, he’s as good a bet as any to lead the position in scoring the rest of the way.
The scores are coming, and a late-season barrage could start against a Seahawks defense that ranks bottom-five in touchdown prevention following a hot first three weeks.
Seattle Seahawks Start-Sit Advice
Geno Smith, QB
Geno Smith won the game last week with a sprint to the pylon, a saving grace for an otherwise ineffective fantasy day at the office.
Smith has failed to throw a touchdown pass in two of his past three contests and has just two efforts with multiple TD tosses this season, fueling three finishes outside of the top 20 over his past five games.
The rushing production is too spotty and the passing game is too conservative to count on Smith in most one-QB formats. This matchup doesn’t scare me, though it is worth noting that the Cardinals rank as the 10th-best red-zone defense, but I think Seattle attacks the fourth-worst run defense more with Kenneth Walker III than Smith’s right arm.
Kenneth Walker III, RB
With at least three catches or a touchdown in every game this season, Kenneth Walker III has established a very nice floor that PPR fantasy managers can’t argue with.
A little irritating is the fact that Walker hasn’t offered the one-play potential that we assumed to be in his bag entering this season — he is not one of the five Seahawks with a 30-yard touch this year.
I can’t imagine we end the season with that being the case, and it wouldn’t shock me at all if we got an explosive play this weekend against a Cardinals defense that allows the eighth-most yards per carry after contact to running backs.
As long as Walker is healthy, he’s a top-15 running back for me, and in good spots like this, he’s inside of my top 10 at the position.
Zach Charbonnet, RB
Zach Charbonnet handled 32 carries in the two games that Kenneth Walker III missed but has just 33 rush attempts in the other eight games. That has relegated him to the handcuff only territory that gradually becomes more expendable with time.
The former second-round pick has been unable to find much in the way of running room when given the opportunity this season (0.38 yards per carry before contact this season), leaving me without extreme confidence that he’d rank inside of my top 15 if Walker were to get injured.
If your leagues are like mine and the waiver wire is baron, there’s no need to cut Charbonnet. However, should a win-now manager cut someone of interest to you, feel free to make the swap.
DK Metcalf, WR
The Seahawks have completely punted on DK Metcalf playing in the slot (3.8% of his routes last week), and I think that’s a good thing. Yes, those are the layup targets, but I’m OK with skirting some floor for an increase in ceiling, which is what this move by Seattle reflects.
Metcalf is currently pacing for a career-high in expected PPR points per game (14.8), and with him seeing a 29% target share in his return to action, there are clearly no limitations.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s emergence has some people dragging down their projections for Metcalf, and from a rest-of-season standpoint, I have no issue with that. However, I’m not adjusting for this matchup.
Through 11 weeks this season, the Cardinals allow the ninth-highest completion percentage when opponents throw to the perimeter and are the 11th-best (lowest) in that regard against the slot.
I have no issue in labeling this WR duo as a 1a and 1b situation — not this week, not in this spot.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR
Since 2019, four receivers under the age of 23 have strung together consecutive games with at least seven catches and 110 receiving yards: Ja’Marr Chase (twice), Puka Nacua, Justin Jefferson, and Jaxon Smith-Njiigba (current).
JSN certainly looks the part, and his upward-trending on-field target share didn’t crater with DK Metcalf back in the mix.
- Week 5: 15.6% on-field target share
- Week 6: 17.6%
- Week 7: 19.4%
- Week 8: 24.1%
- Week 9: 31%
- Week 11: 31.4%
His involvement in the red zone is what suffers the most when Metcalf is active, but if Seattle can approach their implied total in this spot (24 points), Smith-Njigba should be able to produce viable WR2 numbers. It is worth noting that Arizona is a little more vulnerable out wide than in tight, thus making Metcalf my preferred DFS play at price, though I still think you’re playing JSN with confidence.
Tyler Lockett, WR
Tyler Lockett entered this season trending in the wrong direction, and the recent emergence of Jaxon Smith-Njigba has all but ended any realistic hope of him projecting as a Flex option moving forward.
Chemistry with Russell Wilson on those deep passes was what made Lockett special for years, but the connection with Geno Smith simply isn’t the same and Father Time is a natural concern for a 32-year-old.
If you’re rounding out your roster with Lockett, I think you’re betting off streaming options that show sparks on a weekly basis. For me, Jalen Coker is a nice option for this weekend, and I’d make that move to see where the rookie goes as opposed to holding onto past production from Lockett.