The Arizona Cardinals’ experience has been a roller coaster this season. It feels like years since we’ve seen this entire offense on the field at the same time. Nonetheless, we have a chance to finally get the band back together in Week 13, just in time for a late push to the fantasy football playoffs. If Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins are both in action today, what should we expect from Hopkins for fantasy?
DeAndre Hopkins injury timeline
First and foremost, as a fantasy football analyst, I would like to file a formal grievance against the Cardinals for their use of the term “game-time decision” over the last six weeks. What’s that all about? Are these guys close to playing or not? I personally hold Kliff Kingsbury responsible for my new grey beard hairs.
I digress.
Hopkins hasn’t played since Week 8, an October 28 matchup with the Green Bay Packers that saw him catch 2 passes for 66 yards. Since then, he’s been on the shelf with a hamstring injury.
It’s been three games and a bye week since he was in action, and now coming out of the bye, head coach Kliff Kingsbury has confirmed that Hopkins will play this week. Dealing with a hamstring injury, however, fantasy managers need to discern whether or not to play him against a Chicago Bears secondary that’s allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing WRs this year.
Will Kyler Murray play?
If Hopkins is back, the other half of the equation is Murray, who has been sidelined for the last four weeks as well with an ankle injury. Murray’s backup, Colt McCoy, has been a tale of two quarterbacks in his starts this year. He has two games with a total of 577 passing yards, 3 TDs, and 0 INTs. However, sandwich a dud of only 107 yards between those games.
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Quarterback play is a big part of a wide receiver’s upside. Murray will also play this week, according to Kingsbury. Murray being active certainly helps the outlook of Hopkins.
Fantasy expectations for DeAndre Hopkins
It can be tough to trust a fantasy asset coming off an injury, and Hopkins is no different. The reports seem optimistic that he will play. However, Adam Schefter has also reported that “he might be used more sparingly” than we are accustomed to seeing out of the superstar wide receiver.
Chicago’s secondary, which was an easy target for wide receivers early in the season, has been playing much better as of late. Over the last four weeks, the Bears are allowing the fourth-fewest fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers.
We know who Hopkins is. He’s a stud with arguably the best hands in the NFL, capable of adjusting in the air like few others can. He was the WR10 through the first eight weeks of the season. What we don’t know, however, is how much he’ll be on the field today.
If you have other options that you can rely on, leaving Hopkins on your bench for one more week might not be the worst option — particularly since we don’t know how many opportunities he’ll have this week. If you need him, though, Hopkins and Murray have the talent to put up a great fantasy day, even if Hopkins is on the field for a limited amount of plays.
