Arizona’s backfield remains a frustrating situation for fantasy managers heading into a high-scoring potential matchup. Michael Carter enters Week 17 as the Cardinals’ primary option following another week of shifting usage patterns. Should fantasy football managers trust Carter against Cincinnati?
Michael Carter’s Fantasy Outlook
Evidently, the 80% snap share in Week 15 was an anomaly. It was clearly a product of Bam Knight going down in the first quarter and the team not having a prepared plan for how to navigate being a man down in their backfield. With a full week of preparation, Carter was right back to his 50% snap share in Week 16.
While he was the clear lead back and remains the favorite for goal-line work, both Emari Demercado and Corey Kiner siphoned away enough touches to be a nuisance. The committee approach limits Carter’s ceiling despite his status as the primary ball carrier. He cannot dominate workload the way true feature backs do.
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Carter had seen at least four targets in three straight games. He saw two last week and caught neither, his first game without a reception in any game where he saw at least a 30% snap share. The disappearing act in the passing game was particularly disappointing given his recent involvement as a receiver.
With that said, Carter ran well last week with 65 yards on 11 carries. The rushing efficiency demonstrates his capabilities when given opportunities, even if the volume remains limited by the committee structure.
Should You Start Carter This Week?
The matchup may be too good to ignore. Cincinnati presents the most favorable defensive opponent for running backs in the entire league. The Bengals allow the most schedule-adjusted fantasy points per game to running backs by a pretty significant margin.
We could see fireworks in this contest between the Cardinals and Bengals. The total sits at 53.5 points, the highest over/under of Week 17. Both teams have bad defenses and are playing out lost seasons at 3-12 and 5-10 respectively. They may throw caution to the wind and just light up the scoreboard.
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There’s a very real chance the Cardinals score at least four touchdowns this week. If that happens, it stands to reason Carter will have at least one. He remains the goal-line back despite the committee approach on early downs. His short-yardage role provides his most reliable path to fantasy relevance.
As long as Carter scores, he will be at least an RB2. The touchdown dependency makes him volatile, but the matchup against Cincinnati’s porous run defense creates legitimate scoring opportunities. Fantasy managers navigating championship week should view Carter as a high-floor RB2 with touchdown upside in what projects as a track meet between two eliminated teams.
