After a fantastic performance from Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner, fantasy football managers have to deal with the uncertainty of an ankle injury heading into Week 15. What is the latest regarding Conner’s injury situation, and what options might fantasy managers have this week?
Update: The Cardinals released an estimated practice report Wednesday, in which they listed James Conner as a projected non-participant.
James Conner injury update
On Tuesday, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said that Conner would undergo an MRI on an ankle injury suffered late in the game. Immediately after the game Monday, Kingsbury stated that he did not believe the injury to Conner was serious.
Conner was seen leaving the field limping after the final play of the game. He also expressed positivity regarding the injury after the game: “I’m not worried about anything. I got dragged down a little funny. Minor soreness, but I’ll be okay. I don’t fear anything.”
The MRI may be precautionary, but it also could indicate the training staff has deeper concerns. It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals approach this week. They have the potential of bringing back Chase Edmonds in Week 15, and a matchup with the Detroit Lions might be one they decide they can win without Conner.
Conner’s presence or absence at practice will be key even if we do not hear the MRI results on Wednesday. If he can practice on a limited basis, that is a good sign. However, if he is absent from practice, he might miss Week 15.
Conner has delivered for fantasy managers in 2021
If you drafted Conner in your fantasy leagues in 2021, you likely did not know what to expect. Therefore, this season has been an extremely pleasant surprise. Entering Week 15, Conner is the RB6 in half-PPR formats and RB9 on a point-per-game basis.
A big part of the reason for Conner’s success has been finding the end zone 16 times in 13 games. Conner has failed to find the end zone just once since Week 3. If you take away all the touchdowns, his per-game numbers have not actually been any higher than they were in Pittsburgh.
Conner played 13 games in Pittsburgh in 2020 and had 169 rush attempts, 721 rush yards, and 6 touchdowns. This season, through 13 games, he has 179 rush attempts, for 661 yards, with 14 touchdowns.
Where Conner has seen an uptick this season is in the receiving game. Last year, he had 35 receptions on 43 targets for 215 receiving yards. He has 303 yards on just 31 targets and 29 receptions this season. He has been highly efficient in the receiving game, but most of that has come with Edmonds out over the past five games.
What should fantasy managers do with the Cardinals’ backfield as Edmonds is set to return?
Whether Conner is healthy or not this week, the potential return of Edmonds this week could be harmful to Conner’s ceiling for fantasy managers. Since Edmonds was hurt at the beginning of the Cardinals’ Week 9 game, Conner has 26 targets, 24 receptions, 269 receiving yards, and 2 receiving touchdowns. When Edmonds was active and healthy, Conner had just 5 targets for 5 receptions, 34 receiving yards, and zero receiving touchdowns.
There is a concern with Conner this week. Will he continue to produce at this extremely efficient level in the passing game, or will Edmonds resume that role? If Conner loses several targets, he could drop from averaging 10.2 fantasy points per game in half-PPR formats from the receiving game to less than 1 point on average as he was before. The difference is likely somewhere in the middle, but there will be a loss of value.
If Conner is out, the expectation would be that Edmonds is active and leads the backfield. The Cardinals have tended not to lean heavily on Edmonds, but they will do so in an emergency. In Week 7 of 2019, Edmonds had 27 rush attempts. He then had 25 in Week 9 of the 2020 season. Both times, the Cardinals were dealing with injuries to their main RB.
Edmonds would likely become a priority start in most formats, assuming he is activated and Conner is inactive. However, with Edmonds being eased back in, they may lean on Eno Benjamin. Therefore, Benjamin would become a potentially intriguing deeper-league option or a contingency plan for managers looking to handle RB issues entering the fantasy playoffs.