Ian Hartitz said he is drafting Trey McBride ahead of Brock Bowers this season because McBride’s environment is unchanged while Bowers’ is full of new variables. McBride already finished ahead of Bowers last year and remains glued to Kyler Murray in Drew Petzing’s scheme with no meaningful target competition. Hartitz noted that 30 of Bowers’ fantasy points came in fourth-quarter garbage time, masking how dependent the rookie was on comeback scripts. Now Bowers must adjust to a new quarterback, a new play-caller, a run-first approach built around Ashton Jenty, and a healthy Michael Mayer siphoning snaps. With equal talent and a much safer role, Hartitz prefers McBride at cost in both best-ball and season-long drafts.

Nick Whalen argued that Trey McBride is a justified early-round tight end. McBride posted a 28% target share—elite for any position—and finished as the overall TE2 last season despite not scoring a touchdown until Week 17. Touchdown regression alone (even five or six scores) would propel him toward Travis Kelce-level production. Arizona added no significant target competition outside of Marvin Harrison Jr., so Whalen expects McBride’s usage to remain unchanged. Because drafters can grab him in Round 3 rather than Round 2 like Brock Bowers, Whalen sees more margin for ROI if McBride misses games, calling him both elite and relatively "safe."

PPRTyler advised backing off Trey Benson in Underdog best-ball drafts. He noted that recent camp reports and coach comments have been tepid at best— "not a lot of great coach speak coming out"—and worries that Benson is already sliding to second-team reps. Given that Benson is still priced alongside backs with established early-down roles, Tyler capped his own exposure at 6 %, saying he prefers to spend those mid-round picks on cheaper runners in similar committees. The combination of negative momentum plus an unchanged ADP makes Benson a sell or full fade until news turns.

Pat Mayo said he is out on drafting Kyler Murray because the goal-line rushing that once juiced Murray’s fantasy upside has disappeared. Mayo cited that backup Jake Browning has scored more fantasy points inside the five-yard line than Murray over the past two seasons, and Murray has never topped six fantasy points per game via rushing in any year except 2020. Without those short-yardage scores, Mayo doubts Murray can pay off at his ADP, noting even Lamar Jackson survived zero inside-five carries last year only because he offers a completely different rushing profile. Until Murray shows he’s willing or allowed to run near the stripe again, Mayo recommends pivoting to alternatives in the same draft range.

Josh said he is comfortably drafting James Conner ahead of wideouts such as Mike Evans and Terry McLaurin because Conner’s role is unquestioned whenever he is active. Conner has averaged 18-20 touches per game in Arizona’s offense and functions as the metronome of the attack, making 14 strong fantasy weeks more valuable than chasing a theoretically healthier back who offers less week-winning volume. Josh emphasized that replacement-level waiver options can cover Conner’s inevitable missed contests, and injury-risk projections for most backs are similar anyway. The conclusion: embrace Conner’s bankable workload and touchdown equity and worry about the bye-week fill-ins later.

Hayden Winks argued James Conner remains undervalued despite matching his RB19 ADP. OC Drew Petsing reaffirmed Conner as the unquestioned workhorse, saying he has ‘absolutely earned’ the role. Hayden highlighted Conner’s career-best efficiency in 2024, his status as a team captain, and his sizable contract on a Cardinals offense that funnels touches through the running back. He views Trey Benson as a developmental backup who gained 10 lbs this offseason and still shows scattershot vision—offering no standalone value and not deserving to be drafted ahead of contingent plays like Tyler Algier. Hayden is comfortable selecting Conner over wideouts such as Mike Evans and Terry McLaurin and believes drafters are generally letting running backs fall too far in current Underdog rooms.

PPRTyler targeted Michael Wilson as a final-round dart because the second-year wideout is "going to be out there running routes" on virtually every Arizona drop-back. Tyler stressed that, at his near-undrafted price, all Wilson needs is ordinary target growth to smash ADP, and he expects that opportunity to come simply through full-time snaps opposite Marvin Harrison Jr. The cheap path to 90-plus percent route participation makes Wilson an easy add to fill out Cardinals or bring-back stacks in Underdog drafts.

Hayden Winks uses James Conner as the ideal "anchor RB" in a modified zero-RB build. He outlined a start of Nico Collins, Brian Thomas, Lamar Jackson, and another upside wideout, then grabbing Conner at the 5-6 turn to lock in weekly volume. The Cardinals have little proven depth behind Conner, so Winks is comfortable relying on the veteran's steady workload while continuing to hammer high-upside positions elsewhere.

Hayden Winks elevated Trey McBride into the true "elite tight end" tier. He noted that McBride is "getting manufactured touches," is "very clearly in the prime of his career," and should see his touchdown total rebound through simple regression. Replacing a fifth wide receiver with McBride erases the diminishing-returns problem Winks sees in WR-heavy builds, so he is happy to spend a fourth-round pick on McBride in both best ball and full-PPR redraft zero-RB constructions.

Chris Raybon bumped Kyler Murray to QB8 in his rankings and believes he could finish as high as QB6 once preseason dust settles. Raybon projects 23.5 passing touchdowns—up from Murray’s three-year average of 1.25 per game—citing the scoring pace he assigns Arizona’s revamped offense. The arrival of Marvin Harrison Jr. and the breakout of Trey McBride create a pass-catching core capable of elevating Murray’s middling 7.0 yards per attempt toward his 7.9 career high. Layer in 30–40 rushing yards per game, and Raybon sees Murray outscoring Baker Mayfield and potentially Patrick Mahomes if the Chiefs’ receiver room disappoints. He is targeting Murray in the mid-ninth round of season-long drafts whenever the room lets the dual-threat slide past ADP.

Sean Koerner projected Kyler Murray for 21 passing touchdowns—the exact total he logged last year—but said a healthy offseason and improved chemistry with Marvin Harrison Jr. could unlock a true top-five outcome. Murray has told reporters he feels healthier and plans to run more early in the year, a huge fantasy lever given his career 32–38 rushing yards per game. If the Harrison deep-ball connection coalesces and Trey McBride continues his ascent as an elite intermediate target, Koerner sees a realistic path to 4,000 combined yards and 30 total TDs. He will gladly draft Murray when he slips outside the top-10 quarterbacks because the dual-threat profile offers weekly rushing floor and an unexplored passing ceiling.

Jorge Martin advised fading Marvin Harrison Jr. at his current 27.6 ADP (WR14, early 3rd round). Projections peg the rookie for 71 catches, 1,011 yards and just under eight touchdowns—good for only WR18. Martin noted comparable production is expected from DK Metcalf and George Pickens, who go about 18 picks later. He would rather spend that draft capital on veterans Davante Adams or Garrett Wilson (if Justin Fields’ injury clears up). The takeaway: Harrison’s talent is unquestioned, but the price ignores rookie volatility and equally productive, cheaper alternatives.

Claudia Bellofatto urged fantasy managers to tread carefully with 30-year-old James Conner, calling him “one of the least explosive running backs in the NFL.” Conner’s 4.6 yards per carry mask declining burst, and he still picked up a late-season knee injury despite a career-high 16 games played. Bellofatto worries age-related regression and the arrival of rookie Trey Benson could siphon touches, making Conner a risky RB2 at his current draft cost.

Claudia Bellofatto leaned OVER 8.5 wins at –120, noting Arizona needs just one additional victory after last year’s eight. She acknowledged the back-half schedule is tough and the franchise historically fades late, but believes offseason defensive additions—Josh Sweat, Calais Campbell, rookies Walter Nolen and Will Johnson—address last year’s biggest weakness (5-of-7 losses down the stretch). Bellofatto also expects at least one extra road win after a 2-win road record and thinks regression from NFC West rivals opens a path to nine wins.

Alex Seliznick preferred Arizona to MAKE the playoffs at +135 over laying –120 on the 8.5-win total. He argued that the broader NFC landscape is weaker than in recent seasons and at least one West team must qualify. With what he considers a friendly schedule, an improved pass rush, and Kyler Murray surrounded by playmakers, Seliznick pegs the Cardinals’ ceiling at 11 wins. The plus-money price captures scenarios where nine wins sneaks them into the postseason, delivering a better payout than a standard over ticket.

Alex Seliznick endorsed betting the Cardinals at +450 to win the NFC West, calling the division “wide open.” He was under-whelmed by San Francisco’s offseason (no splash signings, mediocre draft) and sees the Rams as good but hardly dominant. Seliznick thinks Arizona’s ceiling rests on a defense that could crack the top-10 after adding proven pass-rushers Josh Sweat and Calais Campbell, disruptive rookie DT Walter Nolen, cornerback Will Johnson, and run-stuffer Dalvin Tomlinson—exactly the personnel defensive-minded HC Jonathan Gannon wants. If that unit gels while Kyler Murray bounces back, Seliznick believes Arizona can match or exceed any West rival, making +450 “solid value” compared to their implied probability.

Alex Seliznick advised taking the OVER on Kyler Murray’s 3,400.5-yard passing prop at –110. Seliznick reminded viewers that Murray admitted his reconstructed ACL “hurt on every drop-back” last season yet he still finished with a better completion rate than Patrick Mahomes and matched Mahomes in QBR. With a full offseason of rehab, Seliznick expects fewer designed runs and more roll-outs that keep Murray upright—exactly where he does his best work. The supporting cast is upgraded: Marvin Harrison Jr. in year two, Trey McBride emerging as a top-10 tight end, and James Conner plus Trey Benson offering check-down outlets. Seliznick projects Arizona to be in numerous tight or negative game scripts, pushing Murray’s drop-back volume into the 550-plus range. If health cooperates, he sees a 3,700-yard season—comfortably clearing the posted total.

Jakob Sanderson highlighted James Conner as the superior Round-6 pivot to Kamara. Despite turning 30, Conner has posted the two most efficient seasons of his career, ranking near the top of the league in success rate and yards after contact. With Kyler Murray healthy and Marvin Harrison Jr. stretching defenses, Sanderson expects the Cardinals to fight for a Wild Card spot, keeping Conner’s late-season touchdown equity sky-high. He concedes Conner will never match Kamara’s reception totals, but in half-PPR that gap matters less than the veteran’s red-zone dominance—"he earns his points like a real man by running the ball into the end zone repeatedly." The cleaner team context, goal-line role and recent efficiency create a higher probability of Week 15-17 spike games, making Conner a priority selection whenever he slips past ADP.

Jakob Sanderson said Trey McBride should be treated like a second-round pick in full-PPR redraft and remains a comfortable third-rounder in half-PPR best-ball rooms. Sanderson expects the Cardinals to continue featuring McBride in the slot where he is already generating more yards after the catch than Marvin Harrison and flashing sideline “Moss” ability. He projected a realistic path to 100 receptions and 8-9 touchdowns, noting that if those scores materialize McBride vaults into the truly elite tight-end tier we have seen in past Travis Kelce seasons. Because tight-end touchdowns are harder to predict week-to-week, Sanderson wants to bet on McBride’s bankable volume—he led the position in targets last year—and let variance work in his favor. The bottom line: in start-one-TE PPR leagues you gain weekly edge by locking in McBride’s reception floor while still having legitimate ceiling, and his half-PPR best-ball ADP stays palatable enough that Sanderson is scooping him wherever possible.

Jakob Sanderson endorsed Trey McBride at the 2-3 turn, noting he saw "up near 150 targets" last season and functioned like the Cardinals’ Amon-Ra St. Brown. With George Kittle’s ADP rising, the opportunity cost of taking McBride has fallen, and Sanderson now prefers him to Marvin Harrison Jr. in the same range. He argued that mid-round tight ends such as Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews and Evan Engram are "fragile projections" capped at 65-70% routes, whereas McBride already owns an alpha-level role and just needs normal touchdown variance to break into the truly elite tier. In full-PPR redraft formats Sanderson said you could "make a pretty decent case he should actually be a second-round pick," while he remains a strong third-round selection in half-PPR best-ball contests.

Steve Palazzolo warned fantasy managers and win-total bettors not to assume Baltimore’s kicking game will stay elite just because the rest of the roster looks Super-Bowl ready. He noted that Justin Tucker was the one kicker who routinely dodged year-to-year variance, but Tucker’s 2024 drop-off (career-worst 84% on field goals and three misses inside 45 yards) showed even he can regress. With Tucker gone, sixth-round rookie Tyler Loop steps into a high-leverage role on a team that plays a lot of one-score games in the AFC North. Palazzolo stressed that Loop offers none of Tucker’s decade-long consistency, and John Harbaugh’s aggressiveness on fourth down only magnifies the risk because the staff will happily bypass shaky field-goal attempts. His advice: fade Loop in season-long formats that still use kickers, avoid him in early-season DFS slates, and recognize that Baltimore’s 11.5-win over might hinge on a position that is suddenly as random for them as it is for everyone else.

Colm Kelly pushed back on worries about Kyler Murray’s size and argued the Cardinals quarterback owns legitimate 1,000-yard rushing upside in 2024. Kelly believes Arizona will lean even harder into designed QB runs and short-area scramble drills—concepts that already produced red-zone jump-pass looks to Trey McBride last year. Because his roster is light at quarterback, Kelly said Murray’s rushing eruption is the clearest path to turning a mid-round investment into overall tournament equity. If Murray hits that ground-heavy ceiling, the team’s late-round darts at other positions suddenly have a realistic shot at winning the whole contest.

James Koh advised fading Kyler Murray at his current top-10 ADP. Injury history is the first red flag—Murray has missed significant time in three of the past four seasons (14, 11, and 8 games played). Scheme is the second: coordinator Drew Petzing remains committed to a run-heavy attack, and Arizona’s pass-catcher room hasn’t meaningfully improved. Most concerning to Koh is Murray’s rushing trend; designed or scramble attempts have slid four straight years, from 8.3 per game in 2020 to just 4.6 in 2023. If that decline continues, the rushing upside drafters pay for simply won’t exist, making Murray “hell-in-a-cell, sell, sell, sell.”

Sean Koerner continues to hammer James Conner at his RB20 ADP, calling the veteran the safest play in what he dubs the “frozen-pond” running-back tier. Conner finished 14th in Best-Ball Points Added per game last season and missed only the meaningless Week 18 finale, debunking the narrative that he’s perpetually unavailable. Koerner argued Conner merely hits the positional median of 2–3 missed games per year while offering proven weekly ceiling in an offense that returns Kyler Murray and upgraded its line. Age (30) is the lone red flag, but Koerner sees fewer question marks than with similarly priced backs coming off role changes or committee uncertainty. He is comfortable drafting Conner as an every-week RB2 and letting the rest of the room chase flashier but riskier profiles.

Jason Moore warned that Trey McBride’s early-fourth-round ADP leaves little profit margin, especially with George Kittle sometimes slipping into the same range. McBride commanded a wild 34% team target share last year (147 looks), but Moore expects that to regress once Arizona increases its WR usage and Marvin Harrison Jr. climbs toward 140-plus targets. With McBride likely losing 15–20 looks and tight-end touchdowns notoriously volatile, Moore prefers paying a negligible premium for Kittle—whose ADP has fallen into the late third/early fourth—rather than chasing a perfect repeat from McBride. He advised drafters to either reach a round for Kittle or fade the tight-end tier altogether, viewing McBride as a risky bet to return top-three value at his current price.

Jason Moore endorsed drafting Marvin Harrison Jr. at his late-third/early-fourth ADP (WR17), arguing that modest volume growth turns him into a smash. Harrison posted 880 yards and eight touchdowns on just 116 targets as a rookie—one of only six first-year wideouts in a decade to hit those marks. Moore projects Arizona’s WR target share to climb from 48% to roughly 60% (league average) after adding Harrison’s heftier frame and with few established weapons behind him. If the offense reaches 130–140 targets for Harrison while Trey McBride still leads the team, Moore sees an easy path to 1,100+ yards and the double-digit scores that pay off at WR17. He prefers Harrison to tier-adjacent names like DJ Moore or Jaxon Smith-Njigba, labeling Harrison the best bet for top-six touchdown upside outside the first two rounds.

Mike Wright said Kyler Murray is a perfectly safe every-week starter at his current QB10 price in the 8th round. Murray’s 2024 rushing yardage was the second-highest of his career, and in an interview he admitted watching Lamar Jackson convinced him to run even more to stress defenses the way Baltimore did for Derrick Henry. Wright reminded listeners that Murray has finished top-10 in fantasy points per game in four of six seasons and that Arizona’s offense quietly went 8-9 despite the perceived struggles. With a healthier line, Marvin Harrison Jr. in year two, and Murray pledging additional designed runs, Wright expects another top-eight finish and sees little reason to burn earlier capital on quarterbacks going 2–3 rounds before him.

Andy Holloway doubled-down on James Conner as the safest fifth-round back, pointing to efficiency numbers most drafters miss. Conner ranked #2 in forced-missed-tackle rate last season—trailing only Kenneth Walker—while logging six 100-yard rushing games and his second straight 1,000-yard campaign. He added 47 catches for 400+ yards, giving him every-down utility even when the Cardinals trail. Despite that résumé he’s falling to 5.05 (RB20). Holloway said that, in a vacuum, he prefers Conner over Walker at equal cost because Conner’s week-to-week floor is “bankable” and both backs carry similar injury risk. He advised drafters to grab the veteran for a steady RB2 slot, ride the early production, then consider trading once the wear-and-tear narrative resurfaces.

Andy Holloway urged drafters to scoop up James Conner yet again, noting that Arizona faces the league’s 11th-easiest schedule and is favored in five of its first six games. Conner was the RB10 last year despite missing a game, and the Cardinals are projected to win 8.5 games—up from seven a season ago—setting up plenty of positive game scripts. Holloway loves using Conner as an early-season points engine, then trading him before wear and tear mounts. With rookie Quinshon Judkins still a "question mark" and Arizona’s depth chart otherwise thin, Conner profiles for another high-volume start that can anchor season-long and best-ball rosters while the market drafts him outside the top-20 backs.

Overzet grabbed Kyler Murray well past pick 100 and immediately paired him with tight end Trey McBride, calling the combo a "huge ADP value." He argued Murray’s late-season return timeline is already priced in, yet drafters are ignoring the rushing upside that wins Weeks 15-17. Stacking the discounted quarterback with McBride provides a cheap path to correlation while leaving salary and draft capital free for elite players elsewhere. Overzet expects Murray to be a difference-maker if the Cardinals beat the 4.5-month recovery estimates the way other dual-threat QBs have post-ACL.

Wyatt said James Conner is once again a screaming dynasty value right now. Every offseason Conner’s dynasty ADP falls because managers fixate on age and injury risk, yet redraft drafters still project him as a locked-in RB2 whenever he is healthy. Conner has finished in the RB12-RB16 range whenever he’s logged at least 13 games, and he’s still the unquestioned early-down back for Arizona. Wyatt noted you can usually pry Conner away for a 2025 second-round rookie pick, plug him straight into an RB2 slot, and even flip him for more later in the year when points get scarce. The predictable dip-and-rebound cycle makes him an easy short-term acquisition for contenders who need bankable volume without spending premium capital.

Best Ball Guy called Michael Wilson a sneaky late-round click because the Cardinals’ December slate is one of his favorite fantasy-playoff schedules and Wilson profiles as the every-down WR2 opposite Marvin Harrison Jr. BBG expects Wilson to push 100 percent route participation in a condensed offense that funnels looks to three players—Harrison, Trey McBride, and Wilson—making any target bump meaningful. The pick also layers correlation into builds that already include Mike Gesicki (Week 17 vs. Atlanta) or Falcons bring-backs. While BBG admitted Wilson may never be an alpha, he believes the combination of full-time snaps, affordable price, and an appealing Week 15-to-17 run gives the second-year wideout more spike-week juice than the room is crediting.

Hayden Winks urged fantasy and prop bettors to tread carefully with Kyler Murray, labeling him the poster child of volatility. Even though Murray still ranked QB1 in EPA per carry on designed runs, Arizona barely called his number, turning him into a dink-and-dunk passer whose 3.6 yards per attempt on third- or fourth-and-5+ was the worst in the league. Winks counted dozens of back-foot bailout throws created by height-induced visibility issues and said Murray’s middle-of-field accuracy has cratered relative to his Russell Wilson comps. While the Cardinals will again lean on a quick-game, underneath approach, Winks questioned whether that maximizes Murray’s skill set and pointed to a two-year stretch of minimal wins as evidence. Until the coaching staff green-lights 6-8 designed runs per game or hands Kyler more down-field play-action chances, Winks considers him a matchup-dependent QB2 and recommended taking the under on any passing-yard or passing-TD props the market posts above his 2023 baseline.

Coventry’s favorite Round 4/5 pick is James Conner, even if it requires a small reach. Conner has produced RB1 per-game numbers in three of the last four seasons with Arizona, averaging 18.1 PPR points when active. While he typically misses 1–3 games, Coventry argues that’s par for the position and the Cardinals still funnel red-zone touches his way, giving Conner top-12 upside whenever he’s in the lineup.

Pat Kerrane called Michael Wilson the ‘simple’ pick in the double-digit rounds, labeling him the clear outside WR2 opposite Marvin Harrison in Arizona. Wilson already projects to start in two-wide sets and provides an effortless backdoor stack with Kyler Murray at a time when most drafters are chasing fringe rookies. Kerrane noted that drafting Wilson keeps roster construction clean—no need to galaxy-brain a Luke McCaffrey or Jalen Lane flyer—while still capturing contingent upside if Harrison draws double coverage. At his price, Wilson supplies both a weekly floor of snaps and the occasional 20-point spike week that late-round receivers must deliver in top-heavy best-ball tournaments.

Pat Kerrane voiced real concerns about Trey Benson’s ceiling, noting the 4.39-speed rookie failed to rip off even a single breakaway run or reception on 63 collegiate touches last year. Despite matching Breece Hall’s size-speed measurables, Benson never truly challenged James Conner for work and generated little explosive yardage—an ominous sign for a player being drafted for home-run potential. Kerrane admitted he might still take Benson if the ADP falls far enough to create a cheap Kyler Murray stack, but he cautioned drafters not to reach, dubbing the rookie more name-brand hype than proven production.

Pat Kerrane advised scooping Marvin Harrison whenever he slides a few spots past ADP. Harrison was an elite first-round prospect and, while he underwhelmed fantasy managers as a rookie, his underlying play was not actually bad—just below the lofty expectations. Kerrane views this as classic flop-lag pricing: betting on a talented second-year receiver at a modest discount rather than paying a premium for the previous year’s darlings. He expects Harrison’s natural progression and probable quarterback stability to translate into a breakout that easily beats his current cost in best-ball drafts.

Nick Whalen played Kyler Murray over 475.5 rushing yards at –110, acknowledging the wager is ‘essentially a bet on 12 or more healthy games.’ Murray publicly said he wants to run more in 2025, and Whalen expects some James Conner regression to push additional designed carries onto the quarterback’s plate. At 475.5 yards, Murray needs roughly 40 rushing yards per game over a 12-game sample—well below his 55-yard career average in full contests. Whalen views the total as soft if Murray’s lower-body injuries stay at bay.

Sam Wallace pegged Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR15 ADP) as the best bet to finish top-five at the position. The rookie combines a strong offensive environment—Kyler Murray is "more than capable" of sustaining a high-end fantasy WR—with a narrow target tree where only TE Trey McBride threatens significant volume. Wallace anticipates a 50%+ target share split between Harrison and McBride and trusts Harrison’s generational prospect profile to command the chunk of that pie.

Shawn Siegele cautioned drafters against robotically smashing Trey Benson just because he is the young, explosive understudy to James Conner. Yes, Conner’s age-29 season, mileage and perpetual injury tag create a real risk he "falls off a cliff any given Sunday," but Siegele stressed that Conner is still the better real-life back right now and remains priced cheaply himself. Benson’s collegiate coaching staffs, and now the Cardinals, have shown lukewarm enthusiasm for actually giving him volume, which Siegele views as a glaring red flag when drafters start chasing him into the single-digit rounds. The only edge with Benson is a small ADP gap; once that closes, you are paying for a best-case scenario that may never come. Siegele said he will sprinkle Benson only when the price slips multiple rounds—never as a core pick—preferring instead to grab upside veterans elsewhere or simply take Conner at cost.

Josh Norris argued that Trey McBride has an identical path to overall TE1 as Bowers if Kyler Murray finally connects in the red zone. McBride actually averaged more targets per game than Bowers last season (9.2 vs. 9.0) and remains the primary read in Drew Petsing’s unchanged Cardinals attack, so the volume floor is secure. The ceiling comes from inevitable touchdown regression: McBride has converted just 3 of 15 end-zone targets over two NFL seasons and scored only six times in 49 pro games after managing 10 TDs in 40 contests at Colorado State. Norris expects that to normalize, citing Murray’s two-year streak of overthrowing open receivers and the quarterback’s improved health entering 2024. Give McBride even a modest bump to 8-10 scores on last year’s usage and he laps the field in tight-end premium formats (1.5 PPR on FFPC) and challenges everyone else in standard leagues. At a cheaper ADP than Bowers, Norris views him as the quintessential upside swing for drafters who miss the top two rounds of tight ends.

Harris called Trey McBride “the best early-round balance of volume, role, and upside.” Despite scoring only two late-season TDs, McBride piled up 111 receptions, 1,146 yards, and a league-best 29.6 % target share at tight end, then landed a four-year, $76 M extension—the richest in TE history. With Kyler Murray healthy and the staff committed to featuring him, Harris expects similar elite volume and sees positive TD regression as the path to overall TE1. McBride’s ADP is 25th overall (a full round after Bowers), giving drafters a comparable floor and higher untapped ceiling for less capital.

JJ Zachariason explained that quarterback prices on DraftKings have compressed so much that Kyler Murray now goes only one to two rounds ahead of pure pocket passers like Justin Herbert, Trevor Lawrence and CJ Stroud—a delta that used to be four to five rounds earlier in the spring. With that discount in place, Murray’s dual-threat profile (career 6.7 rush attempts and 38 rushing yards per game) offers far more week-winning upside than the statues he is being drafted next to. Zachariason added that this same ADP crunch makes the entire tier of mobile passers—Justin Fields, Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy—better values and even pushes elite options such as Lamar Jackson back onto the table. But Murray is the focal point of his exposure because he still has WR1 Trey McBride, Michael Wilson and late-round dart Luther Burden available for cheap back-stacks.

JJ Zachariason argued that Trey McBride is underpriced by four to five picks even after climbing into the early third round on DraftKings’ full-PPR, bonus-heavy format. He’s currently holding roughly 20% exposure and still feels that’s justified because the opportunity cost of selecting McBride at that spot is materially lower than paying a second-round tag for Brock Bowers. Zachariason emphasized how McBride’s 2023 breakout featured elite volume—he averaged 8.2 targets per game after Week 8—and that Arizona’s offense projects to funnel underneath looks to him again. In a format where tight ends receive a full point per reception and 100-yard bonuses, Zachariason believes McBride’s combination of target share, route participation, and red-zone usage gives him legitimate difference-making upside that isn’t fully captured in his current ADP.

Nick Whalen warned drafters not to rely on Kyler Murray as a fantasy QB1. Arizona spent its offseason resources on defense and made no meaningful upgrades to an offense that has stagnated for three straight seasons. Whalen sees no evidence Murray will suddenly take a massive leap, making his mid-round ADP unjustifiable when quarterbacks with equal or higher ceilings are available later. He is comfortable drafting Murray only in multi-QB builds where weekly matchup streaming is the plan.

Evan Silva pushed Trey Benson as one of the highest-upside contingency bets on the board. Drafted 66th overall, Benson was viewed by several analysts Silva trusts as the best back in the entire 2024 class. The rookie’s three-down skill set includes legitimate pass-game ability, a trait that matters on an Arizona depth chart topped by 29-year-old James Conner—an aging workhorse who has already missed 17 games in his career. Silva sees Benson exploding into a feature role if Conner goes down, while still providing occasional standalone value given the Cardinals’ willingness to rotate backs in high-tempo game scripts.

Overzet suggested aggressively selecting rushing quarterbacks such as Kyler Murray, Anthony Richardson, Justin Fields, and Bo Nix a round or two ahead of ADP and not worrying about correlating them with teammates. Because their fantasy production is driven by legs rather than passing volume, these QBs can stand alone and free drafters from the normal stacking constraints. Overzet likes the approach for auto-drafts and fast fills like the Mini Schnauzer, where stacking can be difficult, and believes an overweight position on mobile, unstacked QBs creates differentiated line-ups without sacrificing ceiling.

Sean Koerner projected Marvin Harrison Jr. to finish inside the top-20 wideouts (WR16 in his ranks) after an underrated 62-885-8 rookie line. Koerner expects Arizona to expand Harrison’s route tree—more motion, more layup throws—rather than parking him as a pure deep threat again. Reception Perception charted Harrison in the 75th percentile vs. man, 72nd vs. zone, and 80th vs. press, convincing Koerner that the sophomore is already winning at every level. The only things capping year-one volume were Kyler Murray’s conservative throw depth and Trey McBride’s target hog status; Koerner anticipates a more diversified passing script that feeds Harrison underneath and in the intermediate windows. He advised drafting Harrison as a high-floor WR2 with legitimate WR1 upside if the Cardinals tilt slightly pass-heavier or McBride ever misses time.