Week 17 Saturday Night Football has the eliminated Arizona Cardinals (7-8) heading to Los Angeles, as the spoilers for the Rams (9-6), who currently are in the driver’s seat for the NFC West title. This game has a 47.5 total, with the Rams favored by close to a touchdown at home. Let’s look at all the vantage points and find some winning NFL DFS lineups. In this breakdown, we’ll dive into key NFL DFS ownership projections and player projections for DraftKings and FanDuel, helping you build optimal rosters for Saturday Night Football.
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NFL DFS Picks: Cardinals-Rams Saturday Night Football Week 17
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NFL DFS Picks for Cardinals-Rams Saturday Night Football Week 17: Trey McBride
Trey McBride
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $9,200
FanDuel: $11,000
Fantasy Points
DraftKings: 17.89
FanDuel: 14.44
Trey McBride is catching all sorts of flack for not having scored a receiving touchdown, with his lone score this season coming via a fumble recovery in the end zone.
Pop quiz: how many career touchdowns do you think he had prior to this season? In his first two years, he started 25 of 33 games, with 145 targets, 110 receptions, 1,090 yards and ______ touchdowns.
The answer is four, three last year and one in his rookie campaign. So what is all the lack of scoring fuss about?! Clearly this is nothing new.
This season, McBride already has 14 more targets than last year, with 11 more catches and 133 additional yards. He is third among tight ends with 958 yards, second with 120 targets and 92 receptions, so he really is elite. Since the Week 11 bye, McBride has 55 targets in five outings, with Elijah Higgins getting six looks and Tip Reiman five. Bonus points on the pop quiz if you have ever heard of either of his position-mates.
Arizona Cardinals Positional Preview
Quarterback | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Thankfully Kyler Murray has five rushing touchdowns, because his 16 passing scores are not even good enough to crack the top-20. Kirk Cousins (18), Tua Tagovailoa (19) and Jordan Love (24) all have more and the latter two missed games with injuries, while Cousins of course has been benched. Over the last five games, Murray has four aerial scores, while getting a fifth via the ground. Arizona lost four of these games, officially being eliminated from the postseason last week, losing in overtime to the Panthers in Carolina. In nine career games against the Rams, Murray has led his team to just two victories, with only 248.2 passing yards per game, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. Maybe the Cardinals can play spoiler tonight, but there is no reason for the team to be particularly worried about Murray.
Running Back | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
James Connor suffered a knee injury last week and he has been limited in practice. There is word that he has a chance to play, but that would not be particularly prudent with the Cardinals out of the playoffs and considering the 29-year-old just signed a two-year extension for $19 million last month. For the single-game slate, we will potentially have more information available, but it has been reported by Ian Rappaport that Conner is expected to be less than 100%.
He already has a career high 15 games played, 1,090 rushing yards and 1,500 yards from scrimmage – so what other personal milestones are there? For those playing the two and three-game tournaments today, this becomes a decision point. According to Mike Clay, no running backs, including Michael Carter were elevated from the practice squad. Assuming there is no other archaic rule or loophole, it would seem that Connor is going to be the lead back, with rookie Trey Benson (ankle) serving as the RB2.
Emari Demercado (back) is on the injured reserve, so DeeJay Dallas is once more going to be the third running back. Last week Benson was inactive, which is why Carter was on the active game day roster and available to come into the game after Connor’s injury. In the four games preceding last week’s matchup, Benson averaged just over 10 offensive plays per tilt.
MICHAEL CARTER IS ACTIVE, TREY BENSON INACTIVE, not much faith from me in Connor.
Wide Receiver | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Rookie Marvin Harrison Jr. is second on the team with 100 targets, with six-plus targets in each of the last five games and 40 total during this timeframe. Michael Wilson is a distant third with 65 targets, while Greg Dortch is at 43, with Zay Jones accounting for three of his five targets on the season, over the last trio of tilts.
Ten different wideouts have at least 70 yards against the Rams this season, with seven reaching the century mark. Six tight ends have 59-plus yards, so there is a chance for individuals to rack up the personal glory. Harrison is 25th overall on the target leaderboard, but he barely cracks the top 40 for yards, ranking 35th with 10 receptions of 20 or more yards and 13th with his seven touchdowns.
The main concern for Harrison is that he has held his own against man coverage, but struggles against the zone. That is an issue, since Los Angeles is in the top-five for zone coverage plays on defense. While head coach Jonathan Gannon could have Harrison work shorter routes, it makes sense that McBride and Dortch hold that role, with Harrison being more of a sacrificial pawn for the defense to corral.
Kicker | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Chad Ryland was a four-year kicker with Eastern Michigan, winning the place kicking job as a walk-on. He did a fifth tour as a Maryland Terrapins, earning second-team All-American honors. That was enough to be drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth-round, though he lost his role to NFL nomad Joey Slye, after one season. Ryland has been far more consistent this seasons, making all three of his field goal attempts from 50-plus yards, with his only missed being in the 40-to-49 yard range. To his credit he has missed just one extra point in 45 career chances and upped his touchback rate to 80% with the Cardinals.
Defense | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
The Rams have only 13 turnovers, which is the fourth fewest in the league, while Arizona has only 14 takeaways. Los Angeles is in the bottom-quarter of the league, allowing just under two sacks per game, with the Cardinals just outside the top-10, with 2.6 per tilt.
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NFL DFS Picks for Cardinals-Rams Saturday Night Football Week 17: Puka Nacua
Puka Nacua
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $11,000
FanDuel: $15,500
Fantasy Points
DraftKings: 22.92
FanDuel: 19.29
DraftKings pulled out all the stops for Puka Nacua’s salary, giving him one of the highest cap hits of the season. It is completely validated as he has tallied 17.3 or more points in full-PPR scoring systems in seven of his last eight games.
Cooper Kupp has been on the field for 15 more offensive plays than Nacua over the last four games, but the savvy veteran has averaged five targets per appearance in this stretch, while his younger counterpart has a tick shy of double that.
Safety Joey Blount (ribs) is out, but the Cardinals still have Budda Baker, Jalen Thompson, Garrett Williams, Starling Thomas V and Sean Murphy-Bunting, who have been a solid group. Over the last eight games, Geno Smith (254) has the highest yardage total and this unit has allowed only seven aerial scores. That should not dissuade anyone from looking at Nakua or Kupp, with coach Sean McVay being a wizard at scheming his receivers open. If too much attention is on Nacua, Kupp could easily sit in the seam and collect easy catches.
Demarcus Robinson and Tutu Atwell have mostly split the WR3 role, though Robinson is on the field for around 70% of the offensive plays, with Atwell around 30%. Jordan Whittington should see around 10 snaps, with Zavier Smith or Tyler Johnson serving as the sixth-man. Across the last five games, Robinson has nine targets, while Atwell has 12k and Johnson representing the depth chart dregs with one lonely look.
Los Angeles Rams Positional Preview
Quarterback | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Matthew Stafford had a rough start to the season, with Kupp missing four gams and Nacua five. Since Week 8, Stafford has six multiple touchdown games, with four against Minnesota and four in New England. The last two games have seen the Rams win on the road 19-9 against the Jets and 12-6 against the 49ers. In these two games, Stafford totaled 270 yards and one score. He should approach that on Saturday night, with a strong possibility of multiple scores.
Running Back | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Over the last three games, Kyren Williams has played on just over 84% of the offensive snaps, with rookie Blake Corum getting the rest. Ronnie Rivers is the only other running back to see the field and his last appearance was in Week 4. Williams has seen his involvement in the passing game slide, with only six targets in the last six games. Corum has had four opportunities in that timeframe, though three were in Week 15.
Tonight the Stokastic projections have Williams for 23.6 carries, 107.8 yards and a 70% probability of scoring a touchdown, accompanied by 2.3 targets for 1.9 receptions and a dozen yards. Corum is earmarked for 4.5 carries, 20.7 yards and a 15% chance for a score and only a 70% chance of getting a target.
Williams has the second highest salary on both of the main DFS sites, which is reasonable. He has 87 or more rushing yards in the last four games, reaching the century mark three ties, while also adding four scores. However, he has just six targets in this span, converting all of them for a scant 30 yards. He needs 100-plus rushing and a pair of touchdowns to “return value” at his current salary. Of course, as we saw on Thursday, anything can happen, such as a three field goal game, but that is a rare outcome. Understanding how the salary works is key.
Tight End | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Tyler Higbee returned to action for the first time since shredding his knee last year, seeing action on 14 snaps. That made an already murky situation even messier, with Hunter Long (19 snaps), Colby Parkinson (17) and Davis Allen (12) all seeing the field. Long is the best blocker, Parkinson the best combo-player, with Higbee looking rusty and somehow Allen still hanging around. Higbee had two targets and Parkinson one, with the prior week being Parkinson five and Long two. Over the last 10 games, the tight end position has averaged 3.4 targets per tilt.
Kicker | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Joshua Karty has converted his last seven field goal attempts over the last three games, but the rookie has not been given an opportunity over 48 yards in the last six weeks. The sixth-rounder is looking pretty average, but the jury is still out. He has converted on three of four from 50-plus, but also missed four of his 34 point after touchdown attempts. He is at home, but SoFi Stadium has not been his home for long.
Defense | Cardinals-Rams NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17
Arizona has ceded the fourth fewest sacks in the league, while the Rams have been in the bottom-third, with two per game. The Cardinals have 18 turnovers, while Los Angeles has 18 takeaways, both around the middle of the pack.
NFL DFS Picks for Saturday Night Football Week 17: Rankings
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Top 10 NFL DFS Showdown Picks for Cardinals-Rams
- Puka Nacua: Captain, My Captain!
- Kyren Williams: Would love to see more passing game opportunities, but with Nacua and Kupp around, it makes sense that Williams falls down the priority list.
- Trey McBride: Gamers really aren’t worried about the touchdown thing, right?
- Kyler Murray: Fun for fantasy, not so much for real life football, with the Cardinals making the postseason once (2021) in the last nine seasons.
- Joshua Karty: Homefield advantage and a salary saver.
- Matthew Stafford: No rushing upside, but multiple passing scores are on the menu.
- Cooper Kupp: If too much attention goes to his teammates, the veteran can make defenses pay.
- James Conner: So crazy that he is playing with nothing on the line.
- Marvin Harrison Jr.: No consistency game-to-game, but the talent is clearly there.
- Trey Benson: Maybe the plan is to feed him if the game gets out of hand. MICHAEL CARTER IS ACTIVE, TREY BENSON INACTIVE, not much faith from me in Connor.
Secondary Options
- Chad Ryland: Meh, but helps with the salary cap issues.
- Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch: Short-passing game may have to replaced the rushing attack. Dortch returns punts and kickoffs.
- Los Angeles D/ST: Live for a pick-six or scoop-and-score.
- Blake Corum: Has seen his workload increase, in line for mop-up duty, making him a strong DraftKings option and viable on FanDuel for those building more than 10 lineups.
- Tutu Atwell and Demarcus Robinson: Either a big play or the Cardinals keeping things close into the second half.
Lottery Tickets
- DeeJay Dallas: The former Seahawk scored on a one-yard catch last week, his only target of the season, he has eight carries for 27 yards this year. Returns kickoffs with Dortch.
- Arizona D/ST: Meh.
- Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higbee, Davis Allen and Hunter Long: Maybe one of them will be inactive, even then it is hard to be enthralled by anyone.
- Elijah Higgins and Tip Reiman: TE4s as McBride is the TE1, TE2 and TE3.
- Zay Jones and Jordan Whittington: Wing and a prayer, albeit on different teams. Whittington is the main kickoff returner for LA.
- Zach Pascal, Tyler Johnson and Xavier Smith: Smith returns punts, the other two may not be active.
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