Derek Anderson, we hardly knew ya. Just when I'm getting used to the Cardinals having an erratic, mediocre quarterback who isn't even remotely relevant in fantasy circles, Ken Whisenhunt just has to go and turn my world upside down.
Ok, well maybe not upside down, but at least 90 degrees ... right? Eh, 45 degrees?
Well ok, so maybe the more things change, the more they stay the same, but still, at least we don't really know what we're getting with Max Hall. For all we know, he could be fantasy football's second coming of Drew Brees, and isn't that exciting to think about (at least for a week)? Unknown potential is always more interesting than known mediocrity.
Bryan Gibberman has already published his analysis of the Cardinals' outlook in fantasy this weekend as they face off against the defending champion New Orleans Saints, so here are our SB Nation Arizona predictions.
Max Hall: How did we come to this? To go from years of having a quarterback ranked within the upper-echelon of the fantasy-elite to a guy that the deprived Cleveland Browns wanted no part of, to an undrafted rookie. It's been fun, hasn't it? Well, last week the Stormin' Mormon put up a mighty 1.28 fantasy points in his half-game of work. If we extrapolate those numbers out to a full game we see that he's averaging ... 2.56 points a game. Spectacular. Gregg Williams is going to have a field day coming up with blitzes to confuse the rookie. Very low chance Max Hall has his breakout game this week. Stay away until there's bigger sample size.
Prediction: 14-27, 192 yards, 2 interceptions, 1 touchdown
Larry Fitzgerald: Kent Somers' Thursday article in the Arizona Republic brought up an interesting argument: the idea that Max Hall will be able to fulfill the obligation to Fitz that D.A. was never able to. At this point, Fitzgerald only has 208 yards receiving, his lowest total through the first four games since grabbing 204 yards in the beginning of his rookie season. Perhaps Hall can help Fitz reclaim his former fantasy glory. We shall see.
Prediction: 8 receptions, 81 yards, 1 touchdown
Stephen Williams: Once again, Stevie finds himself with the starting nod on Sunday because of injuries to Early Doucet and Steve Breaston. The rookie trifecta of Williams, Komar, and Roberts has been thrust into action, though predictably, the results haven't been too impressive. Last week, the trio caught a grand total of four receptions. Stephen had three of them. While the former Toledo Rocket is clearly the #2 receiver at this point, the offense remains in shambles, which essentially negates any semblance of value he could possibly have. Though I do like the idea of the undrafted-rookie-to-undrafted-rookie connection.
Prediction: 4 receptions, 53 yards, 0 touchdowns.
Beanie Wells: Beanie Wells was not a happy camper this week, to say the least. After pulling a Matt Leinart, and taking his grievances to the media, the perception around Phoenix was that the Sword of Whiz would strike down upon him. However, it was not to be. Apparently, Wells is just being a competitor. Whatever. Anyway, it is difficult to predict what effect, if any, the incident will have on his playing time. As it stands, Wells' usage has been sporadic at best since returning from injury. At this point, Beanie, like most of the Cardinals, can't really be trusted on a legit fantasy team until his situation settles itself out.
Prediction: 12 carries, 60 yards, 2 receptions, 9 yards, 0 touchdowns
Tim Hightower: One would think that a football team with quarterback issues and two solid running backs would try to focus on the running game, but it hasn't happened yet. In reality, trying to start either of these running backs in your league is akin to playing with fire. Still, at this point, Hightower offers the Cardinals more offensive freedom than Beanie does. Timmy is able to block, pick up the blitz, and catch out of the backfield. Plus, he seems to be Whiz's guy. If a fantasy owner had both of them, and they had to start one, Hightower is the safe bet.
Prediction: 11 carries, 42 yards, 6 receptions, 33 yards, 1 touchdown
Note: All point totals are based off of YahooSports.com's default fantasy scoring system.