Cardinals vs. Rams Fantasy Football Worksheet, Week 2

The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 2 matchup between the Cardinals and Rams.

Find a breakdown of every Week 2 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.

Trust = spike production for that player

Quarterback

Kyler Murray: Murray was a mixed bag in the season opener. 

He ended the week as QB15 (14.2 points).

Murray rushed for 57 yards, but it was passing production that once again limited him from a spike week in fantasy.

He was 20th in passing points per attempt (0.338).

Murray averaged only 5.2 yards per pass attempt (26th), which was below Bryce Young.

His 34.3% success rate as a passer was 22nd. 

After posting the league’s worst rating on throws 10 yards or further downfield in 2023, Murray was 0-of-7 on throws in Week 1.

Two of those were drops.

We are banking on Marvin Harrison Jr. being the key to Murray regaining passing efficiency, but Harrison Jr. struggled in the opener.

Without Harrison Jr. making a jump, Murray was the same player that we left off with in fantasy, which is a floor-based QB1.

We need Harrison Jr. to contribute more before handling Murray as more of a ceiling play.

Murray only threw the ball to wide receivers 41.9% of the time, which was 29th in Week 1.

I have a hard time buying that Harrison Jr. is as bad as what we saw in Week 1, so we have to let things breathe.

That said, for as much good as Drew Petzing does in the run game for Arizona, we would like to see more of that bleed into the passing game.

The Cardinals used motion on 36.8% of Murray’s dropbacks (23rd) while 85.0% of his snaps were out of the shotgun (7th).

Matthew Stafford: Stafford used a monster second half to propel him to QB13 (14.6 points) in Week 1.

He was one of only two passes to throw for 300 yards in Week 1, connecting on 34-of-49 passes for 317 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

In the first half of Sunday Night, Stafford was 16-of-26 (61.5%) for 119 yards (4.6 Y/A) with an interception.

After halftime, Stafford hit 18-of-23 passes (78.3%) for 198 yards (8.6 Y/A) with a touchdown.

If you opened the year with Stafford as your starter, keep rolling him out as a fringe QB1.

The Cardinals were largely the same defense that we saw a year ago. 

They only pressured Josh Allen 16.0% of the time (30th) and blitzed 20.0% of the passing snaps (18th).

When these teams played a year ago, Stafford was 40-of-57 (70.2%) for 455 yards (8.0 Y/A) with 5 touchdowns and 1 interception.

He was QB15 (13.2 points) and QB7 (23.4 points) in those games.

In those matchups, only 51.5% of their offensive yardage was via passing, the lowest rate for them versus any opponent. 

The Rams had a 47.3% and a 51.5% dropback rate in those matchups.

With all of their injuries, the Rams moved to underdogs here, so they should not walk all over the Cardinals as they did in both games a year ago.

The Rams also have some concerns up front, although this Arizona pass rush is a good team to face if you are short-handed there.

The Rams played Week 1 without right tackle Rob Havenstein due to an ankle injury. 

AJ Jackson is still suspended for one more game.

Guard Steve Avila, Kevin Dotson, and Joe Noteboom all suffered injuries in Week 1. 

Avila is heading to IR while Noteboom is expected to miss time.

Running Back

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