PFF’s fantasy football overview focuses on player usage and statistics, providing all the essential information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.
Arizona Cardinals @ Dallas Cowboys
Bam Knight leads the Cardinals’ two-man rotation: Arizona hasn’t had a consistent running back rotation since the early weeks of the season.
The Cardinals opened the year with James Conner handling early downs and Trey Benson as third down back and primary backup. Once Conner suffered a season-ending injury, Benson took over the lead role, with Emari Demercado taking over on the passing downs. Benson was then placed on injured reserve after Week 4.
In Week 5, Michael Carter operated as the primary defender while Bam Knight worked behind him and Demercado moved back to third. The following week, Knight led a two-man rotation with Carter, while Demercado missed time due to injury. In Week 7, Knight again led the backfield, but D’Ernest Johnson handled the passing down snaps. The Week 8 bye gave Demercado time to recover from his ankle injury.
The Cardinals waived Carter last Monday, re-signed him to the practice squad on Tuesday and then elevated him for this week’s game. Despite practicing with the first-team offense during the week, Carter did not consider the rotation in the backfield. Knight handled the early work, while Demercado returned as the third down back and primary backup.
Demercado was the first Cardinals back to find success on the ground, rushing five times for 27 yards in the first half – his fourth-most carries in a single game – with the potential for more production after halftime. Knight struggled early, but contributed two receptions and broke off a 17-yard run later in the second half. Demercado continued to show consistent efficiency as a runner after the break. At one point he reached a career-high of 83 rushing yards, but a late loss of four yards dropped him to 79 – his second-best rushing total to date.
Benson will be eligible to return next week, with initial reports estimating a recovery of four to six weeks after surgery – a period that has almost expired. None of the Cardinals backs have performed well enough in his absence to compromise their workload. Once healthy, Benson should reclaim his early down duties, with Demercado resuming his role on third downs. Fantasy managers can safely move on from Carter, Knight and even Demercado in most formats because the uncertainty remains high even if Benson misses another week.
The Cowboys are leaning on Javonte Williams: With Jaydon Blue healthy inactive, Williams logged a higher percentage of offensive snaps than normal.
Dallas opened the season with Javonte Williams leading the way, with Williams typically playing between 75% and 80% of the offensive snaps. Miles Sanders served as the primary backup, while fifth-round rookie Jaydon Blue was a healthy inactive. With fullback Hunter Luepke able to handle some halfback duties, the Cowboys didn’t need a third defenseman early this year. However, Sanders suffered a season-ending injury in Week 4, moving Blue to the second role.
Over the next four games, Blue ran 22 times for 65 yards, caught his lone target for 5 yards and lost a fumble in limited opportunities. This week, the Cowboys signed Malik Davis from the practice squad and made Blue inactive. Davis, who has spent most of the past four seasons in Dallas, mostly on the practice squad, entered the night with 17 career games played and 40 carries for 164 yards and a touchdown.
The move gave Williams an even greater workload than usual. He recorded 13 carries before Davis saw his first touch, and as long as the Cowboys don’t have a trusted backup, Williams should remain one of the frontrunners in offensive rushing stock. That consistent usage makes him an easy plug-and-play option in fantasy lineups.
Ryan Flournoy further establishes himself as the Cowboys’ No. 3 receiver: Flournoy played more offensive snaps than KaVontae Turpin and Jalen Tolbert combined.
Flournoy started the season fifth on the depth chart behind starters CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, with Turpin and Tolbert competing for snaps in three-receiver sets. Injuries to Pickens and Turpin moved Flournoy to third, and he made the most of his opportunity in Week 5, catching six passes for 114 yards. Neither Turpin nor Tolbert have ever recorded a 100-yard receiving game in their NFL careers.
Once everyone was fully healthy again in Week 7, Flournoy dropped to fifth on the depth chart. That changed last week, when he and Turpin split the snaps into three sets: Flournoy played 45.9% of the offensive snaps, Turpin 40.5% and Tolbert trailed 18.9%. This week, Turpin’s usage dropped even further, coming closer to Tolbert’s than to Flournoy’s.
Flournoy was quiet for three quarters before catching two passes in the fourth, including the first touchdown of his NFL career. While his role remains somewhat fluid, there is reason to believe Flournoy can deliver a few more strong performances before the end of the season.
Various comments
- Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray missed his third straight game due to a foot injury. He was limited all week. On Saturday he was labeled doubtful.
- Marvin Harrison Jr. was shut down more than usual this week, simply because he made so many big catches that he had to take a few more short breaks.
- Cardinals wide receiver Zay Jones was limited in practice due to a knee injury on Thursday and Friday, but practiced fully on Saturday.
- Cowboys wide receiver Jonathan Mingo started the season on injured reserve. He was on the 53-man roster for the past two weeks, but was healthy inactive in both games, meaning he has not yet made his season debut.
- Jake Ferguson played 89.5% of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps, his highest percentage in a game since 2023.
- The Cowboys activated tight end Princeton Fant from the practice squad prior to the game. This gave Dallas four tight ends on Monday night.
Table notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
- Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be the result of an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
- Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.
#NFL #Week #Recap #Instant #Fantasy #Football #Takeaways #CardinalsCowboys #Monday #Night #Football