Cardinals' Running Back Breakdown: Is Emari Demercado the Player to Own? Should you Drop Keaontay Ingram?

The Arizona Cardinals’ backfield took a hit when James Conner was injured in week 5.

Many fantasy owners expected Emari Demercado to serve as the team’s top back in week 6, but Keaontay Ingram ended up leading the way and played pretty solid. So you’d expect Ingram to lead the way again in week 7, right? Nope. Ingram wasn’t even on the field for a single snap. Throw in Damien Williams has been the top backup the past two weeks and fantasy owners have a difficult situation to untangle.

So which Arizona back will lead the way in week 8? Before we answer that, let’s take a look at the numbers from the past two weeks, then see who the Cardinals are playing and then finally determine which guy you should roster and possibly start.

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Weeks 6 and 7 Breakdowns

In Arizona’s week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Ingram led the Cardinals with 12 touches. He rushed 10 times for 40 yards and caught both of his targets for 11 yards.

Williams got nine touches, tallying 36 rushing yards on eight attempts and catching an 8-yard pass. Demercado got just three touches, rushing twice for 11 yards and adding a 6-yard reception.

Maybe we should have been more skeptical of the production from that contest seeing how the snaps were distributed. Demercado led the way with 33 offensive snaps played. Ingram played 28 snaps, while Williams saw 13 snaps.

Demercado absolutely dominated the other two backs when it came to snaps in week 7. The undrafted rookie played 53 snaps, or 80% of the team’s total. Williams was on the field for 12 snaps, while again, Ingram didn’t play a snap.

Demercado received 17 touches to just one for Williams. Demercado rushed 13 times for 58 yards and caught four of the five passes thrown his way for 17 yards. Williams rushed once for 2 yards and wasn’t targeted in the passing game.

Wide receiver Rondale Moore helped out by attempting four rushes, gaining 24 yards.

Running Back Outlook

Conner will miss at least the next two games, when the Cardinals take on the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. The Ravens’ defense is average against opposing running backs, allowing 19 fantasy points a game, while the Browns are allowing just 15 fantasy points.

Seeing as to how the snaps were distributed the past two weeks, Demercado looks like the best bet of the Arizona backs to lead the way the next couple weeks.

The team seems pleased with Williams as the backup option, so I’d anticipate he retains that role. 

That leaves Ingram, who started one week and then was relegated to snaps only on special teams the following one. Seeing as he’s missed a couple games with injuries and not matched his 28 week 6 snaps between weeks 1-3 combined, my guess is that he won’t have a huge offensive role.

It almost seems like the Cardinals weren’t confident in giving Demercado a big workload in week 6, but after an extra week of practice, were ready to turn the keys over to him.

Demercado outproduced what Ingram did in week 6, so that is probably enough to keep rolling with the rookie until Conner returns.

Who to Roster/Start Going Forward

According to our charts, Ingram was owned in 33% of leagues for week 7, while Demercado sat at 21%. Williams is owned in just 1% of leagues.

By the time week 8 kicks off, Demercado should be the highest-owned healthy running back. I’d add him in all formats if he’s available and you have room for him. I’d start him in week 8 and then see how things shake out before making the call on starting him against a tougher defense in week 9.

I’d drop Ingram in standard leagues. Unless there’s another injury, he doesn’t seem likely to play enough snaps or get enough touches to warrant a roster spot, let alone a start. You can hang onto him one more week in deeper league formats, but if there’s another guy on the waiver wire you want, I’d be fine moving on from Ingram now.

Williams will likely be the backup for Arizona until Conner returns, but I’m not sure he’ll get enough touches to be a solid fantasy player. Arizona is going to be playing from behind most games, which will leave the backup running back to mostly passing downs. I’d avoid adding Williams in any formats.