Dynasty Fantasy Football Outlook for Cardinals | Are Kyler Murray, Emari Demercado, Marquise Brown, Trey McBride and Others Long-Term Assets?

The fantasy football regular season has come to an end, but that doesn’t mean dynasty owners have stopped assessing their teams. The best dynasty owners out there are always thinking about the future of their team and how to improve.

Today, we’ll address some offensive players from the Arizona Cardinals and determine how to approach those players. We have already covered dynasty outlooks for the Chicago Bears, New England Patriots and Washington Commanders in past stories.

Quarterback Outlook

There were not a lot of high expectations for the Cardinals coming into the season, and although the team finished 4-13, they were competitive in most games. 

A big reason why expectations were low was because Kyler Murray was out for the start of the season. Joshua Dobbs made the first eight starts for Arizona, going 1-7 in his starts. Dobbs was then traded as Murray’s return neared, and Clayton Tune made a spot start, losing to the Cleveland Browns. Murray got the final eight starts and led the team to a 3-5 record.

Murray completed 65.7% of his passes and threw for 1,799 yards and 10 touchdowns, while being intercepted five times. Murray attempted 44 runs, gaining 244 yards and scoring three times.

Murray didn’t hit 300 passing yards in any starts, but only failed to reach 200 yards once. He threw a touchdown in all but one start, with multiple scores in two games. 

Even though he was coming back from a major knee injury, he rushed for touchdowns in his first three games back. He had at least 20 rushing yards in all but one start, with over 35 yards on two occasions.

The best part of Murray’s starts was that he got through things healthy. Now with a whole offseason, Murray should be 100% and full go for next season, granted the team doesn’t trade him or draft a replacement. Head coach Jonathan Gannon expressed his support of Murray right after the season ended.

Being a dual-threat option already makes Murray a good fantasy option, and if the Cardinals can give him some more offensive talent to work with, Murray could be one of the better fantasy quarterbacks in the league.

Running Back Outlook

All of the main running backs from this season are signed for at least one more season.

James Conner had a strong season despite missing several weeks with an injury. He rushed for 1,040 yards and seven touchdowns across 208 carries. Conner also caught 27-of-33 targets for an additional 165 yards and two scores across his 13 games played.

Conner will be 29 by the time next season starts, which usually is the beginning of the end for running backs in today’s NFL. Last season suggests Conner still has plenty in the tank though.

Arizona also liked what they saw out of rookie Emari Demercado. He attempted 58 runs this season, gaining 284 yards and scoring two touchdowns. Demercado added 119 receiving yards on 21 catches and 30 targets.

Demercado was an undrafted rookie signing of the Cardinals, so they don’t have much invested in the youngster, meaning a draft pick in the upcoming draft would be given the priority over Demercado.

As of now, Michael Carter is the only other RB on the active roster, while Tony Jones is on the practice squad.

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Cardinals add to the running back room before next season begins. Conner should be given the chance to serve as the workhorse again, but either Demercado or a new acquired back will also be utilized to prepare for life without Conner.

Pass Catchers Outlook

The Cardinals have some promising pieces at wide receiver and tight end. Health was an issue all season with those guys though.

Tight end Trey McBride started the year as the No. 2 option behind Zach Ertz, but excelled when he took over as the starter so much that the team released Ertz. McBride finished the season with 825 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 81 catches and 106 targets. McBride was a top-10 TE in PPR formats.

Elijah Higgins showed some nice things down the stretch and could be the team’s No. 2 tight end going into next season. He finished the season with 163 yards and a touchdown on 14 catches and 19 targets.

It’s also possible the Cardinals address tight end in the draft or free agency, but being in a rebuilding state, I could also understand if they roll with McBride and Higgins as the top two guys for next season.

The team’s top wideout was Marquise Brown, but he’s a free agent this offseason. He had 574 receiving yards and four touchdowns on 51 grabs and 101 targets across 14 games.

Rondale Moore, Michael Wilson and Greg Dortch also factored in at times this season.

Moore finished with 352 receiving yards and a touchdown on 40 catches and 62 targets. He also went for 178 rushing yards and a score on 28 attempts across 17 games.

Wilson played in 13 games in his rookie season. He tallied 565 yards and three scores on 38 catches and 58 targets.

Dortch, who is an exclusive rights free agent (ERFA), posted 280 yards and two touchdowns on 24 catches and 41 targets in 16 games.

Regardless of whether or not the Cardinals bring back Brown and Dortch, they could use an infusion of talent at wideout. Ideally, the organization sticks at pick No. 4 and has Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. fall to them. If he doesn’t, then Washington’s Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers are two other highly-touted wideouts they could target (and they might be able to trade back a couple picks, acquire some more assets, and still get one of those guys).

I’d be pretty surprised if the Cardinals don’t bring at least two new receivers into the fold, and possibly a few more if they let Brown and Dortch walk. Arizona has a decent amount of cap space to play with, and this offense should be a pretty enticing one for a wideout looking to be a No. 1 option. Depending on who ends up in Arizona, this could be a sneaky good offense in 2024.

How to Proceed

There’s several promising pieces on this Cardinals’ team as is, and they should be able to add to the offense during the offseason.

There’s definitely some risk involved when talking about Murray, just because if one of the top quarterbacks falls into their laps on draft night, I wouldn’t be surprised if Arizona takes them. I really do believe that the Cardinals are focused on making Murray their franchise quarterback, so here’s how I’d proceed involving Murray.

If I owned Murray, I’d put him on the trade block simply to see what offers were out there. Maybe a team desperate for a quarterback decides that Murray is a somewhat affordable piece and comes after him. You’d get a pretty decent haul for Murray, but don’t expect some massive return. Make sure you are set up at quarterback if you are moving on from Murray, whether that means getting a likely starter in return, or draft assets to acquire one of the top rookies in this year’s draft class.

If you are someone in need of a quarterback, Murray is a pretty solid option. He’s a serviceable fantasy quarterback as a passer, but his running ability makes him a strong piece. You won’t have to pay top dollar to get him, and you don’t have to mortgage your future for a guy who may or may not be with his team in the next couple of seasons. Simply put, tread carefully with Murray.

At running back, I like Conner to start for at least one more season in Arizona. Given his age, I’d be much more inclined to trade him away than acquire him. If you are in the title hunt, he’d be a nice piece to add, but a rebuilding team should stay away from him, or move him for future assets.

Demercado is a guy I like, but with an uncertain future, I wouldn’t go all out to acquire him. If you can get him for relatively cheap, by all means make the deal, but unless Conner is moved or injured, Demercado’s fantasy value isn’t great for at least another year.

Brown is a talented receiver and should have plenty of suitors in free agency. I personally don’t see him returning to Arizona, but he’ll join a more talented offense if he does. All you can hope for is that he joins a team with a solid starting quarterback. 

I’d hold on to Brown if I rostered him to see where he lands. He might be a pretty affordable trade option right now if you’re looking to acquire him. You could strike gold if he lands with a better team.

As for the other receivers on the team, I’d only include them in trades as filler pieces. Moore, Wilson and Dortch all did some nice things, but they might be secondary pieces in the passing game depending on how this offseason goes. I like Wilson the best of the trio, followed by Moore and then Dortch.

I like the idea of rostering McBride. He looked like a cornerstone offensive piece for years to come. He should be relatively affordable as a trade piece too. At a weak tight end position, he makes a lot of sense in dynasty leagues.