NFL Week 17 Fantasy Football Recap: Atlanta Falcons vs. Arizona Cardinals

• Tyler Allgeier: 20 carries, 83 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 12 receiving yards

• Trey McBride: 7 receptions, 78 yards, 1 touchdown

Jump to another recap:

Monitor James Conner’s health: Conner suffered a shin injury late in the third quarter and didn’t return.

Conner took the clear majority of snaps over the first three quarters, consistent with his workload in recent months. He ran the ball 16 times for 79 yards and gained another 31 yards on three catches.
Keaontay Ingram had been serving as the Cardinals' primary backup running back since Week 10. He played 53 offensive snaps from Week 10 to Week 16, while all other backups combined for five snaps in that time.
Corey Clement surpassed Ingram on the depth chart before the game. He took 17 snaps over the first three quarters and 15 snaps in the fourth quarter after Conner’s injury.
Ingram’s only offensive snap was in the middle of the fourth quarter.
If Conner misses next week, we can expect Clement to be the lead rusher.
Conner is under contract for one more season, but Arizona will likely invest at running back this offseason. They should aim to acquire a better backup as well as a player for the future.

Monitor Robbie Anderson’s health: Anderson suffered a back injury early in the second quarter and didn’t return.

Anderson started the game, taking on DeAndre Hopkins’ role. Hopkins showed up on the injury report Friday with a knee ailment and was ultimately inactive.
The Cardinals continued to use Marquise Brown on the outside and Greg Dortch in the slot, as they did last week.
Dortch started seeing more playing time in two-receiver sets after Anderson’s injury.
Andre Baccellia took over Anderson’s spot in three-receiver sets. These injuries didn’t impact A.J. Green’s playing time.
Arizona may need to dig deep down the depth chart again next week with nothing to play for.
They will ideally have a healthier wide receiver room next season with Hopkins, Brown and Rondale Moore all under contract, and Dortch is an exclusive rights free agent.
Anderson is very likely to be released later in the offseason based on his contract, while Green is a free agent.

Trey McBride breaks out: McBride put up his best game of the season, leading the team in receiving yards and scoring his first career touchdown.

McBride was the 55th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft but had largely been a disappointment for fantasy managers to this point.
He caught only three passes for 24 yards over the first nine weeks of the season as a backup tight end while still seeing significant playing time.
He took over as the starter in Week 10 due to Zach Ertz’s season-ending injury. He was held to 22 yards over his first three starts.
He began seeing more targets in mid-December, leading to an improved 10 catches for 100 yards over the previous three weeks.
His arrow continued to trend upward today.
Ertz is still under contract for another two seasons, so it might be another year or two before McBride is a fantasy starter. He might be playing well enough recently to make this more of a two-man committee next season.

Tyler Allgeier shows out for his fantasy managers: Allgeier has been one of the top waiver options in recent weeks, and starting him paid off.

He had gained over 100 offensive yards in each of the past two weeks. That didn’t quite continue this week, but he scored his fourth touchdown of the season.
Cordarrelle Patterson remained heavily involved in the offense. He scored a touchdown and also caught six passes.
Patterson is still under contract next season, and the Falcons can afford to keep him at his cost.
Patterson turns 32 in just over two months. The best-case scenario for Allgeier is the Falcons don’t make a change at running back this offseason and that he takes a higher percentage of offensive snaps in 2023.

Table Notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.

• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.

• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.