Today's Cardinals-Browns game is expected to see 20 mph sustained winds with gusts around 30 mph. We saw a couple of windy games in Cleveland disappoint for fantasy purposes last season. Today isn't quite as windy as those, but the passing and kicks games still figure to be impacted. We certainly wouldn't be benching guys like Kyler Murray or DeAndre Hopkins. But use the weather as a tiebreaker if you're considering more fringy passing-game options from these teams.
Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury tested positive for COVID and will miss Sunday's game vs. the Browns. QB coach Cam Turner is also out after testing positive. Kingsbury is an offensive-minded coach and Arizona's play caller, so it's notable news for QB Kyler Murray and the rest of this offense. We're not adjusting our projections for the Cardinals offense, but the situation adds downside risk.
Cardinals WR DeAndre Hopkins (ribs) will be a game-day decision for Sunday's tilt with the Jaguars, HC Kliff Kingsbury said Friday. Hopkins didn't practice all week. He's missed just 2 games over his 8-year NFL career, so we wouldn't count Hopkins out of this one yet. We should get an update on his status on Sunday morning. Hopkins' absence would turn WRs Christian Kirk and Rondale Moore into near every-down players, alongside WR A.J. Green.
The Cardinals released their 1st "unofficial" depth chart of the year Monday, ahead of Friday's preseason opener against the Cowboys. Unsurprisingly, the team lists DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green and Christian Kirk as the top 3 receivers. Kirk would have been the only 1 of the 3 in question, with Hopkins an incumbent and Green a veteran arriving on a sizable 1-year free agent deal. Kirk, meanwhile, has missed some practice time with a "minor" (though unspecified) injury, allowing rookie WR Rondale Moore to generate some buzz. We'll see where things go between these 2 the rest of the month. Moore certainly brings the higher ceiling. We'll see if he can push past Kirk before the regular season. Of course, it's also worth noting that these preseason depth charts can sometimes prove meaningless -- especially this early in the process.
The Cardinals selected Texas A&M WR Christian Kirk with the 47th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Kirk’s most impressive college season came back in 2015. As an 18-year-old true freshman, he led the Aggies with 80 catches, 1,009 receiving yards and 7 TDs. His yardage totals tailed off over the past 2 years, but he still totaled 149 catches and 19 scores. Kirk was also a special-teams dynamo, scoring 1 kick-return and 6 punt-return TDs. A 5’10, 201-pounder who ran the majority of his routes at A&M from the slot, Kirk has shades of Golden Tate in his game. He averaged 6.8 yards after the catch during his college career, according to Pro Football Focus. Arizona is a strange short-term fit with slot maven Larry Fitzgerald still around. We’ll see how Kirk fits in this season. Long term, he should be the Fitz replacement.
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