The injuries keep piling up for the Arizona Cardinals, who sit at 2-2. The Cardinals' backfield already took a hit when RB James Conner went down with a season-ending injury, sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Now, reports have come in that Arizona RB Trey Benson is dealing with an injury of his own. Benson looked to come out of their 23-20 loss to Seattle healthy, but it was later revealed he is dealing with a knee injury.
Benson will be placed on short-term IR and expected to miss 4-6 weeks with his knee injury, opening up the Cardinals backfield, with RBs Emari Demercado and Michael Carter set to split work.
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How Long is Trey Benson Out For?
Benson has been placed on short-term IR due to a knee injury. He will miss at least four weeks due to the IR designation, but could miss up to six weeks.
This injury comes a week after taking the lead back duties in Week 4, recording 35 rushing yards on 8 carries while catching 5 passes for 19 yards in the Cardinals' Thursday night loss to Seattle.
However, Benson is likely worth stashing if you have an IR spot open in your traditional fantasy leagues, as he'll return to be the RB1 in time to face the Bengals abysmal defense in Week 17, which is fantasy football championship week.
New Cardinals RB Depth Chart
The Cardinals are incredibly thin at RB after losing both their star RB and backup to injuries, sidelining them for the majority of the season. Carter will immediately slot into the two-down back role that Benson was playing — though he was just on the practice squad two weeks ago.
This is how the Cardinals' RB depth chart stacks up, as it’s next man up when they take on the Tennessee Titans in Week 5, according to RB drills in practice:
- RB1: Michael Carter
- RB2: Emari Demarcado
- RB3: Bam Knight
- RB4: Jermar Jefferson
It looks as if the Cardinals would like to keep Carter in a Benson-like role, including a goal-line role, while Demercado plays a change-of-pace, pass-catching role, including on two-minute drills. They both should eat into each other's fantasy production.
That means in games that the Cardinals should lead in, look to Carter — like in Week 5 vs. the Titans. However, in a game where the Cardinals could be playing from behind, Demarcado should find himself in a bigger role.
Michael Carter Fantasy Football Outlook
In lieu of the Benson injury news, Arizona signed Carter off the practice squad to the active roster. Carter is in his third season with Arizona after being traded from the New York Jets during the 2023 season.
During his three seasons with New York, he rushed for 1,079 yards on 269 carries (4.01 YPC) and 7 TDs. Since being traded to Arizona, Carter has played in just 10 games across three seasons for 281 yards on 58 carries (4.84 YPC) and 1 TD.
While in limited play time, he has shined when given the opportunity. In his two games as the lead back in 2024, Carter carried the ball 30 times for 113 yards and a TD.
This is a backfield that could see either Carter or Demercado step into the lead role, but as of right now in practice drills, it’s Carter leading the way with Demercado right behind him.
Michael Carter is projected for 49.5 rushing yards (Goblin) and 13.5 yards longest rush on PrizePicks real money NFL game.
Emari Demercado Fantasy Football Outlook
Arizona RB Emari Demercado isn’t new to stepping in due to injury. During his 2023 rookie season, he started two games for the injured Conner — piling up 136 yards on 33 carries, along with 5 catches for 18 yards.
As the lead back in that spot, Demercado handled 57% of the carries while taking on a bellcow role in Week 8 with 20 carries a 31-24 loss.
While Demercado has primarily been used on passing downs, he has also proven he can handle heavier workloads when needed.
Not only has he been a reliable pass catcher, hauling in 16-of-19 targets (84%) for 104 yards in 2024, but he has also been solid in protection with a 46.6 pass blocking grade according to PFF — a better grade than RBs Alvin Kamara, Kyren Williams, and Bijan Robinson.
The Cardinals' backfield is one to monitor over the next few weeks to see how things pan out after the Trey Benson injury.
Both Demercado and Carter have the ability to run away with the lead back duties, but as of right now, a 50-50 timeshare with Carter handling the early down work and Demercado handling the passing down duties is the likely outcome.
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