Fantasy Football Fallout of Trey Benson's Injury: Should You Add Michael Carter or Emari Demercado?

The Cardinals' backfield has taken some major hits over the past couple weeks. 

The latest hit has left the world wondering how the backfield might look going forward, and I hope to give you some answers after diving into things a bit deeper. Let's go!

Fantasy football injury news can be tracked all season on FantasySP.

Running Back Injuries

The lead back to start the season was James Conner. He played the first three weeks, then was placed on injured reserve after week 3 with a season-ending foot injury.

He had 32 carries over the first three games, rushing for 95 yards and a score. Conner caught eight of his nine targets for an additional 38 yards and a score.

Conner's injury left Trey Benson as the new No. 1 back. 

Benson only got eight carries (going for 35 yards), but caught all five of his targets for 19 yards in the team's week 4 game. 

He has 160 rushing yards and no scores on 29 attempts, along with 64 receiving yards and no scores on 13 receptions and 16 targets for the season.

Benson suffered a knee injury and is set to miss at least the next four games. There's reports out there that he could miss between 4-6 weeks.

Who will Lead the Way Now?

After Conner and Benson, Emari Demercado has played the next-most snaps among the team's running backs. Michael Carter and Bam Knight were also mentioned by coach Jonathan Gannon as guys who would fill-in for the time being.

Demercado has played 34 offensive snaps so far. Carter is at just four offensive snaps. Knight hasn't logged an offensive snap yet, although he has played a bit on special teams.

Demercado has attempted four rushes this season, gaining eight yards. He has 13 receiving yards and a score on two catches and three targets.

Carter has a one-yard rush on his only carry and has not been targeted in the passing game.

Logic tells you that Demercado is the next Arizona back to own, but based on the coaches' comments, I'm not so certain that he'll be a great fantasy asset. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd expect some type of committee between Demercado, Carter and Knight until Benson is ready to play again.

That could be a fantasy nightmare, but it's still worth adding the backs in a good amount of fantasy leagues.

After the news of Benson landing on IR, Demercado's fantasy own percentage rocketed from 7% to 81% today. I'd expect it to rise a little more before the team plays its next game.

With uncertainty on who the starter will be, Carter was also added in a good amount of leagues. He went from barely owned to about 50% rostered today.

Knight is still unowned in fantasy leagues, but he could be worth some adds after his coaches' comments. 

I personally like Demercado as the best fantasy asset in the Cardinals' backfield until Benson is eligible to play again. I see him more as a deep-league option though, not a great standard league asset. Again though, that's with me thinking this backfield will be split in some fashion, not dominated by a single player. 

Carter should be added in all deeper leagues in case he becomes the lead back of the trio. Knight is worth at least a few pickups in deeper leagues as well.

I see all three backs as better deep-league starting options though. Demercado and Carter are startable assets for the team's next game, while I'd stash-and-see with Knight.

Other Arizona Fantasy Players

Of course, a lack of proven running backs can also change the fantasy football outlooks for other members of the offense.

Let's start with quarterback Kyler Murray, who is a running threat himself. I think the absence of Conner and Benson means Murray could do a little more running over the next few weeks.

It could also put more stress on Murray as a passer though, as defenses don't have to worry as much about the running game, and can sit back in coverage a bit more.

I'd say not having Benson (and Conner) out there is a slight negative to Murray's fantasy outlook until further notice.

Things could be a bit more favorable for the Arizona pass catchers though.

Trey McBride is the team's go-to guy, and Marvin Harrison is the No. 2, but the top receiver. Michael Wilson plays the most snaps after that, and is the only other guy over 100 snaps played on the year.

In other words, it's not great that the team's top-two backs from the start of the season are out, because there weren't a ton of established playmakers to begin with.

McBride is a must-start fantasy player every week, and the two backs being out doesn't hurt his value at all.

Harrison is not a locked-in weekly standard league starter, but the lack of the two backs could bump his value up slightly. With bye weeks starting now, Harrison is much closer to being a weekly starter.

Wilson, Zay Jones and Greg Dortch could be in store for bigger roles as the team tries to get by without Conner and Benson. Wilson seems like the most likely to be a decent fantasy asset, as he's been that in the past - he's really struggled this season though.

Really, it will be a wait-and-see approach with the Cardinals' offense, and if it takes a couple weeks to figure things out, it'll be close to time for Benson to return (hopefully).

So, the only big fantasy assets coming out of the injuries to Conner and Benson are the two backs (Demercado and Carter). It'll be worth looking at the team's game log after this week to see if anyone else is worth adding until Benson is back.