When James Conner exited Arizona’s Week 5 game with a knee injury and subsequently ended up on IR, the Cardinals backfield became a toss-up. Emari Demercado became their de facto RB1 to close the game, finishing with 45 yards and a TD on ten carries while the team’s true backup, Keaontay Ingram, sat out with a neck injury.
Demercado was the hotter name of the two on waivers last week, but Ingram recorded ten carries and two catches to Demercado’s two carries and one catch in a Week 6 loss to the Rams. Further muddying the waters was old friend Damien Williams, getting eight carries and catching a pass for 44 total yards.
Despite this, Demercado was on the field the most of the group, logging 33 snaps to Ingram’s 28 and Williams’ 13. Of all three backs, none found the end zone, none topped 7.1 PPR points, and none separated themselves from the pack.
CAN INGRAM BE THE CARDS’ RB1?
Keaontay Ingram was Arizona’s 2022 sixth-round selection out of USC. Pre-draft, scouts labeled him as a late-rounder with a quick, decisive running style but knocked his explosiveness and physicality as a runner. Through Week 6, he’s now played in 16 career games with a line of 49 carries for 115 yards (2.3 YPC) and a TD, with another seven catches for 40 yards tacked on through the air.
Ingram’s yet to show many flashes of the guy who recorded over 1,000 scrimmage yards in his senior year, but Conner’s IR stint may finally give him the opportunity. Given the confusing nature of Sunday’s game plan, head coach Jonathan Gannon was predictably asked about the running back rotation postgame. And even more predictably, he didn’t provide anything useful.
“We had a plan with number of snaps, certain plays, and certain personnel groupings… down and distance predicated into that. I don’t know what the exact numbers were but I like how [running backs coach Autry Denson] rotated them in there… what we said we wanted to do we got done, especially in the flow of the game. And I thought they all played well.”
Thanks for nothing, Coach.
KEONTAY INGRAM’S WEEK 7 FANTASY OUTLOOK
It’s possible that the Cardinals were taking it easy on Ingram in his first game back from injury, and his role could increase throughout James Conner’s absence. But that’s no guarantee, and based on what we saw in Week 6, we can’t bank on Ingram getting anywhere above a 50% snap share and 10-15 carries. And even with decent usage, he’s running behind PFF’s 21st-ranked offensive line with upcoming matchups against three teams above the league average at limiting RB fantasy production.
If you’re RB-needy and want depth, you can do much worse than Keaontay Ingram. Plus, he could absolutely find the end zone twice this weekend and bail you out if you’re in bye week hell. But there are stronger waiver candidates out there, and I’d look their way before banking on any member of Arizona’s confusing backfield.
Ingram sits at RB31, while Demercado is slotted at RB48 on The Wolf’s Week 7 Rankings.
