Fear not, there is more football left in Week 7. Tonight we get two games to enjoy, and the week comes to a close as the Los Angeles Chargers take on the Arizona Cardinals. In their first season with new coach Jim Harbaugh, the Chargers are showing that they can be a competitive team. The Cardinals are still working on finding their groove with Kyler Murray this season, but there is potential. It’s expected to be a close game with the road Chargers favored by 1.5 points. It will be interesting though as Quentin Johnston is expected to be sidelined for the Chargers with serious doubt surrounding the statuses of Ladd McConkey and DJ Chark. Here are some Monday Night Football NFL DFS picks with preferences ranked within each category so you can find success.
Monday Night Football DFS Picks – Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals
Captain
JK Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
What Achilles? By no means do I want to jinx JK Dobbins, but everything is going right for him this season. In his first year with the Chargers, not only has Dobbins stayed healthy, but he has excelled. Gus Edwards is on Injured Reserve, so the backfield truly belongs to Dobbins. It doesn’t hurt that Harbaugh’s clear objective is to pound the football.
Dobbins began the season by eclipsing the 100-yard mark in back-to-back games. Following the Chargers bye week, he then carried the ball 25 times for 96 yards last week. He has three touchdowns on the season as he looks to continue his success this week. That makes him one of our top DFS picks.
Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
While it’s unclear who Justin Herbert will be throwing the ball to, he is still someone we want to target. The Cardinals struggle against opposing quarterbacks as they allow the fourth most DFS points. When evaluating our DFS picks, that vaults Herbert to the top of the list.
Herbert is averaging just 163 passing yards per game this year, but that is a product of game planning more than performance. The Chargers aren’t all of a sudden going to light things up downfield, but this is a favorable matchup. Opportunity should present itself for Los Angeles tonight as Herbert looks to add to his six touchdown passes.
Flex
Joshua Palmer, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
With Johnston sidelined and McConkey likely not to play, this becomes a last-man-standing situation. Joshua Palmer has been third or fourth in the pecking order this season which means he has only been targeted 13 times. That has led to just nine receptions for 108 yards for Palmer. We know that it’s a good matchup for Palmer tonight against a weak Arizona secondary, and someone has to catch the ball for Los Angeles. Even if by default, it’s likely going to be Palmer.
Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals
It hasn’t been a great start to the season for Kyler Murray, but it also hasn’t been terrible. From a DFS perspective, Murray’s 43.5 rushing yards per game (along with one touchdown) provide a nice floor. On the passing side of things, Murray is averaging just under 200 yards per game. The good news is that he has eight touchdown passes while throwing just two interceptions. Tonight he does get Marvin Harrison back which gives him an explosive weapon to work with.
Marvin Harrison Jr, WR, Arizona Cardinals
The good news is that Marvin Harrison Jr appears to be well past last week’s concussion. He was off the Injury Report on Friday and enters tonight’s game without any restrictions. At this point, he peaked with eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1, but that isn’t the least we have seen of the rookie. He did catch touchdown passes in each of the next two weeks. We know that Murray will look his way early and often. Another situation to watch is that there is a strong possibility we will see the Chargers without their best two cornerbacks this week. That really puts Harrison on our radar with our DFS picks.
Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals
If you want volume, Trey McBride is your guy. He hasn’t been targeted less than six times in a game this season and has 38 overall. McBride turned that into 28 catches for 271 yards through five games so far this season. What is interesting though, is that McBride has yet to find the end zone this season. That has to change, and this week is as a good a week as any.
Value
Kimani Vidal, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
With the injury to Edwards, Kimani Vidal has found himself upgraded to the backup role. While Dobbins is going to carry the load, and Hassan Haskins is in the mix, Vidal’s role should only increase. In his professional debut last week, Vidal carried the ball four times for 11 yards, but it was his work in the receiving game that attracted our attention. The rookie caught a 38-yard touchdown pass as he secured both his targets for 40 receiving yards. Given the Chargers are also shorthanded, there is room for Vidal to make an impact.
Simi Fehoko, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
There is a clear path towards Semi Fehoko being a starting receiver tonight, or at the very least being on the field for a majority of plays. While listed as questionable, seeing him practice in full on Friday and Saturday is a good sign. Last week was the busiest of the year for Fehoko to this point as he caught two of his four targets for 44 yards.
Fade
James Conner, RB, Arizona Cardinals
It has been a mixed bag of results for James Conner so far this season. At the risk of stating the obvious, his ebbs and flows are highly dependent on game flow. Tonight could go either way for Conner, but it is concerning that the Chargers allow the fourth-fewest DFS points to opposing running backs.
Aside from catching four passes last week after Harrison’s concussion, Conner is not involved in the passing game. We also saw Trey Benson and Emari Demercado take on larger roles. Conner doesn’t come cheap tonight and it appears he no longer has free reign across the backfield.