Thursday Night Football Preview: Seahawks vs Cardinals

It’s an NFC West battle of the birds to get us started with Week 4 on Thursday night. The Seattle Seahawks are heading to the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals in a pivotal matchup between two 2-1 teams. It’s still September, but we have seen these early divisional contests prove to have massive playoff implications down the line. For us fantasy managers, this game is a bit light on studs, and it asks us to think hard about some of the second-tier players and whether or not we should start them. This game could be fireworks or a defensive back-and-forth, making it all the more stressful to prepare for.

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Thursday Night Football Fantasy Preview

Players That are In Your Lineup

Seattle Seahawks

Kenneth Walker (RB), Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR)

We got to see some classic Kenneth Walker two weeks ago against the Steelers, but last week against the Saints, he was a little less exciting. Walker should have the bulk of the carries again this week as Zach Charbonnet continues to recover from a foot injury that held him out of the game in Week 3. JSN is a true, elite, fantasy wide receiver at this stage in the season. He leads the Seahawks in every receiving metric and is the go-to receiver for Sam Darnold. You can rely on him to be a consistent producer for this offense again against the Cardinals, who allowed close to 300 yards in the air to the San Francisco 49ers.

Arizona Cardinals

Kyler Murray (QB), Trey Benson (RB), Trey McBride (TE)

I am not a huge fan of Kyler Murray, but there may not be a ton of great options left on the waiver wire this week. Murray is the type of QB you might have to take some lumps with while waiting for his random QB1 performances. On the other hand, Trey McBride is as reliable as it comes to a tight end in fantasy. McBride is one of the top elite options that is still healthy going into Week 4. Despite a semi-quiet outing last week, McBride will be a key factor in the passing attack as the Cardinals look to avoid losing back-to-back divisional games.

The interesting name here is Trey Benson. The 2024 second-round running back out of FSU has the lead role all to himself after James Conner suffered a season-ending knee injury. Benson has shown some flashes of big-play ability, making him an exciting start in his first opportunity as the lead back.

Check out all of our Week 4 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings

Fringe Playable Players

Sam Darnold, QB, Seattle

If you are looking to start Sam Darnold against the Cardinals, it’s probably because you lost your other starting QB and are looking for something a bit more stable. Luckily, Darnold has proven to be a fine, safe QB option for fantasy. He isn’t likely to give you a week-winning performance, but he also isn’t likely to lose you your week. Darnold is a boring but safe streaming option if needed.

Tory Horton, WR, Seattle

Tory Horton scored two touchdowns last week, and now the dynasty football community is convinced Horton is taking over the WR2. As much as I want to believe that to be true, I want to temper everyone’s expectations. Horton is a very good wide receiver who still needs to overtake Cooper Kupp in that secondary role. If you truly like to gamble on one big play, Horton could be that guy.

Cooper Kupp, WR, Seattle

Cooper Kupp can still be the volume play that he was in years past. The trouble is that the Seahawks don’t always need him that way. JSN has full control over the lead wide receiver duties, and Horton is becoming increasingly involved in this offense. Kupp would be a “break glass in case of emergency” type of play that would not normally be necessary to use on a Thursday night game. But some rosters are in rough shape, and I get that.

Emari Demercado, RB, Arizona

With James Conner gone, and the backup Benson now ascending to the starter, the Cardinals will look to Emari Demercado to handle the backup role. Demercado is a player you should start only if you are in the most dire of circumstances at the running back position.

Marvin Harrison Jr., WR, Arizona

I will plant my flag and stand by it – Marvin Harrison Jr. could be considered a bench for this week as well. I understand that some managers don’t have the luxury of benching MHJ. I also want folks to know that you do not need to play him as we previously thought. The Cardinals are still working through some issues on offense, and MHJ is battling some drop issues.

Players to Leave on Your Bench

Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle

Charbonnet is a bench because I don’t know what the condition of his foot injury will be by Thursday. We will need to monitor practice reports throughout the week. There’s also some concern that Walker will have full control over this backfield once again after two great fantasy outings. Leave Charbonnet on the bench this week and watch what the Seahawks are looking to do with this RB duo.

A.J. Barner, TE, Seattle

Adding A.J. Barner’s name here because the tight end position is scarce for true reliable starters. I would rather pick up other streamers like Hunter Henry or Mark Andrews after their big performances last week.

The rest of the Arizona Pass Catchers

Don’t feel like you need to get crazy and start Michael Wilson, Zay Jones, or Greg Dortch. These are all players you won’t need to worry about rostering until there’s an injury to McBride or MHJ. For now, keep an eye out for their usage for a future waiver wire claim.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 4 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!