• Trey Benson takes the lead for the Arizona Cardinals: James Conner is out for the season, and Benson is the next man up.
• Kenneth Walker III continues his strong play: While Zach Charbonnet returned from his injury, Walker remained the Seattle Seahawks‘ most effective running back.
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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

PFF’s fantasy football recap focuses on player usage and stats, breaking down all the vital information you need to achieve fantasy success in 2025.

Trey Benson leads the Cardinals’ backfield: Benson played the vast majority of the snaps on early downs without James Conner.

The Cardinals started the season with Conner as their lead back, as they’ve done each of the last four seasons. Benson was cutting into his playing time on early downs more than last year, while Benson had overtaken Emari Demercado as the third-down back and two-minute drill back. However, Conner suffered a season-ending foot injury last week. Immediately after the injury, Benson stepped up as the early-down back, while Demercado jumped back into his third-down role.

Thursday night, the Cardinals continued what they started at the end of last week. Benson was the early-down back, and Demercado was the third-down back. Demercado also took the two-minute drill. He only played in 45% of the two-minute drills last season, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he and Benson split those over the rest of the season. Arizona had Bam Knight as the fourth running back on the roster, but the Cardinals elevated Michael Carter from the practice squad. Carter ended up being the primary backup on early downs.

This ultimately left Benson playing a role similar to Conner when he was at his best last season. As last season progressed, Benson got more involved, but he doesn’t have anyone looking over his shoulder like Conner had with Benson. The Cardinals’ game plan was to focus on the passing game early, but they fell behind, leading them also to pass frequently late in the game. This didn’t leave Benson with as many touches as some fantasy managers would have liked. However, Benson’s utilization suggests he should have several big games over the rest of the season. If anything, he is a buy-low option.

Greg Dortch gets involved: The Cardinals’ backup wide receiver gained more playing time with Zay Jones out.

Jones has been the Cardinals’ clear third wide receiver this season, behind Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson, even cutting into Wilson’s playing time at times in two-receiver sets. Dortch has spent time as the Cardinals’ third wide receiver on and off throughout 2022-2024 but fell behind Jones on the depth chart as 2024 progressed. However, Jones suffered a concussion, which kept him out of this game.

This left Wilson more consistently on the field in two-receiver sets, while Dortch was typically on the field in three-receiver sets. Dortch caught four passes for 35 yards. Jones has only caught 11 passes in 14 games with the Cardinals over the past two seasons. Given Dortch’s production relative to Jones, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see Dortch earn more playing time going forward.

This also left Wilson lining up in the slot less often. Dortch is primarily a slot receiver, but when Dortch is not on the field, Wilson has been the primary slot receiver. Prior to Thursday night, Wilson had a 66.0 receiving grade over the last two seasons lined up out wide compared to 58.9 in the slot. Similarly, he has 1.11 yards per route run out wide compared to 0.72 in the slot. While this didn’t help Wilson’s receiving production much Thursday night, it could make sense for the Cardinals to give Dortch more playing time, as it would also help Wilson.

For the time being, everyone outside of Harrison doesn’t need to be on fantasy rosters.

Kenneth Walker III leads the Seahawks running back rotation: While Zach Charbonnet was healthy, Walker remained the primary running back.

Charbonnet was inactive last week due to a foot injury. Charbonnet had played more snaps than Walker over the first two weeks. The two splits snaps on early downs, but Charbonnet played more in passing situations. Walker had been the more effective running back of the two. Walker’s yards per carry were double Charbonnet’s, while his first-down rate was nearly double.

Walker started the game. There was a tendency for Walker to play more on early downs, more so than in any of the first three games of the season. Charbonnet continued to be the primary passing-down back. Charbonnet has consistently been on the field more often at the goal line, which led to Charbonnet scoring a one-yard touchdown. Both running backs reached double-digit carries, but Walker was once again the better runner on a per-play basis, as well as the bigger playmaker, including a 21-yard run and 29-yard reception.

Walker is a must-start player at running back going forward, although it will be difficult for him to be a top-10 option this season if Charbonnet continues to see all of the goal-line work.

Elijah Arroyo’s role keeps increasing: Arroyo’s snap rate has notably increased every week of the season.

The Seahawks moved on from Noah Fant late in the offseason, allowing their young tight ends to get an increased role. A.J. Barner was the initial tight end to step up, playing 76% of Seattle’s offensive snaps over the first three games. The Seahawks use a lot of two- and three-tight-end sets, so that has allowed Arroyo to also play significant snaps.

Arroyo’s snap rate has been rising constantly each week. He’s cut into Barner’s playing time in single-tight-end sets on both early downs and late downs. He and Saubert have had to split snaps in two-tight-end sets across from Barner, and his playing time in two-tight-end sets has also improved. He also posted his best receiving performance of the year, finishing with two receptions for 44 yards.

Barner is still the Seahawks’ top tight end, and he scored a touchdown this week, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Arroyo’s playing time continues to ascend, particularly in passing situations. Given Seattle’s lack of a clear second receiving option behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba, it’s at least possible that Arroyo becomes that second option sometime this season.

Miscellaneous notes

• Seahawks rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts landed on injured reserve earlier this week due to an ankle injury. Luckily, the Seahawks were the only team with two fullbacks on the 53-man roster, so Brady Russell took over as the primary fullback.
• Seahawks wide receiver Cody White and tight end Nick Kallerup were healthy inactives.
• Cardinals tight end Travis Vokolek was a healthy inactive.
• Arizona backup wide receiver Simi Fehoko suffered a concussion on a special teams play and didn’t return. He didn’t play a snap on offense.
• Arizona made backup running back Bam Knight active, but he primarily played as a kick returner rather than playing on offense.

Table notes

• Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. The other three stats have these plays removed.
• Targets may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be from a clear thrown-away pass, where the NFL may give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data will not.
• Carries are only on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles won’t count for the total number of carries in the game.