Arizona Cardinals running back Rashard Mendenhall was practicing with the team on Monday, according to Darren Urban of the team's website. Mendenhall is dealing with a toe injury that kept him out of the team's Week 8 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
Rashard Mendenhall practices, fantasy value iffy with Andre Ellington’s strong play
Rashard Mendenhall practiced for the Arizona Cardinals on Monday. We break down the fantasy implications.
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
That game was a 27-13 win for Arizona, who went with Andre Ellington as their starting running back. Ellington, a rookie, had a huge game, rushing the ball 15 times for 154 yards with a touchdown. That was the most touches Ellington had all season, though he did put up 50-plus yards against the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers earlier in the season.
Mendenhall has been so-so as the starter this season. He’s carried the ball 92 times for 281 yards with three touchdowns. The Cardinals have been adamant that he is their starter, but it will be interesting to see how the carries are divided going forward.
Fantasy Impact: If Mendenhall is practicing on Monday, one of the least important days for practice coming of a bye week, it’s likely he’ll be good to go for Week 10. That’s provided there are no setbacks, of course. The Cardinals don’t want to give Ellington too many touches because they don’t want to overwhelm him, but it would be shocking if the carry split continued along the same path before Mendenhall’s injury. A big game is needed for him to have any fantasy value going forward.
