#265 overall · ARI · 83.2 projected half-PPR pts · -62.6 Draft Value
Arizona Cardinals — 2026 Fantasy Outlook
The case for drafting him
The case is thin, and the facts say so plainly. Arizona sits at DST31 and #227 overall with a draft value of -62.6, meaning the projection lands well below replacement level at the position. The one number that works in the Cardinals' favor is the pass rush: 41 sacks in 2024 was the unit's best single-season total across the three years on record, and the three-year average of 34.7 sacks is a real number. Turnover production has been consistent too, with the unit averaging 10 interceptions and 7.7 fumble recoveries per season from 2023 through 2025. If you are in a deep league that rewards sacks and turnovers heavily, those averages at least give you something to point to.
What the model projects
The projection is 83.2 half-PPR fantasy points for the season. The draft value is -62.6, a figure that places Arizona in Tier 9 and at DST31. Those numbers reflect a unit that has allowed points at a high rate: 488 points against in 2025, 455 in 2023, and a three-year average of 440.7. In 2025, six games saw opponents score 35 or more points, and only one game landed in the 7-13 points-against range. The 2024 season showed a better defensive profile, with just two 35-plus games and one game allowing 1-6 points, but 2025 reversed most of that progress.
| Sacks | INT | FF | FR | TD | PA | PA 1-6 | PA 7-13 | PA 14-20 | PA 21-27 | PA 28-34 | PA 35+ | Half-PPR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 33 | 11 | 6 | 6 | — | 455 | — | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 64.0 |
| 2024 | 41 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 379 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 110.0 |
| 2025 | 30 | 10 | 13 | 9 | — | 488 | — | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 63.0 |
| 3-yr avg | 34.7 | 10 | 12 | 7.7 | 0.3 | 440.7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 83.9 |
The range of outcomes
The historical record shows meaningful variance in both directions. Sacks swung from 30 in 2025 to 41 in 2024, and fumbles forced jumped from 6 in 2023 to 17 in 2024 before settling at 13 in 2025. Interceptions have been steady, ranging from 9 to 11 across the three seasons. The points-against picture is the bigger concern: the unit has posted 35-plus-point allowed games in every season on record, with six such games in both 2023 and 2025. A floor scenario looks like 2025, with a high volume of blowout games and a points-against total near 488. A ceiling scenario looks more like 2024, when points against dropped to 379 and the sack total peaked at 41. The bye falls in Week 14, which is a late-season complication for playoff-round managers.
How to draft him
Arizona is not being drafted consistently enough across platforms to carry a market ADP. That absence is itself informative: this is a streaming candidate at best, not a unit to spend a meaningful pick on in a 12-team half-PPR draft. At DST31 and #227 overall with a negative draft value, the projection does not support rostering Arizona as a primary defense. If you are filling a late roster spot or need a Week 14 bye-week fill-in for another unit, the sack and turnover averages give you a floor to work with, but the points-against history makes consistent fantasy scoring unlikely.
Practice it in a free mock draft →
Questions drafters ask
The projection is 83.2 points with a draft value of -62.6, placing Arizona at DST31 and #227 overall in Tier 9. That is below replacement level at the position, so the model does not support drafting them as a primary defense.
The unit recorded 33 sacks in 2023, 41 in 2024, and 30 in 2025, for a three-year average of 34.7. The 2024 total was the high-water mark across that span.
In 2025, Arizona allowed 35 or more points in six games and finished with 488 points against for the season. The three-year average points against is 440.7. High-scoring games for opponents suppress DST fantasy output, and Arizona has shown a consistent pattern of those games across 2023 and 2025.
Arizona's bye is Week 14. That falls during the fantasy playoff window for most leagues, which is a practical drawback for any manager who rostered them as a primary unit and needs production at that point in the season.
Practice it in a free mock draft →
Beyond the rankings
This page ranks the players. Nobody has ranked the people in your league.
Half your room drafts off a sheet like this one. The managers who cash every year aren't holding a better sheet; they have tendencies, and after enough seasons the tendencies are a book. Your league's own draft history is where it's written.
RotoAlpha reads it. Paste your past drafts, from any platform, and every manager in your league gets a profile: who reaches, who chases runs, who pays up for their own team. Then it sits with you on draft night with a plan that adapts pick by pick, knowing who is likely to reach next.
Names invented. Most long-running leagues have a table like this.