Keaontay

Ingram

Ingram hung with the Chiefs practice squad after the Cardinals cut bait last November and made it on to their practice squad again this year. Ingram has 62 career carries for 134 yards and a touchdown in the last two seasons with Arizona, but has not gotten a single carry as a member of the Chiefs yet and played zero offensive snaps in his active game last week. It wouldn’t be surprising if he resurfaced with the Kansas City practice squad.

The Chiefs could have called him up for just this week but chose to sign him to the active roster instead. With Isiah Pacheco officially on injured reserve, Ingram appears to be in the mix for some reps on offense alongside Carson Steele and Samaje Perine. Kareem Hunt is also waiting in the wings as he gets up to speed on the Chiefs’ practice squad. Simply put, this is one of the messiest backfields in the league right now. Steele looks like the best bet for rushing work while Perine’s role through the air should grow sans Pacheco.

The team also signed DT Isaiah Buggs, S Trey Dean, DT Matt Dickerson, DE Truman Jones, RB Deneric Prince, CB Keith Taylor, and WR Montrell Washington to reserve/future contracts. With Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon on expiring contracts, the Chiefs will have a depth role to fill at running back this offseason. Ingram, who was signed to the Chiefs’ practice squad in the middle of the season, will be one of the names in the mix for that job.

Well, that didn’t take long. Carter was just cut by the Jets on Tuesday and will now be a member of the Cardinals. In his three-year career, Carter has 269 carries for 1,079 yards (4.8 yards per carry); however, he has proven to be a strong receiving back. It’s possible that the Cardinals could use him as a pass-catching complement to James Conner, taking snaps away from Keaontay Ingram and Emari Demercado.

Starting in Emari Demarcado’s (toe) absence, Ingram shed passing-game work to Tony Jones. Unsurprisingly, there was zero room for either back to operate with Clayton Tune getting dominated by Cleveland’s AFC-best defense. With James Conner (knee) trending toward a Week 10 return vs. Atlanta, Ingram is looking like a drop even if Demercado remains sidelined.

In James Conner’s absence, Demercado has emerged as the lead back for the Cardinals. He handled a career-high 21 touches against the Ravens in Week 8 and now misses the first practice of the week with a toe injury. If Demercado can return to practice later in the week, it would enhance his chances of leading the backfield again for Week 9. However, if he does not play, Keaontay Ingram and Damien Williams are next in line.

Ingram also caught one pass for seven yards, but the second-year back played well behind Emari Demercado for the second consecutive week. With the Cardinals’ backfield appearing healthy and James Conner eligible to return from injured reserve in Week 10, Ingram doesn’t even have upside as a handcuff heading into Week 9 against the Browns. Fantasy managers who didn’t drop him after last week should give up the dream after this week.

After leading the team with 10 carries for 40 yards last week against the Rams in his first game back from injury, Ingram didn’t get a single carry on Sunday against the Seahawks. While it’s impossible to know what to make of this Cardinals’ backfield, it’s not a good sign that the team saw Ingram produce more on the statsheet than both Emari Demercado and Damien Williams last week and still decided to basically cut all of Ingram’s snaps. Perhaps it was a matchup decision, but it feels safe to cut Ingram in all formats.

It wasn’t a shock that Ingram started, but it was a bit surprising that he dominated the running back touches. He shared carries with Damien Williams and Emari Demercado. He also logged two receptions for an additional 11 yards on the day. No Cardinals running back is worth starting outside of being used as a desperate flex option.

This certainly puts a bit of a damper on all the Emari Demercado waiver claims that went through this week. Ingram missed each of the Cardinals’ last two games with a neck injury, and has rushed 12 times for 15 yards all season. He’s listed as the team’s RB2 ahead of Demercado, but Ingram is also averaging 1.9 YPC for his career. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the two backs split touches heading into the week, with Demercado likely serving as the third down back. Neither back should be trusted as anything more than a RB3/flex play.