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Cardinals Officially Phasing Kenyan Drake Out of Game Plan

By Larry Rupp

The Arizona Cardinals' offensive game plan over the past few weeks seems to be phasing running back Kenyan Drake out.
The Arizona Cardinals' offensive game plan over the past few weeks seems to be phasing running back Kenyan Drake out. / Christian Petersen/Getty Images
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Arizona Cardinals' running back Kenyan Drake came into 2020 with a lot of hype after performing well following a trade to the Cardinals midway through the 2019 season. However, it seems that the Cardinals are phasing him out of the game plan.

Assumed backup Chase Edmonds has now moved into an increased receiving workload and things are trending in the right direction for him to see even more touches moving forward.

Drake has continued to see the bulk of the carries out of the backfield all season, as he averages 17 carries a game compared to just under 4 carries a game for Edmonds. However, his usage in the passing game is what is becoming concerning as Edmonds seems to be taking over that aspect of the offense.

For a player that was on a 16-game pace of 70 targets in the eight games he played with the team last season, Drake is only averaging 1.2 targets per game this year. On the other hand, Edmonds is seeing 4.6 targets per game and is averaging a career-high 6.1 yards per touch.

Drake has the skills and abilities to be a dual-threat running back, but it seems the Cardinals have a lot of trust in Edmonds to be the go-to receiver coming out of the backfield.

While Drake likely remains the early-down back, it's worth watching how the Cardinals continue to use him and Edmonds on third down and passing play situations. If Edmonds continues to see targets, Drake could be phased out and solely used on running plays.

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Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.