This fall has been one to forget for fans of the Arizona Cardinals, and those who back them in Arizona sports betting, as they are skidding their way towards the franchise's worst regular season since 2018.
One silver lining for the 3-10 Cardinals has been the play of second-year tight end Trey McBride, who has quickly emerged as one of the league's best pass catchers at his position. That sophomore surge has allowed McBride to become one of the NFL's brightest stars in fantasy football, with the 2022 second-round pick racking up points for those that landed him this fall.
As we move into the playoffs period for most fantasy leagues, BetArizona.com utilized FantasyData.com to compile the fantasy rankings of tight ends after Week 13 in a standard points per reception (PPR) league and then found the average draft position fantasy rankings for a standard PPR league prior to the season. Tight ends were only included if they were in the Top 40 in original ADP rankings.
Top Fantasy TEs of 2023
The Cardinals Super Bowl odds are tied with six other teams for the worst in the NFL at +100000.
McBride Among NFL's Surprise Stories
Among the NFL's myriad tight ends, McBride is tied with Logan Thomas of Washington among the biggest movers (fantasy rankings wise), with each gaining 25 spots from where they were before the NFL regular season kicked off.
Overall, McBride has gone from being the 32nd-ranked fantasy tight end to the No. 7 spot, thanks to averaging 9.9 points per week. That 25-place jump put McBride ahead of Cade Otton of Tampa Bay, who's gained 19 spots (35th to 16th). When broken down by fantasy points per game, McBride's 9.9 PPG rank third among the group, behind LaPorta's 14.3 and Ferguson's 10.5.
McBride and the Cardinals are off this week, but will be on the lookout to pull off their second consecutive upset when they host 9-3 San Francisco at 2:05 p.m. Dec. 17. ESPN BET Arizona has the 49ers as its Super Bowl favoite at +300. Kansas City is second at +500.
