Tyler

Allgeier

Asked about Love’s lack of route running — he has a 29 percent route participation rate on the season — LaFleur said the Cardinals’ pass blocking struggles often prevent Love from functioning as a pass catcher. “I wasn’t too confident in terms of getting into some of those ‘scat’ protections and stuff like that and five-man protections,” LaFleur said. “We wanted to have that extra body in there. There were a couple of times where I wanted to get him on some choice routes and stuff like that, but like I said I didn’t feel confident that we were going to be able to execute at the level that we needed to. But it is a good question.” Love, who has 13 targets and has been targeted on 21 percent of his pass routes, would need much more pass game involvement if he were to operate as an RB1 in fantasy leagues this season.

Allgeier was a non-factor, even with the Cardinals pulling Jeremiyah Love in the fourth quarter. Allgeier did not log a carry in the first quarter. He is nothing more than a bench stash moving forward. The Cardinals face the Rams in Week 6.

It’s been an odd 24 hours for Love, who was quoted after Sunday’s game saying this is shaping up to be the “longest year” of his career while also adding that he’s “tired” and would be willing to pass off work to Tyler Allgeier or Bam Knight in the event that he doesn’t think he can do what is being asked of him. As for this latest injury, LaFleur said the ankle injury isn’t the same one Love injured in the preseason, meaning he now has two ankle injuries to manage for the rest of the season. The Cardinals’ backfield was already proving hard to predict, and the latest quote from Love, coupled with the injury news, doesn’t exactly instill more confidence in him going forward. He draws a plus Week 5 matchup against the Lions, but should be treated as a fringe RB2/RB3 for now.

Love engaged in a long, candid conversation with Cardinals beat reporters after the game today, saying his snaps are being managed because he currently is “not able to go out there and do spectacular plays every single time.” Love said this is probably going to be the “longest year” of his life, and his preseason ankle injury is not the only thing he is dealing with. Love said his body is sometimes just “tired,” and that he would “probably just hinder the team” if he took on more work in his current state. He rhetorically asked, “why not put somebody else out there that’s playing better?” For those wondering, the Cardinals don’t go on bye until Week 14. They face the fantasy-friendly Lions defense in Week 5, which could help Love get his confidence back with an efficient performance.

One week after getting out-touched 26-6 by Jeremiyah Love, Allgeier got the situation back to “third and manageable” this week with his rookie backfield mate winning the handles war by a more modest score of 15-10. With the Cardinals spending most of the second half playing from behind, Allgeier was gobbling up snaps on third down and in the two-minute drill. That was coach Mike LaFleur’s explanation for his greater involvement. Allgeier’s score was a 22-yarder where the Cards’ line sprung a hole and Allgeier shed a few tackles. Cool stuff, though Allgeier remains a low-ceiling FLEX in this deficient offense, one dominated by target hogs Trey McBride and Michael Wilson.

Allgeier lost nearly all high-value touches to Jeremiyah Love in Week 3, falling far behind the rookie in total opportunities and sinking further in total snaps. He saw 31 snaps to Love’s 55, seeing just six touches to Love’s 26. Allgeier’s most usage came in passing-down situations, catching four passes while pass-blocking was his most prominent role. Allgeier holds little standalone value with Love taking over the backfield; he could just be a useful bench hedge against an injury at this point.

Allgeier failed to generate more than five yards on a touch all night. Rookie RB Jeremiyah Love fared slightly better, but the Seahawks’ defense simply bottled up the Cardinals’ backfield. Allgeier is a capable back but needs help from his offensive environment to generate usable fantasy stat lines. He can only be viewed as a touchdown-dependent FLEX against the 49ers next week, although he remains a worthwhile bench stash.

LaFleur is again insisting that Love, the No. 3 overall pick of this year’s draft, and 2026 free agent signee Allgeier will rotate in the backfield, while adding that it “is a long season.” Love saw 13 touches in last week’s win over the Chargers, while Allgeier had 19, and was out-snapped by Allgeier 41 to 32. A similar rotation going forward would put a damper on Love’s week-to-week upside after the rookie spent most of the offseason going as a top-30 pick in fantasy drafts, but he’ll maintain a decent value as long as he continues to see double-digit touches. Both Love and Allgeier will be hard to trust as anything more than fringe RB2/RB3 this week against the Seahawks.

Love was out-snapped 41 to 32 by Tyler Allgeier, who also handled 17 rush attempts compared to Love’s 11. While there was some concern over whether or not Love was on a snap count due to his ankle injury, LaFleur said the usage between the two backs was based on game flow. Love still managed to see 15 opportunities (11 rushes, 4 targets) in the win, but as long as he and Allgeier continue to split work, he will be hard to trust as anything more than a fringe RB2/RB3. Next week’s game against a stout Seahawks defense makes both backs risky bets.

Though he wasn’t particularly efficient, Allgeier led the Arizona backfield with a heavy workload in the second half. Jeremiyah Love started the game strong and ended with 11 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown. It was Allgeier who took over with the Cards taking a big lead in the fourth quarter. Allgeier’s role won’t be great for fantasy by any means. He will limit Love’s usage for now, however.