Larry Fitzgerald, David Johnson, John Brown Post-Week 5 Fantasy Advice

Thursday night's game between the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers wasn't an offensive masterpiece, but fantasy football owners who started Larry Fitzgerald or David Johnson are more than satisfied with how the night unfolded.

Johnson eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground, while Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes.

John Brown, on the other hand, was a non-factor, providing little output to fantasy owners.

Below is the fantasy outlook for the three players.

Larry Fitzgerald

Receptions	Targets	Yards	Avg.	TD
6	8	81	13.5	2

The Cardinals announced on Wednesday that Carson Palmer was unavailable against the 49ers. While that could've been a major issue for Fitzgerald, the veteran wideout had one of his best games of the season.

Whether or not Drew Stanton remains the starting quarterback, Fitzgerald is a must-start in any format. His numbers could dip slightly if Palmer misses more games, but he's going to see enough targets to continue to warrant at least WR2 status.

While he may be 33 years old, Fitzgerald isn't showing any signs of slowing down.

David Johnson

Carries	Yards	Avg.	TD	Rec.	Targets	Yards	TD
27	157	5.8	2	3	6	28	0

Little needs to be said about Johnson. He has been a consistent fantasy presence in the Cardinals backfield and more than lived up to the hype so far in 2016.

His value is even higher the longer Palmer is out. While Arizona won't completely abandon the passing game with Stanton under center, head coach Bruce Arians will rely on Johnson more heavily than he would otherwise.

Barring injury, the 24-year-old shouldn't come out of your lineup—except during Arizona's Week 9 bye.

John Brown

Rec.	Targets	Yards	Avg.	TD
1	4	11	11.0	0

While Palmer's absence didn't have much of an impact on Fitzgerald, the same can't be said of Brown.

Somewhat worryingly, the 26-year-old finished with one reception for the third time this year. It's not entirely Brown's fault, either. The Cardinals' passing game simply isn't as good as it was last season.

Palmer will turn 37 in December, and Peyton Manning is a perfect example of how quickly things can go bad for an aging QB. Palmer had a 58.8 completion percentage and one more touchdown (six) than interceptions (five) through four games.

Entering Thursday, Brown had the second-most targets (34) and receptions (18) on the team. Over half of those 18 receptions came last week, when Brown caught 10 passes for 144 yards.

Owners shouldn't panic and drop the third-year wide receiver altogether. Until the Arizona offense shows a little more consistency through the air, though, he should probably stay on the bench.