Beanie Wells earns start, finds end zone for Cardinals, fantasy owners

Beanie Wells earned the start at running back for the Arizona Cardinals. In the first quarter, he has six carries for 15 yards, and a touchdown scored from the goal-line. LaRod Stephens-Howling has just one carry for one yard so far.

Wells is playing for the first time since suffering a toe injury in Week 3. He has immediately assumed a feature role, despite a 127-yard rushing performance by Stephens-Howling last week.

Fantasy Impact: Surprisingly, the Cardinals do not appear to be worried about any rust for Wells, giving him the lion's share of touches out of the backfield in the early going of Sunday's game. Fantasy owners would have appreciated knowing the Cardinals' plans earlier, but unfortunately that information wasn't available.

Which isn't to say that Wells is suddenly an elite fantasy option. He is still averaging less that three yards per carry so far, and would be irrelevant for fantasy purposes if not for a goal-line carry set up by surprisingly solid play by rookie quarterback Ryan Lindley. Still, Wells will be worth targeting off waivers after this week.

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