The Cardinals no longer have Kyler Murray, and some mocks have them drafting a quarterback in the first round of next month's NFL Draft. I don't know why they wouldn't just stick with Jacoby Brissett.
I understand he's a 33-year-old journeyman, but he's aged pretty well. In none of his previous starting stints (Indianapolis, Miami, Cleveland, New England) did he average even 200 passing yards per game.
Last year? Brissett as a starter for Arizona averaged 281 passing yards per week. That wasn't just good -- it was No. 1 in the league. (Table sorted by passing yards.)
| QUARTERBACKS PER GAME, 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | St | PYd | TDP | RYd | Pts |
| Jacoby Brissett, Ari. | 12 | 280.5 | 1.92 | 13.8 | 23.7 |
| Matthew Stafford, LAR | 17 | 276.9 | 2.71 | 0.1 | 24.7 |
| Jared Goff, Det. | 17 | 268.5 | 2.00 | 2.6 | 21.7 |
| Dak Prescott, Dall. | 17 | 267.8 | 1.76 | 10.4 | 22.5 |
| Drake Maye, N.E. | 17 | 258.5 | 1.82 | 26.5 | 24.5 |
| Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 14 | 256.2 | 1.57 | 30.1 | 24.5 |
| Tyler Shough, N.O. | 9 | 250.7 | 1.11 | 19.3 | 21.1 |
| Joe Flacco, Cle. | 10 | 245.1 | 1.50 | 3.1 | 19.6 |
| Brock Purdy, S.F. | 9 | 240.8 | 2.22 | 16.3 | 24.8 |
| Daniel Jones, Ind. | 13 | 238.5 | 1.46 | 12.6 | 21.5 |
| Sam Darnold, Sea. | 17 | 238.1 | 1.47 | 5.6 | 18.6 |
| Trevor Lawrence, Jac. | 17 | 235.7 | 1.71 | 21.1 | 24.0 |
| Justin Herbert, LAC | 16 | 232.9 | 1.63 | 31.1 | 22.1 |
| Caleb Williams, Chi. | 17 | 231.9 | 1.59 | 22.8 | 21.8 |
| Bo Nix, Den. | 17 | 231.2 | 1.47 | 20.9 | 21.8 |
| Jordan Love, G.B. | 15 | 225.4 | 1.53 | 13.3 | 19.0 |
| Michael Penix, Atl. | 9 | 220.2 | 1.00 | 7.8 | 16.7 |
| Baker Mayfield, T.B. | 17 | 217.2 | 1.53 | 22.5 | 19.8 |
| C.J. Stroud, Hou. | 14 | 217.2 | 1.36 | 14.9 | 18.2 |
| Josh Allen, Buff. | 17 | 215.8 | 1.47 | 34.1 | 25.1 |
| Aaron Rodgers, Pitt. | 16 | 207.6 | 1.50 | 3.8 | 17.3 |
| Geno Smith, L.V. | 15 | 201.7 | 1.27 | 7.3 | 16.0 |
| Jalen Hurts, Phi. | 16 | 201.5 | 1.56 | 26.3 | 22.0 |
| Lamar Jackson, Balt. | 13 | 196.1 | 1.62 | 26.8 | 20.0 |
| Tua Tagovailoa, Mia. | 14 | 190.0 | 1.43 | 3.1 | 15.7 |
| Jaxson Dart, NYG | 12 | 189.3 | 1.25 | 40.6 | 23.2 |
| Bryce Young, Car. | 16 | 188.2 | 1.44 | 13.5 | 17.4 |
| Cam Ward, Ten. | 17 | 186.4 | .88 | 9.4 | 14.5 |
| J.J. McCarthy, Min. | 10 | 163.2 | 1.10 | 18.1 | 16.8 |
| Justin Fields, NYJ | 9 | 139.9 | .78 | 42.6 | 18.1 |
Including rushing production, Brissett averaged exactly 2 touchdowns per game. That was also a top-7 figure (behind Stafford, Lawrence, Allen, Maye, Hurts and Purdy. Fantasy and otherwise, Brissett was really good last year.
Now I understand there are flaws in that. For one thing, Arizona lost all but one of his starts. That's bad. And they couldn't run the ball at all, with their top 2 backs on IR, requiring Brissett to sling it on almost every play. Nothing in his season was ideal.
But the numbers are what they are. He produced, and it's not a given that things will be much different this season. The running game added Tyler Allgeier but won't necessarily be good, the defense could struggle, they'll be playing from behind with six games against three of the league's best teams in their own division.
Arizona may add someone, but Brissett might be the Week 1 starter. I'll be interested in fantasy. You could do worse.
--Andy Richardson
