People probably heard that Jacoby Brissett has been staying away from voluntary workouts, seeking a new contract. Then the Cardinals selected Carson Beck in the third round of the NFL Draft, and the kookiness began. Suddenly we're supposed to view Beck as a sleeper quarterback.
NFL teams make mistakes all the time, but one thing that doesn't happen very often is franchise quarterbacks slipping to the third round, and opening as the starter. The last third round hit was Russell Wilson, in 2012. The last fourth-round hit was Dak Prescott in 2016. There's seventh-rounder Brock Purdy of course in 2022. I think that's everyone from the last 15 years or so.
Maybe Malik Willis has a nice year or more in Miami; he was also a third-round pick. And so was Arizona's more likely Week 1 starter, Jacoby Brissett.
I understand he's a 33-year-old journeyman, but he's aged pretty well. Last year, as a starter for Arizona, Brissett 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 while Arizona will have a more balanced offense this year, with Tyler Allgeier and top pick Jeremiyah Love running the ball, it won't be surprising if they end up passing the ball more than they'd like. They'll certainly be playing from behind a fair amount, with six games against three of the league's best teams in their own division.
Best guess, the Cardinals give Brissett a little salary bump that gets him to show up for OTAs. He'll start for most of the year, and then in November or December, when the team is 2-10 or so, we'll see Beck in the lineup. But I think Brissett will be a decent fantasy option until then.
--Andy Richardson
