Is it Carson Beck time in Arizona? When Cardinals need to replace Jacoby Brissett with the rookie QB

A look at the Cardinals' quarterback outlook and when Carson Beck should start

Oct 13, 2026 at 9:20 am ET • 4 min read

The Arizona Cardinals (1-4) have hit their ceiling with Jacoby Brissett as their starting quarterback in 2026. 

Since defeating the now 0-5 Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1, Arizona has lost four in a row, including a damning couple of losses the last two weeks. The Cardinals had a chance to beat the New York Giants in Week 4 with a play at the 4-yard line, trailing by six with 11 seconds remaining. After using their final timeout, Brissett threw a pick-six, the third of his single-game career-high three interceptions that day. 

Equally — or perhaps more — damning is what happened on Sunday in Arizona's 45-21 defeat against the Detroit Lions. The Lions entered Week 5 with the league's 31st-ranked scoring defense (31.8 points per game) and the NFL's worst total defense (423.8 total yards per game) and third down defense (52.8% third down conversion rate allowed). After an opening drive touchdown pass from Brissett to tight end Teagan Quitoriano, the Cardinals' next five drives were three-and-outs. That's right. Arizona had five consecutive three-and-outs against the league's worst total and third-down defense. Their next drive ended with an interception. It wasn't until the game was essentially over that Brissett found the end zone again.

That leaves the question: Is it time for Carson Beck to take over in Arizona?

A closer look at Brissett

Every quarterback who had played the Lions entering Week 5 stuffed the stat sheet and either beat Detroit or lost to them by one possession. The Brissett-led Cardinals losing to the 2026 Lions defense, which is missing both All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph and Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch, by 24 points is unacceptable. 

Quarterbacks vs. the Lions this season

• New Orleans Saints' Tyler Shough (Week 1): 35-for-56 for 410 yards passing, three passing touchdowns, two interceptions in a 31-30 OT loss
• Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen (Week 2): 20-for-31 for 248 yards passing, three passing touchdowns; 14 carries for 69 yards, two rushing touchdowns in a 41-31 win
• New York Jets' Geno Smith (Week 3): 31-for-37 for 321 yards passing, three passing touchdowns in a 31-24 loss
• Carolina Panthers' Bryce Young (Week 4): 29-for-41 for 329 yards passing, two passing touchdowns in a 32-26 win 

Brissett's production this season — 66.3% completion percentage, 1,110 yards passing, nine passing touchdowns and five interceptions for an 85.2 passer rating — isn't terrible, but it's all empty calories in that it mostly happens with the game's outcome no longer up in the air. The 2026 season isn't an outlier for Brissett either. In 2025, he threw for 3,366 passing yards, the second most in the NFL since becoming a starter in Week 6, but they weren't impactful. Arizona won just one of Brissett's 11 starts in 2025, and it was against the Dallas Cowboys, who owned that season's worst scoring defense (30.1 points allowed per game). 

Brissett is what he is: a 33-year-old journeyman on his sixth NFL team in 11 seasons who is limited as a full-time starting quarterback. 

Should it be rookie Carson Beck's time?

A strong case could be made that 2026 third-round pick Carson Beck should begin to receive increased reps in practice before eventually replacing Brissett in the starting lineup. Beck played just one preseason game, the Hall of Fame game against the Carolina Panthers, but he performed well. He threw for 188 yards and a touchdown while completing 15 of his 19 throws. 

A rib injury cut short his development opportunities as he missed the final three Cardinals preseason games. Thus far this season, he has been the emergency third quarterback on game day. 

"If we think that's what's best," said Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur on Monday when asked about moving Beck to an active role. "We haven't had those discussions. We'll end up having that discussion [Tuesday]."  

Sure, a one-game preseason sample size isn't incredibly indicative of a quarterback's long-term NFL potential, but it's worth ramping Beck up to start. The next two weeks are against difficult defenses in the Los Angeles Rams and the Denver Broncos, but Arizona should target Week 8 for Beck to make his regular-season debut. 

Why Week 8? That's when the Cardinals will head to AT&T Stadium to face the Dallas Cowboys (2-3), the only team Brissett beat in 2025 and the owners of the NFL's current seventh-worst scoring defense (27.2 points per game allowed in 2026). The Cowboys are fresh off an embarrassing loss to the 0-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who earned their first win of 2026 with undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels making his second career start.

Arizona needs to get Beck, an older rookie who will turn 25 years old in November, reps for at least the second half of this season. It'll only help to assess what the Cardinals have in him ahead of utilizing another high draft pick in the vaunted 2027 NFL Draft. If they like what they see, the Cardinals can simply go with the "best player available" approach. If they don't, they may need to take a longer look at the upcoming quarterback draft class.