RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Arizona Cardinals are not wasting time getting a look at their new rookie quarterback.
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur announced Tuesday that Beck will earn the start in Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game against the Carolina Panthers.
Beck, a third-round pick (65th overall) out of Miami, helped lead the Hurricanes to the national title game, which they lost to Indiana. He spent six years in college, including his first five at Georgia, and was a starter his final three college seasons. In 55 career college games, he completed 69.5 percent of his passes, throwing for 11,725 yards, 88 TDs and 32 INTs.
How Carson Beck can work toward a starting opportunity
Beck, 24, was the third quarterback selected in the 2026 NFL draft behind first-rounders Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson, falling into what has been a little bit of a nether region for QBs in the draft. The third round has produced some notable QB names in NFL history, including Russell Wilson and Nick Foles, but recent years have been far more desolate for talent at the position.
Former Round 3 QBs such as Mason Rudolph, Davis Mills and Desmond Ridder earned starting opportunities but weren’t able to seize them fully. Malik Willis is an example of a rare third-round success story, earning a starting shot in Miami, but with six career starts, he remains an unknown.
Ironically, Jacoby Brissett has been one of the most productive Round 3 quarterbacks in the past decade, and he’s one of the men standing in front of Beck in Arizona. Brissett’s status as a starter felt a bit volatile entering the summer as he held out for more money, but the team’s agreement with him on a reworked contract – with approximately $10.6 million in new money – at least suggests the Cardinals are prepared to make Brissett the starter early this coming season.
Beck also must fend off Gardner Minshew, who has started games for five different teams in his seven NFL seasons. Minshew has started at least one game every season he’s been in the league and actually has more NFL starts (47) than Brissett does (46).
But the Cardinals are clearly starting fresh on offense and don’t appear married to either Brissett or Minshew beyond this season. Beck appears to have a real shot at making an impression on the new staff and earning starts as a rookie.
Having an extra preseason game will help. Thursday’s game against the Panthers will be the first of four exhibition games, and with three quarterbacks who could earn starts this season – along with Kedon Slovis, Arizona’s fourth QB – there should be ample time to give them plenty of runway into the season. Starters have almost always sat the Hall of Fame game out, so Beck could receive half of Thursday’s game or more to impress.
And though Beck might have to wait his turn during the regular season, a strong preseason can only help his chances. Justin Fields, Kenny Pickett and Will Levis are examples of higher-round QBs who received extensive preseason action despite not being pegged as their respective teams’ Week 1 starters, helping prepare them for starting duty later on.
A few lower-round QBs who took advantage of their preseason opportunities, parlaying them into regular-season starts as rookies, includes Brock Purdy, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Aidan O'Connell, Spencer Rattler, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, along with Mills and Ridder.
How much can Carson Beck really prove as a rookie
Beck has shown out in early training-camp practices and has become something of a new favorite among fans who are hoping for some quarterback light at the end of the tunnel after watching Kyler Murray leave this offseason. Brissett and Minshew might be ahead in the pecking order now, but there’s always a stronger clarion call for the younger, more unknown QB to get his shot.
Realistically, Beck will have this season to prove himself. The Cardinals, Frank Schwab's No. 30-ranked preseason team , likely have a ways to go before they’re contenders – especially in the stacked NFC West, which features three of the NFL’s best teams, including the champion Seahawks and preseason favorite Rams. Arizona’s schedule also appears to be a real bear, too, and the odds are better that the Cardinals will be picking closer to the top of the 2027 NFL draft than the bottom.
And if that draft ends up being the quarterback bounty that some have forecast, then the Cardinals almost certainly will be scouting that position heavily next winter. Can Beck change that? Absolutely. But on that prior list of third-round quarterbacks and lower, only Purdy really has solidified his place with the team that drafted him.
Lower-round picks, fair or not, typically receive less leeway than higher ones. Beck entered the NFL with some real pluses, including prototypical size, solid short and intermediate accuracy and big-game experience. But he also was marred by questions of downfield accuracy, late-game (and big-game) jitters and doubts about his true arm talent. There was a reason he lasted until Round 3.
So he appears to have a pretty nice chance to work his way into the mix as a rookie, and a strong start in Thursday’s game should only enhance that talk. But history tells us that he’ll have to make the most of that opportunity – whenever it comes, during what could be a trying season – or his team might set its QB sights elsewhere, and as soon as the next offseason.
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