Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur announced Monday that the team will stick with Gardner Minshew as the starter going forwar, according to multiple reports. He added that the team will elevate rookie Carson Beck to the backup role, which would mean demoting Jacoby Brissett all the way to the emergency third-QB spot.
What's the Immediate Impact of Minshew?
The starter switch comes as no shock after Arizona benched Brissett at Dallas and watched Minshew march the team back to an improbable victory.
Unfortunately for Minshew, his first start will come at Seattle in Week 9. We certainly won't advocate using him there, especially with WRs Michael Wilson and Kendrick Bourne coming out of Week 8 nursing injuries.
Arizona also gets negative QB-scoring matchuops with the Rams and Chiefs the ensuing two weeks. If Minshew can hold his spot until Week 12, he'll get favorable home matchups with Washington and Philly before the Week 14 bye.
Minshew makes sense as a superflex pickup in spite of the difficult schedule, but try not to use him.
Rookie Watch Might Have Officially Started
Many have wanted the Cardinals to throw Beck onto the field for a while, but Arizona has kept the third-round pick in the No. 3 role all season.
That makes Beck's elevation this week interesting. He's obviously now just a Minshew injury away from entering any game, and the depth-chart shift could signal a readiness to try Beck at some point.
That aforementioned difficult stretch could challenge Minshew's hold on the role, so we'll be watching both actions and words over the next few weeks.
The timing of that Week 14 bye could factor into the Beck plan as well. If the Cards go even a decent 2-3 over the next five games, they'd come out of the bye 5-8 and still potentially in last place in their division. (The Rams sit a game ahead at 4-4 right now.)
Brissett to Baltimore?
It's unlikely that any other team would view Brissett as an exciting option or an upgrade over a current starter. But we just watched the Ravens lose Lamar Jackson to a right-thumb injury likely to end his season and Tyler Huntley to turf toe.
If Baltimore expects Huntley to miss multiple games, making a move for Brissett would probably look like an upgrade over undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano. And Arizona's likely willing to deal him at this point.
We'll see what happens, but the possibility's enough to make Brissett holdable this week in superflex and two-QB leagues.
The NFL trade deadline is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10.
