Revenge of the Birds

The source reports that the vast majority of Arizona Cardinals fans surveyed expect Brissett to start approximately half the 2026 season, with many specifically projecting eight games of starting opportunity. The Cardinals carry a 4.5-win line, reflecting low expectations despite Brissett's pay bump. The source notes that Brissett would likely need to reach at least a 3-5 record through his first eight games to secure a ninth start; a 2-6 record would be considered bad, 1-7 shocking, and 0-8 would raise serious questions about his continued role.

Love is standing out as the Cardinals' RB1 prospect in training camp, running laps around the competition and emerging as the clear lead back option.

Smith-Marsette has an extremely good chance to make the Cardinals roster and is in top-5 receiver consideration for the team. Current projected top-five receivers are Harrison, Wilson, Bourne, Duvernay, and ISM.

Smith-Marsette has an extremely good chance to make the roster and is currently projected as the fifth receiver in the Cardinals' five-receiver set. The source's depth chart projection is: Harrison, Wilson, Bourne, Duvernay, and ISM. This indicates he has secured a roster spot and will have access to offensive snaps in the regular season.

Love has been the standout running back in training camp, significantly outperforming other backs. The source explicitly states 'Jeremiyah Love needs to be RB1. Running laps around everyone else,' indicating he should be the primary back. The source also notes the Cardinals' plan with Love is smart—letting him develop while Allgeier handles early-down work to evaluate the offensive line. This suggests Love is positioned for a featured role and significant usage opportunity.

Brissett showed rust early in training camp but bounced back after the first 11v11; however, he has struggled with accuracy on deep throws, penalty issues (intentional grounding, pre-snap confusion), and situational awareness problems. The source attributes the deep misses to conditioning concerns—noting he appears out of shape with dead legs and limited mobility—likely stemming from his offseason holdout. While the source hopes these issues will be resolved before the September 13th opener, the combination of rust, conditioning deficits, and pre-snap discipline problems represents a significant concern for his early-season performance.

Running back is standing out significantly in Arizona Cardinals training camp and needs to be the team's RB1 based on his performance relative to other backs; the source notes he is 'running laps around everyone else,' indicating dominant camp performance and clear separation from the running back competition.

Wide receiver has an extremely good chance to make the Arizona Cardinals roster based on day 4 camp observations. In a five-receiver roster scenario, Smith-Marsette ranks fifth behind Harrison, Wilson, Bourne, and Duvernay, indicating he has secured a roster spot in the team's depth chart hierarchy.

Love has stood out significantly in camp and should be the Cardinals' RB1. The source notes he is running laps around everyone else at the position, indicating he is the clear lead back option. The team's plan is to see what the offensive line looks like and let Allgeier be the early-down back, but Love is positioned as the primary back.

Smith-Marsette has an extremely good chance to make the Cardinals roster. In a five-receiver keeper scenario, the current projected depth chart is Harrison, Wilson, Bourne, Duvernay, and ISM, placing him as the fifth option and securing his roster spot.

Brissett showed rust in his first full practice and was hit-and-miss over subsequent days; he had a particularly poor Wednesday with multiple overthrows and accuracy issues. The source attributes the deep misses to conditioning concerns—he is out of shape with dead legs, appears slightly overweight, and is not moving well, a byproduct of his offseason holdout. Additionally, he struggled with presnap awareness and situational awareness, including an intentional grounding penalty and a middle-of-field throw at the line of scrimmage during 2-minute drill installations. The source is hopeful conditioning and work will resolve these issues before the regular season.

Cardinals' primary return man for both kickoffs and punts in 2026, replacing a committee approach from 2025. Former track star with strong return metrics: 13.8 punt return average and 27.5 kickoff return average. Made Pro Bowl in 2021 and 2022 as AFC specialist while with Chicago Bears. Source states 'by bringing in Duvernay, this is one less problem box that doesn't need to be checked. He will handle it,' indicating confidence in his ability to stabilize and improve the return game.

Return man handling both kickoff and punt duties for 2026; former track star with 13.8 punt return average and 27.5 kickoff return average; made Pro Bowl in 2021 and 2022 as AFC specialist; source describes him as 'very good returner' and 'key weapon who was able to flip the field,' noting his arrival solves a major special teams problem box.

McBride isn't going to be covered very easily; nobody could cover him in practice. Teams are going to have to designate a safety with some height to cover him because linebackers can't keep up.

Harrison could be in line for his best season yet. In one-on-one drills with receivers versus defensive backs, he made everybody look silly, including Denzel Burke. His moves have improved and he looks like he has buffed up this offseason. However, he is still dropping passes.

Benson is on the second-team running back unit and has shown great burst off the snap. He had a good run where he sprang open going down the left sideline and is showing consistency.

Knight is on the second-team running back unit. If he can wrangle away the kickoff returner position, he conceivably could make the roster, but not as a running back due to the amount of talent and number of backs in the group.

Love is showing a lot of moves at the line of scrimmage and when he has popped out into open territory. He has been getting first-team reps in other practices.

Conner remains out of team drills due to injury. In other practices, he took the majority of first-team reps before stepping aside.

Allgeier looks really good and took over first-team snaps on Wednesday, looking great in all RB drills. He is exceptional in all running back drills.

Slovis will likely become a practice squad addition after final roster cuts on August 30. He is the forgotten man running the third-team offense and is not getting the reps.

Brissett looks good on short to intermediate passes, but his long ball accuracy is shamefully off target. He did lead a successful two-minute drill, though there was a contested pass interference call that continued the drive instead of turning the ball over on downs.

McBride isn't going to be covered very easily, and nobody today could. Teams are going to have to designate a safety who has some height to cover him because linebackers can't keep up.

Wilson took a back seat to Harrison for most of the practice but still had plenty of catches, especially when Brissett was throwing. He and Brissett continued to look good going back to last year.

Harrison could be in line for his best season yet. In one-on-one drills with receivers versus defensive backs, he made everybody look silly, including Denzel Burke. His moves have improved, and he looks like he has buffed up a bit this offseason. However, he is still dropping passes.

Benson has shown great burst off the snap and had a good run where he sprang open going down the left sideline. He is also showing consistency on the second team with Bam Knight.

Knight is on the second team with Trey Benson sprinkled in. If Knight can wrangle away the kickoff returner position, he conceivably could make the roster, but not as a running back due to the amount of talent and number of backs in the group.

Love is showing a lot of moves at the line of scrimmage and also when he has popped out into open territory. He has been getting first team reps in other practices, stepping in when James Conner is out.

Conner remains out of team drills due to injury. In other practices, he took the majority of first team reps before stepping aside for rookie Jeremiyah Love.

Allgeier looks really good and is exceptional in all RB drills. On Wednesday, he took over the first team snaps and looked great, contrasting with James Conner who took the majority of first team reps in other practices before stepping aside for rookie Jeremiyah Love.

Slovis will likely become a practice squad addition after final roster cuts on August 30. He is the forgotten man, not getting the reps, and is running the third-team offense presently.

Minshew has good accuracy but then will flip a pass towards a defender. He was picked off and has quite a few incompletions.

Brissett looks good on short to intermediate passes, but his long ball accuracy is shamefully off target. He did lead a successful two-minute drill, though a contested pass interference call continued the drive instead of turning the ball over on downs.

Beck had arguably his best practice session since arriving in Tempe, showing arm talent on full display during two-minute drills with astounding touch into tight windows and a touchdown pass with very little room for error. He has command of the huddle despite being a rookie, though he stares down receivers and needs tutelage. The source projects he may not supplant Jacoby Brissett as starting QB but could become the primary backup, and if the Cardinals aren't winning enough games by November, it would surprise nobody to see Beck under center going down the stretch to get NFL game experience and gauge whether the franchise is satisfied with him or needs to look into the 2027 NFL draft.

It doesn't look like rookie RB Jeremiyah Love will be the starting running back just yet. Veteran James Conner has been getting the majority of the first-team reps instead of Love. Conner has taken a mentorship role with Love and gave the young buck some encouragement when he dropped a short pass.

Michael Wilson is clearly the #1 receiver at this point in camp, hauling in the deep ball from Jacoby Brissett. The coaches are allowing him to play fast and do what he does well; so far, Wilson is killing it and is a very good deep threat. Marvin Harrison Jr. will have to distance himself from Wilson's current pecking order position.

Gardner Minshew is positioned as the second-string quarterback behind Jacoby Brissett on the Arizona Cardinals depth chart. The source projects Minshew will get a couple of games if Brissett's lack of wins forces the Cardinals to make a change, with Beck expected to take over after Minshew's brief stint.

Carson Beck is positioned as the third-string quarterback behind Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew on the Arizona Cardinals depth chart. The source projects Beck will see playing time late in the 2026 season if Brissett struggles to produce wins, with Beck expected to close out the season after Minshew gets a couple of games.

The source frames Brissett's role as contingent on winning games; despite being the Cardinals' paid starting quarterback, his tenure is expected to be short-lived due to his historical inability to produce wins. The source notes that "no matter the stats, the wins have to come at some point to continue to roll him out there," suggesting the Cardinals will quickly pivot to Carson Beck or Gardner Minshew if Brissett fails to generate victories.

The source projects Brissett will start between 5-8 games for the Arizona Cardinals in 2026, citing his career-long struggle to win games as a starter (1-11 last year, 1-4 the year before, never a winning record in his career, best seasons 7-8 in 2019 and 2-3 in 2021). The source reasons that while it would be "catastrophically bad" for him not to start at least four games, the lack of wins will likely force the Cardinals to move on to backup options before reaching a full 15+ game season.