Carson Beck, Arizona Cardinals, Round 3, Pick 65
The Arizona Cardinals selected Carson Beck with the No. 65 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Beck, a Miami product after multiple seasons with Georgia, now joins an Arizona offense looking for their quarterback of the future.
Projected Role in the Cardinals Offense
- Mystery box quarterback
- Expected snap share: 30%
- Timeline to start: Week 13
- Primary Competition: Jacoby Brissett
Key Takeaways
- Carson Beck enters a quarterback room without a clear QB1. This looks like it will be a true quarterback competition, and Beck will get every chance to win starts.
- Expected fantasy value: QB3 if announced as the starter, comfortably on waivers unless it's a deep superflex league.
- Biggest winner: Trey McBride
- Biggest loser: Gardner Minshew
Fantasy Football Impact of Carson Beck on the Arizona Cardinals
Not many scouts would call Carson Beck the savior of a franchise. But before his UCL injury, he was a top recruit with prototypical size and enough arm zip to get the job done all over the field. He often leaves throws outside the numbers floating in the air for too long, which were picked off in college. Now that he's taking the next step, he's going to need some of that arm strength to return to be able to threaten defenses deep or on the outside of the field.
With the current quarterbacks on the roster, this is one of the few situations where it's possible a day two pick gets a serious look at playing time at the quarterback position. He poses almost no rushing threat, so he will need to be a "break glass in case of emergency" option in superflex leagues, and the Cardinals quarterback room is going to be one to monitor throughout the offseason.
The Fantasy Football Fallout
This was already a hard team to project passing volume or quarterback starts. Brissett is holding out for a contract extension, Minshew signed in free agency, and the team changed its coaching staff. If Carson Beck wins the job outright, he'll have plenty of weapons around him to target. But with arm strength concerns, he'll struggle to hit Marvin Harrison Jr. or Michael Wilson in the deep and intermediate areas of the field. That leaves plenty of space for Trey McBride to continue to earn underneath targets and maintain his dominance in PPR or TEP formats. As it will likely be a true quarterback competition, this will raise the floor for Trey McBride's quarterback play, even if only ever so slightly.
