Arizona CardinalsOur read
Written Oct 19, from his facts through last season
A rookie third-round pick who has not appeared in any of the first five weeks of 2026 is not on anyone's roster for a reason right now. ARI lists him third among its quarterbacks behind Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew, so even the path to the field runs through two veterans before it reaches him.
The availability picture was already the worry before the season. Our board expected 6 games from him, counting injury risk, and set our projection at 67 points for the year, about 11.2 a game across the weeks we thought he would play. He has missed weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of 2026, which burns through that expectation fast. Our projection already sat low: anywhere between 31 and 104 points covers where the reasonable outcomes fall, and injuries are what drag a rookie season toward the very bottom of that range.
There is one structural note for a deeper league: he sits in a tier with just one other player before a 9.3-point drop, so the drop behind him is steep. But that matters for a draft board, not for a roster being managed through week 6 of 2026. If you are carrying him, you are carrying a quarterback who may never throw a pass this year. Watch whether Brissett struggles and whether ARI turns to the rookie in week 6 of 2026 or later. Until there is a snap to judge, there is nothing here to start. Keep him only in a league with taxi-style depth, and let him go otherwise.