Revenge of the Birds
When the Arizona Cardinals selected quarterback Carson Beck from Miami in the third round of April’s NFL draft, the idea posed was the franchise had acquired a young signalcaller that could be stashed on the roster, develop, and bide his time.
The QB room had Jacoby Brissett on the roster, who is entering his 11th NFL season, plus the team signed veteran Gardner Minshew during free agency. Minshew has played in 63 games with 47 starts during his seven-year career. Plus, Kedon Slovis has a year under his belt.
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After the draft was completed, the Cardinals have had numerous minicamps and OTAs. All but one was voluntary for players.
There is a lot going on with Arizona’s offensive structure this offseason and going into the 2026 season.
Right off, there is a new head coach. Mike LaFleur is an offensive-minded guy, which means a lot of attention is being spent on that side of the ball. Secondly, a new OC in Nathaniel Hackett plus new QB coach Matt Schaub. Third, all of the new guys who are now being forced to gel into a cohesive unit. And finally, and this may be the most important, a new offensive system is being introduced and installed.
If your job is to repair internal combustion automobiles all of your life, and then someone brings in a Telsa to fix, there is an issue right away.
It is one thing to learn a new playbook; it is another to digest a completely fresh offense from top to bottom. Study all you want, but on-field tutelage and classroom sessions is how this is going to work.
Beck has been to everything the team has offered. He could have attended an OTA here and there, but he didn’t. Not only has he been to all of the sessions, but the kid has been putting in 13-hour days at the Cardinals’ facility. No rookie player at any position does that.
Beck stated to ESPN Arizona:
“Just trying to pick (the coach’s) brains and just take every little inch and every little thing to add it to my repertoire and get as good and as comfortable as I can is something that I’ve done from the second I feel like I’ve stepped in the building.”
Beck’s strategy is nothing innovative. He wants to make it difficult for this coaching staff to pass over him for either the starting QB job, or at the very least, the backup.
And the notion that the franchise would have him practice, learn, and develop for a full season just isn’t a possibility in his mind at all. He said:
“From day one, for me, I didn’t want to ease into anything, to be completely honest.”
Make no mistake, Beck is putting in the work. And it’s not even training camp yet. After all of the rookies leave their meetings, Beck has been seen spending time with Schaub and oftentimes Hackett for some...
