The Arizona Cardinals could be starting rookie Carson Beck as soon as their Nov. 15 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Gardner Minshew II is receiving additional medical opinions to confirm he suffered a season-ending torn UCL, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports.
Beck would be the silver lining to the Minshew injury, as Arizona would get a window to evaluate whether he's the long-term option before potentially drafting another quarterback in 2027. However, it will admittedly still be difficult for the Cardinals to properly evaluate Beck with the lack of offensive weapons they'll have.
Carson Beck may finally start, but the Cardinals still need pass-catchers
Michael Wilson is also reported to be out for the season after suffering a neck injury, according to Schefter. Arizona entered the season with seven receivers on its 53-man roster. Now they're down to Simi Fehoko and Reggie Virgil as their top options. Devin Duvernay and Harrison Wallace will have to step up, too. Yikes.
The Cardinals also face injuries on the offensive line, which, paired with this depleted receiver room, could spell trouble for Beck. With upcoming matchups against the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs, it feels more like Arizona throwing him into the fire rather than setting him up for success.
Ultimately, it's likely still in the Cardinals' best long-term interest to take a quarterback in the first round of 2027. Their injuries should at least help their draft position as they limp into the second half of the season. Hopefully, the recent loss to Seattle and these injuries give GM Monti Ossenfort even more incentive to sell at the deadline, though Arizona is quickly running out of time.
They should consider flipping veterans on defense for future picks that can hopefully address these roster flaws once and for all. But it's also important that the Cardinals continue to invest in their recent draft picks. It's not a good sign that they've already moved on from former No. 4 overall pick Marvin Harrison Jr. A concerning amount of that can be attributed to Ossenfort's flaws as a draft evaluator, with Harrison still failing to find his footing in Houston.
But there's also something to be said about the Cardinals' inability to put players like Beck in a position to succeed when they do get that audition to cement themselves as part of the young core going forward. The odds were already stacked against Beck given his third-round draft pedigree. But assuming Minshew is out for the season, it's going to be an even steeper uphill battle, with injuries across the wide receiver room as well.
Madden 99 Club member Trey McBride is basically a wide receiver production-wise, which should help, and the Cardinals should rely on Jeremiyah Love's pass-catching more when he returns from an IR stint. But it's gotten so bad that Arizona should consider bringing in external pass-catchers to help Beck. Otherwise, how will they know whether he is or isn't the answer?
Arizona needs more clarity on Beck before the draft, but they can't get an accurate answer without giving him a fair chance to succeed. They don't need to make a huge splash given their overall stance as sellers. But it would be nice to see them go out and add young receiver who can help grow alongside this core. For the remainder of the season, that should mean developing alongside Beck, giving the Cardinals a chance to actually see what they have.
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