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When it comes to the list of teams would could make a splash for a quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals are penciled in at the very top.
ESPN analyst Field Yates recently predicted the Cardinals to trade up and select Alabama’s Ty Simpson late in the first round while NFL.com’s Charles Davis had Arizona pulling the trigger at No. 3 overall (with a caveat).
In ESPN analyst Matt Miller’s three-round mock draft published Monday, he instead sees the Cardinals waiting until the third round and using the No. 65 overall pick on Miami’s Carson Beck.
After missing on Simpson in Round 2, the Cardinals could take a swing at QB here. Beck’s experience and strong pocket play would allow him to run the play-action-based offense Mike LaFleur brings to Arizona.
By the time the Cardinals are on the clock at the start of the third round, Beck is left as the best available option.
Simpson falls to the second round, but ultimately goes off the board one pick before the Cardinals at No. 33 overall to the New York Jets. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and Penn State’s Drew Allar are also taken within the first 64 selections.
Beck’s lone season as a Hurricane saw him throw for 3,813 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. When playing at State Farm Stadium in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 8, he threw for 268 yards and scored three touchdowns to help Miami advance to the National Championship Game.
Selecting Beck could give the Cardinals a potential long-term answer at third-round value, but most likely doesn’t alter the expectation of Jacoby Brissett starting Week 1.
As a result of Simpson not being available at No. 34 overall, Miller has Arizona pivoting to another pressing need at edge rusher with Missouri’s Zion Young.
The Cardinals would just miss on Simpson falling to them here, though they could trade up, which is what they did in Field Yates’ and Jordan Reid’s most recent mock drafts. Young would be a strong consolation prize, giving Arizona a powerful defensive end to complement the speed Josh Sweat and Baron Browning provide.
Standing at 6-foot-6, 262 pounds, Young recorded 16.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2025, earning a First-Team All-SEC nod in the process. His pre-draft offseason has included earning Player of the Game honors at the Senior Bowl and impressing Miller himself in positional drills at the NFL Combine.
To begin their 2026 NFL Draft, Miller predicts the Cardinals to play it safe with Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa at No. 3 overall.
General manager Monti Ossenfort addressed the offensive line in free agency by bringing in Isaac Seumalo and Elijah Wilkinson, but a permanent answer at the right tackle spot still eludes Arizona.
Far and away the most-linked prospect in the Arizona Sports Mock Draft Tracker with 68 out of 182 entries, Miller is the latest analyst to go that route on Day 1. The move also reunites Miami alums Mauigoa with Beck.
With the drop-off after Mendoza at QB, Arizona could choose to stick with veteran Jacoby Brissett in 2026 and wait until a deeper 2027 draft to select their next signal-caller. So this pick can be the start of their future foundation. Mauigoa is the draft’s top-ranked offensive lineman and allowed only two sacks during Miami’s run to the national title game. He is a fierce run blocker who would be an immediate replacement for right tackle Christian Jones opposite Paris Johnson Jr., giving Arizona a pair of young offensive line bookends.
All signs point to the Arizona Cardinals heading to Green Bay for a joint practice with the Packers this preseason.
There’s still a final sign-off from the NFL, but new Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur said things are in the works.
“I love joint practices, because you get to hit somebody else, you get to see somewhat of a different scheme, all that,” LaFleur said during the annual NFL owners meeting on Monday. “But we’re going against different players, different corners, different D, we’re blocking different guys. Training camp is long and so for the same team to be hitting each other for that many weeks in a row, you’ve got to break it up.
“Inevitably we all know what’s going to happen after you keep hitting your own brother for a while. We’re going to hug each other after it, but when you’re going, you’re going. And it should be competitive. We’re working through that still. I don’t know if I can stamp anything. I’m waiting for kind of the league in terms of all that kind of stuff, but when that gets done, we’ll go up there.”
Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur couldn't give the final stamp on Arizona's expected joint practice with Green Bay, but it sounds very much like when not if. pic.twitter.com/6jz6MUFCCK
— Tyler Drake (@Tdrake4sports) March 30, 2026
On top of getting a week of work in with his brother and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur, Mike LaFleur is also going to get a taste of former head coach Jonathan Gannon’s defense now that the ex-Cardinal is Green Bay’s defensive coordinator.
Gannon was a huge fan of joint practices, heading to Minnesota (2023), Indianapolis (2024) and Denver (2025) during his three-year run in Arizona.
And while it’s expected there will be some similarities between the Nick Rallis-led Arizona defense and Gannon’s new unit, LaFleur isn’t concerned about any potential crossover.
“I know someone’s going to say, ‘Well, JG’s kind of probably a similar scheme.’ They’re going to do whatever Green Bay’s going to do now, and he’s going to fit it to their players,” LaFleur said.
Another benefit of getting out of Arizona during the preseason? The weather.
It’s going to be toasty in Tempe (it already is getting that way) in the not-so-distant future. Add on another week of preseason action thanks to the Hall of Fame Game, and escaping the heat is a key component in heading to the Midwest for joint practice.
“We’ll turn it up, but at the same time we got to make sure that we’re taking care of these guys,” LaFleur said. “At some point (after training camp indoors), we got to go back home. We got to go back to Tempe and kind of get going there. To be able to do that joint after we get back, that gets them out of that heat.
“Like I told some of the guys already, if we could go to Canada, we would, they just don’t have a team. So, the next best thing is just going up to Wisconsin, because we can’t go to Seattle for obvious reasons. It’ll be fun.”
SAN JOSE — As Arizona faced its first deficit of the NCAA Tournament and just its fifth halftime deficit of the season, a players-only halftime meeting supercharged a second-half rally on Saturday, which helped propel the Wildcats to the Final Four.
Arizona trailed by seven at halftime — matching its largest halftime deficit of the season — after being out-rebounded 20-15 and allowing Purdue to shoot 7 of 14 (50%) from 3-point range.
With a longer-than-usual halftime ahead, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd wanted to make the most of the extended break.
Associate head coach Jack Murphy opened the break by showing the Wildcats some film before Lloyd entered the room and told the team what needed to change: rebounding.
“Just stay calm. Get the (offensive rebounds). Box them out. Don’t do stupid mistakes and just keeping going possession by possession and just play steady,” Arizona center Motiejus Krivas said when describing Lloyd’s message.
“The message to the guys from me was, like, ‘Stay steady, let’s work ourselves back in the game,'” Lloyd said. “We’ve been great at the start of the second half. Then we’ll go from there.”
With the long intermission still taking place, it was then time for Lloyd’s light bulb moment to commence. Lloyd and his staff stepped out, and the message became the players’ to own.
“This is when we’re at our best. I said, ‘Guys, the coaching staff and I are going to leave right now. You guys got a few minutes to talk amongst yourselves and kind of figure this deal out, and let’s go kick their ass in the second half,'” Lloyd said.
Lloyd said he had previously used the tactic with success “probably four or five times this year,” including during a few timeouts and a couple of halftimes.
“Coach always has these things they want to talk about,” Arizona guard Anthony Dell’Orso said. “We watch film. We kinda get a quick few pointers, but something this coaching staff does is they leave and they say, ‘You players figure it out.’
“And they all leave the room, we all talk about it and we’re always positive and we’re always just saying, ‘Let’s go. Let’s figure it out. We’re good. We’re gonna win this game.’”
As Lloyd left the locker room, Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka, Ivan Kharchenkov and Krivas led the discussion.
Arizona freshman Ivan Kharchenkov explains what made the difference for the Wildcats in the second half against Purdue.
Kharchenkov scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, as Arizona outscored Purdue 48-26. pic.twitter.com/aI9p22nNdZ
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) March 29, 2026
“(They) told us to keep going,” Arizona freshman Koa Peat said. “You know, we’ve been through adversity this season. Can’t get too high or too low. Just stay even keeled. And we went out there and played our game and came out victorious. I’m just proud of the guys. We stayed together.”
Coming out of the half, the Wildcats went on a 13-5 scoring run in a span of just more than five minutes to take their first lead since the 4:28 mark of the first half.
“Our guys did a good job. They came out, and we tied the game pretty quick,” Lloyd said. “Then it’s a 0-0 game, and can we win it down the stretch? Then somehow, some way we were able to sustain that run.”
Arizona more than sustained that momentum and outscored Purdue 48-26 and out-rebounded the Boilermakers 22-16 in the second half.
Lloyd said he felt like a spectator.
“The most powerful thing in a team sport is a player-led program,” Lloyd said. “The coach, you have to help them navigate it, but when you can get the players to kind of own these moments, you are just so much better. You are so much better.”
Now that the season is beginning, you should be grinding the fantasy baseball two-start pitchers to give you an advantage over your competition.
Each week, I will be giving you a breakdown of the two-start options for your fantasy leagues, broken up into the following tiers:
These are projected two-start pitchers and are subject to change, and they will with the season just getting going.
Let’s explore this week’s fantasy baseball two-start pitchers, ranging from must-start options to those you should probably avoid.
Max Fried (NYY) at SEA, at MIA
Edward Cabrera (CHC) vs LAA, at CLE
Chase Burns (CIN) vs PIT, at TEX
Ranger Suarez (BOS) at HOU, vs SD
If you drafted Suarez, you are most likely using him here in spite of tough matchups. I have some reservations with him this year because Boston’s infield defense is not nearly as strong as it was in Philadelphia, but he should still give you good ratios and plenty of win potential.
Ryan Weathers (NYY) at SEA, vs MIA
I have reservations about Ryan Weathers this year, but that has everything to do with health. He has never had a season in the Majors where he reached 100 innings, and I just don’t trust that he will this season. However, that is a problem for later, as Weathers is extremely talented and healthy right now.
Cody Ponce (TOR) vs COL, at CHW
Kris Bubic (KC) vs MIN, vs MIL
Similar to Weathers, I do not have much faith that Bubic can stay healthy for an entire season, but he is healthy right now, and he showed last year that when Bubic is on the mound and healthy, he is a fantastic starting pitcher.
Luis Castillo (SEA) vs NYY, at LAA
Castillo has been a top 50 pitcher or better every year of his career. Sure, the skills are beginning to decline, but he puts up great volume with good ratios and is protected at home. He has a difficult start to begin the week and an easier one to wrap it up, so you are starting him in most formats.
Jack Leiter (TEX) at BAL, vs CIN
Leiter has amazing stuff, but can struggle with command and control. He looked pretty good this spring and could be primed for a breakout this season. These are scary matchups versus two offenses that should be pretty good this season. I would probably roll with him in deeper leagues, but in shallower formats, you should have better options.
Mick Abel (MIN) at KC, vs TB
Abel is coming off a fantastic spring training where he showed amazing stuff and very good command and control. He has decent matchups here and should be in most lineups outside of the very shallow leagues.
Kyle Harrison (MIL) vs TB, at KC
Harrison was traded to Milwaukee in the offseason and looks like a new pitcher. He added a new pitch, and the results were impressive, posting a 24% K-BB%. He has two good matchups this week and, like Abel, should be in most lineups outside of shallow formats.
Braxton Ashcraft (PIT) at CIN, vs BAL
Ashcraft has great stuff and looked good in spring, but he has two tough matchups. Going to Cincy can be very scary, while the Orioles game is at home
Nick Martinez (TB) at MIL, at MIN
Martinez will be making his Rays debut this week, and while you usually want to target the Twins and their terrible looking team, it’s hard to know how the Rays will employ Martinez. He has experience being a starter and reliever, and the Rays have a history of using these guys as openers or followers.
Brandon Pfaadt (ARI) vs DET, vs ATL
I have been a Pfaadt believer for years, and just when that seemed like it might finally be coming to an end, he started to draw me back in with a fantastic spring training. That being said, these are two tough matchups, and while he is at home, it is pretty risky to use him here.
Justin Verlander (DET) at ARI, vs STL
Verlander is returning to the Tigers for one last run with them, and it is a fun story to watch. He was great down the stretch last season as well, but there is a bunch of risk to this one. He will get a lot of run support, but the Diamondbacks are a legitimately good team, and the Cardinals are more dangerous than they get credit for.
Chris Bassitt (BAL) vs TEX, at PIT
David Martin (CWS) at MIA, vs TOR
Parker Messick (CLE) at LAD, vs CHC
Aaron Civale (CHC) at ATL, vs HOU
Lance McCullers Jr. (HOU) vs BOS, at ATH
Bryce Elder (ATL) vs ATH, at ARI
Jose Suarez (ATL) vs ATH, at ARI
Chris Paddack (MIN) vs CHW, at NYY
Taijuan Walker (PHI) vs WAS, at COL
Foster Griffin (WAS) at PHI, vs LAD
Kyle Leahy (STL) vs NYM, at DET
Michael Soroka (CWS) vs DET, vs ATL
Tomoyuki Sugano (NYM) at TOR, vs PHI
Roki Sasaki (LAD) vs CLE, at WAS
German Marquez (COL) vs SF, at BOS
Adrian Houser (CWS) at SD, vs NYM
Landen Roupp (SF) at SD, vs NYM
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