Jacoby

Brissett

He also added — and to be clear this is a pretty big thing for a general manager to say — “a lot can happen” when asked if Murray would be starting when he came back. Anyone without an IR spot to stash Murray in can definitely let go, and based on that frank evaluation of Murray’s prospects of getting his job back, re-draft managers with an IR spot might be able to stash someone more likely to help them this year.

It’s a move that sounds shocking but felt inevitable after Brissett toppled the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Brissett made three starts in place of an injured Kyler Murray. He threw for 860 yards and six touchdowns while Murray nursed his foot injury. His lowest yardage total was 261, coming against Dallas. That would have been Murray’s highest total of the year by over 40 yards. Brissett was also getting more out of both Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. McBride has four touchdowns in three Brissett starts. He has five career touchdown receptions from Murray. MHJ is coming off a career-high in receptions at seven. In the short-term, Brissett is a mid-range QB2 for fantasy purposes and both of his top pass-catchers will get a boost in the ranks for Week 10 against the Seahawks. In the long-term, the Cardinals are now headed toward an ugly breakup with Murray.

Gannon committed to Murray after Monday night’s upset win over the Cowboys and Arizona’s best three-game offensive stretch in memory. Jacoby Brissett has averaged 88 more passing yards per game than Murray this season, turning Marvin Harrison Jr. into a weekly top-12 fantasy play and Trey McBride into an elite, touchdown-scoring weapon. The Cardinals, for better or worse, are committed to Murray based on salary alone, even if the team’s offense is markedly worse with Murray, among the NFL’s worst passers. Murray, purportedly dealing with a serious foot injury, practiced throughout last week but did not get the start against Dallas. Arizona plays the Seahawks in Week 10.

Brissett looked sharp from the jump against a leaky Dallas defense, leading the team to points on five of their first six possessions. Their only punt through the first three quarters was blocked and returned for a touchdown by the Cowboys, but Brissett responded with an 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by his first rushing touchdown since he was a member of the Browns in 2022. Brissett has now led the Cardinals to 23 points or more in all three starts while averaging 25.67 points per game in that stretch - a number the team eclipsed only once in incumbent starter Kyler Murray’s five starts this season. Head coach Jonathan Gannon continues to insist the starting job is Murray’s once healthy, but the consistent production from Brissett makes that stance a harder sell with each passing appearance. Stay tuned as the Cardinals prepare to face the division rival Seahawks in Week 11.

Garafolo’s source said Jacoby Brissett starting over Murray this week is “1000 percent about health.” Murray has been dealing with a foot issue for weeks and Brissett is now in line to make his third start of the season. Brissett has thrown for 279 yards and 320 yards in his two starts. He has two touchdowns in both games. Murray, on the other hand, has a season-high of 220 passing yards and has only thrown for multiple touchdowns twice in five appearances. We don’t doubt the severity of Murray’s injury. Brissett, however, has played well enough for the Cardinals to take their time with Murray’s recovery. Both Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. will get a boost in the fantasy rankings this week with Brissett under center.

No big surprise here as the Cardinals tipped their hand earlier this week by canceling Kyler Murray’s media availability and giving Brissett the majority of the first-team reps in practice. Murray was expected to return after the Cardinals’ Week 8 bye, but he’ll take at least another week to recover from a foot injury. While Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon previously stated that Murray would be the starting quarterback when healthy, GM Monti Ossenfort was noncommittal when asked about the situation last month. Brissett is a QB2 option in superflex formats and fantasy managers can start Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. with confidence as both have increased their production with Brissett under center.

There was a huge vibe shift in Arizona on Wednesday when Murray’s media availability was canceled and replaced later in the week with one “for an Arizona Cardinals quarterback.” Murray sure seems to be in danger of picking up another questionable tag this week, and he may sit again and watch Jacoby Brissett spread the ball around more. Murray playing would be good news for Marvin Harrison Jr., and Brissett would probably help out Trey McBride and Arizona’s secondary receivers. Murray was officially limited on Friday.

Brissett started his second straight game with Kyler Murray (foot) continuing to sit. He displayed mobility and kept the offense on-schedule for 279 passing yards, adding 26 yards on six carries. Brissett tossed both of his touchdowns to Trey McBride, who has been his No. 1 target the last couple weeks. He notably got up wincing after a Micah Parsons hip drop tackle that resulted in a penalty in the second quarter, but did not miss any plays. Keisean Nixon forced a strip sack fumble in the third quarter, after which Brissett played relatively mistake-free football. He completed 13 straight passes in the second half and had the Cardinals driving down one score in the two-minute drill in the fourth quarter. The game ended in a failed Hail Mary as Arizona stayed in a close game up until the end. Brissett has been a good fantasy quarterback, with back-to-back games of two touchdowns and a turnover and holding the Cardinals’ top-two highest passing totals of the season. Murray is expected to return after the Cardinals’ Week 8 bye, but Brissett is a fantasy QB2 if he starts again.

While technically listed as questionable for Week 7, all signs point to Murray sitting another week while he recovers from the foot injury. Jacoby Brissett is expected to make his second start. Brissett was more aggressive than Kyler with a 10.6 aDOT in Week 6. That fueled Zay Jones and Tre McBride to 70-yard games and Brissett himself went for 320 yards and two scores. The Cardinals still lost to the Colts, but Brissett at least gives his wideouts a chance for more splash plays. With Brissett in the lineup. Marvin Harrison Jr. will eye WR2 numbers after a rocky start to the year.

Ossenfort’s response leaves room for interpretation. He explains that the team is “going to continue to try and get Kyler where he can get back to doing the things he can do on the field,” and “when he’s doing that, he’ll be out there.” It is unclear whether Ossenfort is simply referring to Murray’s foot injury or if he is also taking Murray’s inconsistent play in Weeks 1-5 into account. While Murray remained productive on the ground, rushing for 25-plus yards in all five games, he averaged just 6.0 yards per passing attempt and never threw for more than 220 yards in a single game while taking 16 sacks. In Week 6, Jacoby Brissett threw for 320 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, averaging 7.3 yards per passing attempt, taking two sacks and running for 19 yards on the ground. While we do expect Murray to return as the starter at some point, one wonders if the coaching staff might slow-play his return from the foot injury he suffered in Week 5, while helping Murray fine-tune his pre-game preparations.