Trey

McBride

McBride’s touchdown with 2:11 left seemed like it would be a bit of a fantasy afterthought, but it quickly proved important as the Cowboys fizzled out after a failed onside kick by Arizona. The veteran tight end caught four passes and 44 yards of this production, as well as the touchdown, once Jacoby Brissett left the game. He’ll remain a don’t-have-to-think-about-it TE1 even in a tough matchup against Seattle in Week 9.

The Cardinals couldn’t get much going on offense, but that’s not a problem for McBride. He accounted for 27 percent of the team’s targets and was the only Cardinal to find the end zone on the day. McBride did so on a seven-yard strike from Brissett in the third quarter. Despite posting weekly TE1 numbers, this is McBride’s first 100-yard outing of the season. Facing a laughable Dallas defense next week, McBride will likely clock in as the TE1 overall in the weekly rankings.

McBride’s first target ended up being a Quentin Lake interception, but Jacoby Brissett went right back to his star tight end on the following drive. McBride made a contested catch on a quick in route, spun off contact and took off downfield for a 26-yard gain. McBride’s day largely consisted of out routes and catches in the flats after that, but he was given two opportunities to score a touchdown from inside the Rams’ 25-yard line on the Cardinals’ seventh drive. On 2nd-and-1 from the Rams’ 21-yard line, McBride caught a pass in the flats and rumbled through contact for a short first-down gain. Three plays later, on 3rd-and-goal from the Rams’ seven-yard line, Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur dialed up a screen pass for him, but the Rams blew it up, resulting in a yardage loss. It wasn’t McBride biggest outing, but a 7/53 is hardly unusable. McBride remains an elite TE1 against the Broncos next week.

Cardinals fans appear to be pining for the team to bench Jacoby Brissett and start the rookie in the coming weeks as another season circles the drain for Arizona. Beck so far has been the Cards’ emergency third quarterback. Urban said there remains a “chance Beck is made the backup this week or next and allow him to come on in relief if the situation presents itself. I don’t see Beck starting in the immediate future, but it does feel his time grows closer, and if the offense continues to sputter, that would be understandable.” Brissett this season ranks 15th in passing yards. He’s thrown nine touchdowns to five interceptions and ranks 30th out of 37 qualifying QBs in adjusted yards per attempt. He won’t be a viable fantasy play this week against a tough Rams coverage unit.

McBride looked like his normal, dominant self, carving up defenders on out routes and in-breakers. Unfortunately, hearts were also broken when Jacoby Brissett fired a touchdown pass right past McBride, running wide open inside the Lions’ five-yard line, to backup TE Teagan Quitoriano, also running wide open in the back of the end zone. Fortunately, McBride was able to haul in a juggling, falling and contested touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter to boost his final stat line. McBride is an elite TE1 against the Rams next week.

It was another compiling-based statistical performance for the Cardinals’ dominant seam stretcher, but the PPR check clears all the same. Amazingly, seven catches were actually a new season low. McBride is going to keep stacking volume efforts, but he has now been out-targeted 30-23 by Michael Wilson over the past two weeks, not that a single soul is concerned about 23 targets in two games. Potentially more concerning is the negative chatter arising around Jacoby Brissett’s play. Either way, McBride has a Week 5 smash spot in the Lions.

McBride had a big receiving day, though penalties prevented it from being more productive. His first reception was called back due to offensive pass interference while he drew defensive pass interference in the endzone on a 4th-and-1 play. He continues to be the Cardinals’ most effective target on immediate routes, slashing through the 49ers defense for 75 yards. Not much more nuance is needed here, McBride is a fantasy TE1 for Week 4 against the Giants.

McBride is unbelievably good at getting open on short-to-intermediate crossers and out routes. Even the Seahawks’ elite defense had trouble capping his receptions total, although they did prevent him from producing a double-digit gain. McBride’s second-quarter touchdown pulled the Cardinals even with the Seahawks, 7-7. It was a daring, smart call by coach Mike LaFleur, who called McBride’s number via a short out route on 4th-and-goal from the Seahawks’ three-yard line. McBride remains an elite TE1 against the 49ers next week.

McBride is good to go for the Cardinals’ matchup against the Seahawks and can be treated as a shoo-in TE1, per usual. The Seahawks are without S Ty Okada (hamstring), theoretically making life a little easier for McBride. Fellow S Nick Emmanwori (hip/ankle) is questionable.

McBride should be considered good to go for the Cardinals’ Week 2 game against the Seahawks. It took a while for the team to let us know what was going on yesterday. Although there is something at play here with the back listing, the fact that the team labeled it a rest day is great to see. He’s an elite TE1.