Arizona Cardinals Officially Pivot to Jacoby Brissett as Starting QB

Arizona Cardinals Officially Pivot to Jacoby Brissett as Starting QB

Jacob Brassette will be starting week 10 in Seattle. That’s all we really know right now. Let’s discuss. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily Arizona Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Locked on Cardinals. Alex Clancy, that’s me. Thanks for making locked on Cardinal your first listen forever. get your podcast YouTube, you know the drill. Part of Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Uh, so here’s the thing. It came out yesterday via Jonathan Ganon talking to the media. Jacobe Brassette’s going to start in week 10. Okay, let’s put a pin in that. Playing the hits is what’s made this work. Playing the hits, throw on Trey McBride, Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson. Play the hits. It’s worked. I’ll talk about that in the next segment. And can the defense replicate? Can they do in Seattle against the Seahawks what they did in some form or fashion against the Cowboys? Another high-powered offense. That’s going to be fascinating to discuss throughout this week. So, Jacob Brasset is starting week 10. Okay. Um, and then there is a quote going around that’s saying that everybody picked it up. I mean, everything from ESPN to everybody that regardless of if Kyler Murray is healthy or not, Jacobe Brousett will be the starter moving forward. That’s not what Jonathan Ganon said. So, local radio host asked that question. Great question to ask. And Jonathan Ganon said, paraphrasing in that hypothetical, yes, in so many words, but he didn’t say Kyler Murray will not be starting if he’s healthy. He did not say that they he said they like how things are going with Jacobe in that hypothetical, yes, but he didn’t say 100% unequivocally that Kyler Murray wasn’t gonna start this year. I think it was a mistake. uh not a mistake like well they should have done that I think the the tweet was just a little bit more forceful the sentence than actually what Jonathan Ganon said regardless of that okay not here to bash anybody that’s not I’m too old to do that but it lends me to think that the door is still potentially a jar not saying it should be not saying I agree with it the door still seems to be a jar there is a bevy of options the Cardinals have to put that to rest completely. One, put Kyle Murray on IR. Okay? Put him on short-term IR with the chance to come back in a month. The reports are out that his injury is a 4 to 8 week injury. So, listen, if this is a soft close on the Kyler Murray experience with the Cardinals, there’s a bunch of different ways they can do it, but just do something. Just have some show some mercy to the conversation. Show some mercy to the situation. Put it to rest if you’re going to put the conversation to rest. Now, if they still think that they’re going to play him at some point, if that’s still up in the air, okay. But there’s going to come a point where you’re going to need a backup quarterback. Like, I don’t have to say, “Oh, Kyler Murray, you’re the backup.” That’s not what I’m saying. Like, is Keon Slovis going to be the backup and Kyler Murray just going to be inactive for the rest of the year? Is Kyler Murray gonna be the number two to Jacobe Brassette? Like this isn’t something that’s never happened before. Okay. Backups have outplayed starters and backups have taken those jobs. Jacobe Brouset has done it. Not with the number one overall pick, I don’t believe, before. It happened with Alex Smith. I think in San Francisco he got benched for like JT O something. JT O not JT O Sullivan. I think that’s bar here. Um, for a couple people he was benched. So, this isn’t an original story, but just put your chest in it, man. Show some organizational strength and make a decision. Stop waffling. Now, if he’s still injured and they’re trying to figure it out, fine. But, the Cardinals have handled this very poorly, and that’s not a surprise. And to me specifically, I think Jonathan Ganon is just a puppet at this point when it comes to this specifically. I said specifically twice. Jonathan Ganon, you can see in his eyes and he’s he feels like defeated. I don’t know if he feels defeated or looks defeated because he thought Kyler Murray was going to be the the guy that takes him to the next level and it just didn’t work out or if Michael Bidwell has his hand, you know, uh conducting the strings on a marionette with Jonathan Ganon saying this is what you got to say. Jonathan Ganon came from a winning organization where they got to a Super Bowl. He was one of the best defensive coordinators in the league. And Michael Bidwell has been a part of an organization that’s lost forever. So which side are you gonna take? Either way, just had to address it. It’s Jacob’s job. It’s the right move and onward and upward. No drama. Let’s go play football because if they replicate what they did last week on offense, this Cardinals and I know that it isn’t like I guess this needs to be addressed. Also a disclaimer like the ceiling doesn’t need to be elite. The floor needs to be competent and capable for 60 minutes. That’s more what I’m looking for. And they were competent and capable for 48 minutes or 50 minutes of last week, which is great coming off a buy rust third game with Jacobe Brassette. They’ve looked competent each of the first three weeks that he started. So, you got to be happy with that. So, it’s Shakobe’s job. Marv had 10 targets. Treving Broad had nine. There was some wild wild uh I I’ll tweet it out. I did tweet it out. Um that showed like you know the X and Y graph. X and Y graph. Yeah. And it was it it showed something about tight ends that uh it’s like targets to actual production. expected half-point PPR per game and then actual PPR per game when you’re talking about fantasy football. Trey McBride is in the far upper right like he is screaming past projections every week and it’s like oh this is Jacobe Jacobe Brassette thing. I know that he and Kyler had their thing for sure but it’s where he’s catching the ball. It’s down the field. It’s running elite routes. He just ran it up and out for the touchdown and he just burned the defender and Jacobe just put it on him. So, this is Jacob’s job. It’s the right thing. There’s not going to be any drama. Who knows what’s going to happen in the offseason. There’s a bunch of bad teams with a bunch of picks. We’ll see. But I think at this point, you give Kyler a hug and you say, “Sorry.” If it wasn’t so glaringly obvious that this offense works better with Jacobe Brassette, maybe you’re having a different conversation. But it’s tough, man. That bye-week did not help the chances of Kyler Murray starting again. It just resonated just stewed in what the last two weeks look like and what the weeks like looked like before. And listen, like they were three defensive plays away from starting five and 0, which is crazy. And we’ll talk about Jacob Brusset more in the next segment, but like dude, I’ve done it. It’s the beginning of the month. This is my one of two. It’s my one of two smart things a month. The first five weeks of this season is Kyler Murray’s tenure here as a nut in a nutshell. Almost almost should have almost almost didn’t could have didn’t almost it was so close for so many things to happen really really positively for this organization. Almost. Looks like a duck. Sounds like a duck. Jacobe moving forward. Lockdown Cardinals, your team every day. Playing the hits. Are they able to do it when everybody knows it’s coming? We’ll discuss it next. This episode of Lockdown Cardinals is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA’s back, baby. Every night. NBA games. There’s more. There’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It It’s keeps every game exciting, man. Especially when your team’s making that late push. Right now, FanDuel’s giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Please go to the YouTube channel, search lock the Arizona Cardinals, hit that subscribe button. You know the drill, baby. Um, I mean, this is still fun. This is still exciting, but this is not the way. When I said before the season started that I’m more excited than ever for this season, it was more directly correlated to wins, but it’s exciting. Whatever the hell that means, three and five, when they could easily, like quite easily be uh five and two. quite easily be five-2. Should be five and two, even six and one. Who knows if they go for it on fourth and one and don’t do a a mini tushette push with Jacob Brassette with no backup guys with Michael with uh you know Rashawn Garry and the interior defensive line of the Packers that were just running rough shot on the interior offensive line for the Cardinals all day. What if they get a first down there and go score a touchdown? They win that game. I know whatifs. I know. I know. I know. Play the hits. Can they play the hits if everybody knows it’s coming? Yes, a million%. It’s a stupid question the majority of the time. Good receivers, good tight ends get open. You think that really good defenses didn’t know that Travis Kelce was getting the ball with his target share for years and years and years. Pat just found him. And I’m not comparing to Cody Brouset to Patrick Mahomes. Tyreek Hill got open. He was really fast. That’s a harder one. Like Devonte Adams always open. I always go back to him. So every day as you know that I I know at Nauseium I speak about it but it’s like there was at one point I think this was in 20 2021 I think 2020 2021 when Devonte Adams had more red zone touchdowns than DeAndre Hopkins had targets in the red zone. Okay. So Aaron Rogers, Devonte Adams, and I’m not comparing to Gary Betett to Aaron Rogers either. Okay, but just go with me here. Like Devont Adams is always open. Everybody knows he’s going to get the ball and he’s always open. That’s what great receivers do. Marv will not have a problem getting open. Okay. And what he and Jacobe Brassette have done, they’ve built the trust already. It’s kind of like it’s not a throw the ball down, Marv’s throw the ball that throw the ball Marv’s down there somewhere kind of situation. The timing routes are there and Marv is getting off the line like like an elite wide receiver would like Jamar Chase, like Justin Jefferson does. And I’m not comparing them to him. Okay, that he shook Don Bland like not all receivers can do that with with the with the stutter step and burst. Not all receivers can do that. Okay, the unlocking of this offense will never be seen more. I mean, maybe will, but it will be so pronounced with the c the intermediate crossing routes like the one to Michael Wilson that that he almost housed. He didn’t almost house that he ran that he caught and ran for 50 yards. Like, if you can get Michael Wilson involved at a B or B+ level, this offense could easily score 30 points a game regardless of who they’re playing against. And that’s also predicated upon the offensive line holding up. But it could be a lot worse. Truly, and I mean this with every fiber, it could be a lot worse than Jacob Brassette throwing the ball 45 times a game. He’s not throwing four picks a game. There may be a game coming. We don’t know. But at least, you know, they’re going down with with a fight. They are doing everything they can to move the ball, to push the ball down the field and not dink and dunk their way and hopefully get inside the red zone and score a touchdown. The routes that are being run can a lot of the time be caught one broken tackle touchdown. That’s not what it used to be. That’s not what it used to be. And you got to talk about Drew Petting too. Like I understand I understand the vitrial, the push back. Fire him. You got to fire somebody. Let’s think about this like adults. Okay. And as irrational as it sounds, if this off like this offense is a pretty good offense. They’ve got no run game. Their two best backs are out. What Drew Petting is drawing up for Jacobe Brassette is a winning offense. I know that they’ve had multiple third and longs. The offensive line has not done great. And that’s the downside of it is the pass pro is difficult when you have to drop back 45 times a game. The recipe to not have to do that is a good run game. Mari Marcato looked pretty good. The run the uh the uh Cowboys defense the run defense is atrocious against Seattle. Not going to be that easy. So, we’ll see what happens like this weekend. This weekend is going to be absolutely pivotal. And as I’m saying this, as I’m saying this, recording this, Kyler Murray is gone on IR. Kyler Murray has gone on IR. So that’s expected. Like this isn’t like a whole segment worthy thing. We already talked about it. Kylie is on IR. Okay. This is the soft close to the Kyler Murray experience. This is it. It’s wild. But like at this point, it’s softened so much that it doesn’t really matter. Like I’m not a like it’s not like, “Oh man, we’ve been prepping for this. This is now a month. We’ve been prepping for this.” Whatever. I feel bad for I feel bad for him. Hopefully they can get a couple picks for him and we’ll see. But I’ll tell you what, as we pivot here into the defense, if Jacobe Brassette keeps the Cardinals in games for the rest of the year through the murderous road that they’re going through, I’m running it back with him next year with Drew Petting. If like if Kyler Murray’s not the guy, then Kyler Murray technically quote unquote would be the fall guy. Even though it’s deserved, I’m sure he can get like this offense maybe just isn’t for him, which is fine. But this offense could be for Jacobe Brassette. So before we go into the nope, fire pencing, let’s not talk about it. We got to talk about it. That’s what I do here with you. We challenge things not for, you know, to waste our breath. We challenge things because sometimes what everybody says lazily isn’t how it should be discussed. There’s multiple angles to this. I told you it’s like a kaleidoscope. This isn’t flipping a coin with two sides. There’s multiple sides to this. So with Kyler Murray on IR, we are going to see what Jacobe Brassette and Drew Petting can do for the remainder of the year. And if it’s B+ work, run it back. Run it back. And I’m not even seeing like and then yeah, if you want to draft a quarterback in like the third round or something, I’m not saying use a first round pick for a quarterback this year. I would ride it out with Jacobe Brassette and then in 2027 where there’s myriad quarterbacks, some are saying that it’s going to it’s maybe the best draft ever, at least in recent memory. You go get a quarterback then. If this offense works well enough with Jacob Brassette, you don’t need to bring in the backup plan next year. And you’ve got 10, you’ve got like a long time to be able to candidly look and discuss the relationship between Drew Petting’s offense and Jacobe Brassette, the quarterback. You just hope the offensive line can hold up well enough for them to be able to utilize it. And hopefully, you know, Trey Benson comes back soon. Kyler Murray on IR tweeted out right now. The reason why I didn’t do it in the first segment is because it didn’t happen yet. This is real time stuff. I just kind of feel okay about it. We’ve seen what the other side looks like now. And Jacob’s well equipped to handle the quarterback duties for this season and maybe for next dep again depending on production. I’m not saying put it in Sharpie now. Lockdown Cardinals your team every day. Can the defense replicate what they did last week to the only team that’s scoring more points per game than the Cowboys? Discuss it next. This episode of Lockdown Cardinals is brought to you by Built. Nobody likes paying rent, but if you must, you might as well get something for it. That’s where Built comes in. Built’s changing the game by turning your rent payments into real rewards you can actually use. And when you pay rent through Built, you earn flexible points that can be redeemed toward hundreds of hotels and airlines, a future rent payment, your next lift ride, and more. But Built isn’t just about rent. It’s about rewarding, you know, you around your entire neighborhood. build has made everything you know in life feel more rewarding from your neighborhood to your travel plans. Turn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to jointbuild.com/lockdown NFL. That’s jb i lt.com/lockdown NFL. Make sure to use that link so they know we sent you. Kyler Murray on that’s probably it. We move on. not like, oh, I forget who the quarterback is. It’s like the Cardinals over the last few weeks have played very, very competent football. They play confident football for the majority of the season. The defense held up last week in the fourth quarter when there was a comeback that started to be mounted but was halted immediately. Um, can they replicate it? Yeah. Like this is the best back-to-back test for the Cardinals. If the Cardinals hold Seattle like 17 points at home, you’re looking at a defense that can conquer and they’re fully healthy. They’ve got the vets in the right spots. They’ve got the rookies and the second and the third year guys in the right spots and like this is a balanced defense with elite potential. Yes, they’ve given up a lot of points in the fourth quarter. Garrett Williams has been out Walter like if Walter Nolan’s a game wreck right away. You throw the book out. You throw the book out. And I know that Dallas Cowboys offensive line isn’t fantastic. And I know his tackle for loss was a blown coverage and not him swimming somebody and getting getting to the quarterback. He did that later when he took down Dak. All the tweets from all the draft guys that I trust, DT1, DT1, DT1, DT1, DT1. uh guys from Locked On who host different shows who are drafting before the Cardinals are drafting right after. Two picks away, two picks away, next pick, next pick, one more pick. Wish he would have gotten one more pick. Everybody knows. So, if he replicates against a better offensive line, and oddly enough, Gray Zable, who uh the off interior offensive lineman for the Seahawks, who I wanted the Cardinals to take, or Josh Simmons at 16, hopefully I am just so far out of bounds and wrong that Walter Nolan is just going to be that guy. This defense can 100% replicate. They’ve got the makings of everything. You’ve got I know Buddha Baker is kind of a polarizing guy, not at times, because numbers aren’t his thing. He’s not an Ed Reed or Bob Sanders or Troy Palamalu where you see interceptions, you see force fumbles, you see things. Buddha’s a glue guy who’s been all pro or borderline. Okay, you’ve got Garrett Williams who is a top-notch corner even though he’s a slot corner. You’ve got Will Johnson who is ready right away. He’s been ready. He did get one no call. Maybe he’s already getting no calls because he definitely held somebody last week. um didn’t get called, but he’s been like nosebleleed top-notch. Max Milton doesn’t have to save the position group. Denzel Burke, we’ll see if that was a revelation or he’s a dude, a fifth round dart throw from Ohio State who comes in and he and and he can uh capitalize on what he did last week. Cody Simon, we’ll see if Cody Simon ends up playing more meaningful snaps and phasing out ADG even though he technically backs up M. Wilson. Kus can play free if Walter Nolan can be a disruptor right away. And then Josh Sweat and Baron Browning, their job will never be easier if the interior of the defensive line does their job. Like all of those things aren’t crazy. It’s like, well, if this happens, it’s already happening. All of the if this happens things all happened last week because everybody was healthy and they played well. It wasn’t like, oh, like this is like Cowboy like holding the Cowboys to 20 20.8 points less on offense than they were scoring all year. That’s a big glaring thing on the road with a backup quarterback. Like, that’s not something that can be taken lightly. And I understand all of the naysayers who say the defense is at fault for all of these things. Why? While on paper that I guess makes sense even though the off like I’m not going to have that argument anymore. I’m not going to have that conversation anymore. Um all they’re saying is do it again. If they do it again and give up less than 20 points like they did like it what they 23 I guess when they lost to Seattle because of the the the last second field goal. Like they’ve done it already. without Garrett Williams, without Walter Nolan, they’ve shut this offense down kind of. If they give up less than 20 points in Seattle and if they’re in contention to win that game, you could look at this defense as a set and forget top five defense looking for truly because like how many great defenses are there? I mean, I guess Cleveland, they’ve given up a bunch of points. Like the main stays, all the NFC AFC North teams except for Cincinnati, they’re all not good this year. So, a top five defense like Detroit’s giving up points. Tampa Bay’s giving up points. You could be looking at and not just for this year, like nobody’s leaving. Everybody’s staying next year, you would think. So, this is a massive, massive audition for this defense. So, can they run it back? Of course. And if they do, the Cardinals could very well win this game. Like, everything has changed. They’re going to be the underdog. It’s going to be a difficult matchup, but listen, if a defense can shut down a top flight offense, anything is possible. All you got to do is play competent offensive football for four quarters and the defense will take care of the rest. Lockdown Cardinals your team every day. Again, Kyler Murray on IR. Um that’s fine. It’s kind of a much do about nothing situation and at this point um but it’s the right move. Hopefully he gets healthy and we’ll see who QB1 will be in 2026 if things continue to go the way they’re going with Drew Ping and and and Jacob Ret should be Jacob Rousette. Lockdown Cardinals, your team every day. I said that already. Squad show tonight, six o’clock Arizona time. We’ll talk to you then. Remember, without you, there is nothing.

Jacoby Brissett takes over as Arizona Cardinals starter for Week 10 against Seattle, while Kyler Murray lands on injured reserve in what could mark the end of his tenure in the desert. Is this the turning point that transforms a near-miss 3-5 season into something special?

Alex Clancy delivers an in-depth breakdown of the Cardinals’ offensive resurgence under Brissett, highlighting how targeting elite weapons Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. has created a competent, winning formula that was missing with Murray under center. The discussion covers Drew Petzing’s underrated play-calling and strategic adjustments, the defense’s potential to replicate their dominant performance against Dallas, and why running it back with Brissett in 2025 might be the smartest move for a franchise at a crossroads.

Key analysis includes the Cardinals’ heartbreaking near-5-0 start that saw them lose multiple games by a single score, McBride’s elite production despite constant double coverage, and whether this fully healthy defense can become a top-five unit down the stretch. Clancy examines the offensive line’s improved performance, James Conner’s resurgence in the running game, and how Brissett’s willingness to distribute the ball to playmakers creates opportunities that Murray’s style never allowed.

The episode explores whether competent quarterback play paired with elite receiver talent might be enough to salvage this season and reshape the franchise’s future. With a manageable remaining schedule and momentum building, could the Cardinals sneak into playoff contention? And more importantly, should they commit to Brissett long-term rather than chase another high-profile quarterback solution? Let’s discuss.

The Best Daily Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Host Alex Clancy (@ClancysCorner) take an unbiased approach covering the biggest Cards stories.

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