Carson Beck named starter for preseason opener for Arizona Cardinals

Carson Beck will start at quarterback in the Hall of Fame game on Thursday, Aug. 6, the Arizona Cardinals announced.

>The Cardinals take on the Carolina Panthers in the game, which serves as the NFL’s annual showcase to open the preseason, ahead of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 8. Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald and Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly are among those being enshrined over the weekend.

>Given that the regular season opener is still more than a month away, teams rarely play starters in the Hall of Fame game. That made Jacksonville native Beck a logical starter, even though he remains behind both Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew on the Cardinals’ depth chart.

>It has been an up-and-down start to training camp for the third-round rookie. He opened camp with shaky accuracy, struggling to complete any passes downfield. But in recent days, he has begun to look more comfortable in Mike LaFleur’s offensive operation, layering passes into tight windows over the middle of the field.

>“With any young player, there's always ups and downs,” offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett said. “You kind of expect that. I think he's had a couple really great days and a couple rough days.”

>Hackett added that the Cardinals have focused with Beck on “the basics,” like his read progression and footwork.

>“It's just being able to feel it, get comfortable,” Hackett said.

>Now, Beck will aim to take that growth to the national stage, in the league’s highest-profile preseason game — a different flavor of opportunity than training camp can offer.

>"The biggest thing for me," Beck said, "especially as we're going through training camp and still building chemistry with the guys is, can we be on the same page as an offense? Are my eyes in the right spot? Am I making the right reads? Am I getting through my progressions quickly?"

>That's a lot on a rookie's plate. But don't expect Beck to treat his preseason debut with any trepidation.

>"I think the last time I was nervous was when I was eight years old," Beck said. "For our city championship, Pop Warner."

>The Cardinals have not yet revealed which of their other key players will participate in the game. Rookie running back Jeremiyah Love made a public plea to do so last week, saying, “I'm gonna go play, whether you try to keep me on the sideline or not.”

>The coaching staff has not yet confirmed whether that will be the case, although LaFleur has repeatedly spoken about the importance of using preseason reps to assess running backs.

>Beck, who attended Mandarin High, played 55 college games with Miami (2025) and Georgia (2020-24). He passed for 11,725 yards and 88 touchdowns while compiling a 37-6 record as a starter.

>This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Carson Beck named starter for preseason opener for Arizona Cardinals