Les Snead had his blinders on when it came to picking a quarterback in the 2026 NFL Draft, as the Rams’ GM was even the one who convinced Ty Simpson to enter
this year so that L.A. could pick him 13th overall. That’s exactly what the Rams did and there wasn’t any apparent consideration to wait for day two and draft Carson Beck instead, so it’s fitting that the rookie third-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals will make his NFL debut against L.A. on Sunday.Beck is now in position to start the rest
of the season with the Cardinals, giving him a head start on Simpson to show the Cardinals if they made the right decision or not.
Beck was one of Arizona’s standouts in the preseason, but that is a much different game than starting against professional, starting, superstar caliber players like Myles Garrett. This will be an even harder test for Beck because the Cardinals placed number one receiver Michael Wilson on season-ending IR this week.
Instead, Beck’s top wideouts will be Simi Fehoko, Reggie Virgil, and Devin Duvernay.
Ironically, nobody can say for sure which team will have the better receiver room on Sunday since the Rams have lost Puka Nacua for a period of time, possibly joining Davante Adams on IR soon. L.A. is set to start some combination of Tutu Atwell, C.J. Daniels, and Konata Mumpfield.
Beck will have the best pass catcher in the game period, as Trey McBride was a first team All-Pro in 2025. McBride has a league-leading 73 catches in 2026.
The opportunity to throw to a tight end is not new to Beck, a former teammate of Brock Bowers at Georgia. Although Carson didn’t lead Georgia to a national championship like predecessor Stetson Bennett (twice), he had success there and then nearly won a national championship with Miami as a transfer in 2025.
Similar to Bennett, few people in the NFL actually see Beck as a starter. He lacks the arm strength that most NFL starters have, he hasn’t proven to have a good ability to read a defense, and he has made poor decisions too often. He is also not a good athlete. Arizona’s offense shouldn’t be unpredictable or surprising, and Mike LaFleur will have his work cut out for him against his old team this time.
This doesn’t make Beck a better or worse prospect than Simpson. It just makes him the 2026 rookie who started first. And he’s not alone.
Coincidentally, Tuesday’s trade of Kirk Cousins has opened the door for Fernando Mendoza to start against the Seattle Seahawks. Mendoza, like Beck and Stafford, won’t have much to work with except for his starting tight end. Also in this case, Bowers.
Meanwhile, the Rams have no plans to see Simpson this season. Unless there’s a situation where L.A. has nothing to play for in Week 17 or Week 18, even the backup continues to be Bennett. McVay might only play Simpson if the Rams are either locked into a playoff seed or knocked out of the playoffs altogether. Beck is being forced into action early because the Cardinals benched — then traded — Jacoby Brissett, and now Gardner Minshew is on IR.
Beck got the call. Will he answer?
