The Arizona Cardinals aren’t walking into 2026 as playoff favorites. They went 3-14 a year ago, fired Jonathan Gannon, and are breaking in a first-time head coach. But for Cardinals fantasy football drafters, the offense isn’t nearly as bleak as the win total suggests. Two positions on that offense are legitimately murky, and untangling them before your draft could be the difference between a bench stash and a league-winner.
New head coach Mike LaFleur spent the last three seasons as offensive coordinator in Los Angeles, where the Rams led the NFL in points per game, total yards and passing touchdowns in 2025 on their way to an NFC Championship Game appearance. He didn’t call those plays — that was Sean McVay — but he built the install, and Arizona hired him specifically hoping some of that offense travels with him. Arizona had been chasing Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak first, according to ClutchPoints, but pivoted to LaFleur once Kubiak’s path to the Raiders’ job became clear.
LaFleur’s first roster decision of consequence was hiring Nathaniel Hackett as his offensive coordinator, replacing Drew Petzing, who left to run Detroit’s offense. Hackett inherits a skill-position group that’s more talented than Arizona’s record lets on: tight end Trey McBride, wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson, and a running back room that just got a lot more crowded.
One player isn’t in question. McBride set the single-season NFL record for receptions by a tight end in 2025, hauling in 126 catches for 1,239 yards and 11 touchdowns. Whoever wins the quarterback job — and it’s Jacoby Brissett, after Arizona restructured his contract this offseason to lock him in as the 2026 starter — McBride is getting the ball. He’s a top-two fantasy tight end regardless of what LaFleur’s offense looks like schematically.
McBride’s excitement over the Brissett deal was obvious in real time. He posted “LFG” on X after the news broke
LFG 🤪
— Trey McBride (@mcbtrey) July 26, 2026
and left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. echoed the sentiment on the same platform:
Let’s goooooo 💰💰 https://t.co/uh4J0eSGew
— Paris Johnson Jr. (@ParisJohnsonJr) July 26, 2026
Who wins the Cardinals’ WR1 job?
Harrison Jr. went fourth overall in the 2024 draft with WR1 expectations attached from day one, and his rookie year backed that up: 62 catches, 885 yards, eight touchdowns. Then 2025 happened. Concussion, appendicitis, a season-ending heel injury — Harrison played in just 12 games and finished with 41 receptions for 608 yards and four touchdowns.
Wilson didn’t wait around. The 2023 third-round pick set career highs across the board in 2025 — 78 catches, 1,006 yards, seven touchdowns — and did most of his damage once Brissett took over at quarterback and Harrison missed time. According to FantasyData’s usage splits, Wilson’s production dipped closer to 44 catches and 530 yards on a full-season pace in the games Harrison actually played 30-plus snaps, which tells you the target competition between them is real, not hypothetical.
| Player | 2025 Rec | 2025 Yds | 2025 TD | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trey McBride | 126 | 1,239 | 11 | 17 |
| Michael Wilson | 78 | 1,006 | 7 | 17 |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | 41 | 608 | 4 | 12 |
McBride is already Brissett’s clear top read. That leaves Harrison and Wilson fighting for whatever’s left, and it’s not obvious yet who wins that fight. Fantasy managers drafting either receiver in 2026 are betting on a target hierarchy that a new coaching staff hasn’t settled.
Is this Jeremiyah Love’s backfield yet?
Arizona used the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 draft on Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love — the highest a running back has gone since Saquon Barkley at No. 2 in 2018. It was a clear signal from general manager Monti Ossenfort about who the Cardinals view as their long-term answer at the position. Whether that’s a Week 1 answer is a different question.
The backfield Love is walking into is deeper than a lot of outside coverage gives it credit for. James Conner is still on the roster after a foot injury limited him to three games in 2025 (32 carries, 95 yards, one touchdown). Trey Benson, Arizona’s 2024 third-round pick, is also working back from a knee procedure. Arizona added Tyler Allgeier in free agency, who carried the ball 143 times for 514 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns for Atlanta a year ago. That’s four backs with legitimate NFL production, not three.
Hackett hasn’t tipped his hand. Asked directly about a starter during camp, he called it a “great room” and pointed to Conner getting healthy before naming anyone the front-runner. Love himself has drawn measured, not glowing, praise so far — Hackett’s line that he’s “definitely a rookie” who will “keep growing every single day” reads more like patience than a green light.
Ahead of Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game preseason opener against Carolina, both Allgeier and Love are considered unlikely to play, and Conner hasn’t taken 11-on-11 reps yet in camp. None of that settles the pecking order. It does mean fantasy drafters should expect a committee to open the season, with Love’s draft capital and explosiveness giving him the highest ceiling of the group even if he doesn’t open as the clear lead back.
What it means for your draft
McBride is a top-tier pick regardless of format. Beyond him, the value is in identifying which of Harrison or Wilson claims the No. 2 role in the passing game, and whether Love forces his way into three-down work early or takes the first month to ease in behind Conner and Allgeier. None of those situations are settled, and that uncertainty is exactly why Arizona’s skill players carry more draft-day intrigue than a 3-14 team usually offers.
