Jacoby Brissett ranked outside top 32 NFL quarterbacks in poll of NFL execs and coaches

Jacoby Brissett earned starting quarterback money after a negotiating period with the Arizona Cardinals. As the team enters 2026 with quite a few questions about the position beyond this season, he will be tasked with leading a team with plenty of offensive skill talent but operating under a first-time head coach in a scary division. In short, the expectations are low.

There are 101 games and 10 seasons of tape to evaluate Brissett, and safe to say he will be fighting poor expectations from a personal standpoint, too.

Brissett was ranked as the 33rd-best quarterback in a poll of 50 NFL executives, coaches and former league faces conducted by The Athletic’s Mike Sando.

“It’s interesting when you’re not expected to be good anymore and you’re not a first-round pick, the tenor — you’re not held to that standard — people give Jacoby Brissett credit for what he is. Which is probably somebody who you wouldn’t want to start the whole season but can be competent for stretches if it’s good around him,” Sando told Bickley & Marotta.

Sando wrote that defensive coaches rated Brissett higher than offensive coaches for his ability to get the ball where it should go and give Arizona a downfield threat.

“He’s a classic 4,” an exec said. “Great veteran presence, everything very positive, except, you know, when he has to play for long stints.”

The voters included eight general managers, five assistant GMs, eight former executives, nine head coaches, 15 coordinators and five more assistant coaches. The 50 voters were asked to place each quarterback in best-to-worst tiers from 1-5.

Brissett was firmly in the fourth tier.

“He can read defenses and put the ball where it’s supposed to go,” a defensive coordinator who faced Brissett last season said. “Gets it out of his hands quick, can take shots, can challenge you down the field.

“I’m not saying this from a talent standpoint, but he operated as a quarterback as well as anyone we saw.”

Brissett went 1-11 last season with a three-win club but completed 65% of his passes for 3,366 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions, thriving working with All-Pro tight end Trey McBride and quickly improving receiver Michael Wilson especially.

He replaced the injured Kyler Murray mid-year. Arizona released Murray this offseason, and the 2019 first overall pick was signed by the Minnesota Vikings. He’s ranked in the third tier and as the 23rd overall quarterback on the list.

“The person I think who will change a lot is Kyler Murray, just because he’s around a quarterback coach, he will have weapons, he probably has something to prove and his ability to escape the pocket, when he is on, is no joke,” a defensive coordinator said.

It appears there is apprehension about how Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell will utilize Murray and whether third-year pro J.J. McCarthy — the list’s 34th overall player — can push the former Cardinal.

“How will Kevin use him?” an offensive coach said. “Kevin has never messed around with a quarterback run game. Is he willing to commit to that? Because that is what made Arizona pretty dynamic a couple years ago (No. 9 in offensive EPA per play in 2024).”

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