Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett (7) takes the field before they play against the Green Bay Packers at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Oct. 19, 2025. Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Data Shows Cardinals’ Backup QB Among Team’s Highest-Graded Players

Originally posted on Arizona Cardinals on SI
By Donnie Druin | Last updated Oct 23, 2025 1:30 PM ET

The Arizona Cardinals move into their bye week with a five-game slide and plenty of questions to answer with their week off.

Every Cardinals game this season has come down to one possession. While the team is 2-5, there's still plenty of positive up and down the roster.

Per Pro Football Focus, these are the top three players on Arizona's offense thus far:

1. Paris Johnson Jr.

Grade: 80.1

The Cardinals' offensive line has been extremely hit or miss this season, though the emergence of left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. to the next level of play has been quite fun to watch.

His 80.1 grade ranks 9th out of 77 players at his position, and if he continues play as expected, Johnson is set for a massive pay day next offseason when he becomes eligible for a contract extension.

In 405 offensive snaps, he has just two penalties and three sacks allowed on the season.

2. Trey McBride

Grade: 77.8

McBride is the fourth-ranked tight end this year by PFF's metrics with the second-highest pass-catching grade at 81.3.

“Yeah, I think about him all the time. He's one of our premier players, so he needs to impact the game accordingly," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters.

"That's one of the guys that the passing game goes through. We have to make sure that he's impacting the game in a positive way.”

McBride has molded himself into a legitimate star at the tight end position, and after his nice payday this past offseason, it's been fun to see him continue dominating at high levels.

3. Jacoby Brissett

Grade: 75.8

Alas, we've reached the interesting point of this list, as the first two players come as absolutely no surprise.

Brissett, who has been thrust into the starting quarterback role, has arguably out-performed Kyler Murray (who holds a slightly less grade at 72.1).

“I was talking about that with somebody. There was a reason we signed Jacoby, and not to discredit anybody that's a backup quarterback, but we felt really good about him giving us a chance to win if he had to go in and play," Gannon said.

"I think he's done that honestly through two weeks now. He's played pretty good football and just like all of us, I know he's hard on himself, wants some plays back. That's all of us, but I do think he's done a good job.”

It's been clear from the Cardinals Murray will be the man in the saddle moving forward when healthy - but it's been hard to ignore Brissett's performance.