Beck Starts at QB for Cardinals in Hall of Fame Game
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- Carson Beck will start at QB for the Cardinals on Thursday after being the third quarterback selected in this year's draft; in one season at Miami he completed 72.4% of passes for 3,813 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while leading the Hurricanes to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
- The Arizona Cardinals begin a new era under former Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who replaced fired head coach Jonathan Gannon after a 3-14 season; the franchise also parted ways with seven-year starter Kyler Murray, and Arizona became the first NFL team to finish at least 9 games behind every club in its division.
- The Carolina Panthers are coming off an 8-9 playoff season — the fifth team in NFL history to win its division with a losing record — but injuries have piled up in camp, with pass rusher Nic Scourton tearing his ACL on day one of workouts and rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell II (torn LCL) ruled out for the entire 2026 season.
- Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love, the first RB drafted in the top five since Saquon Barkley in 2018, will not play Thursday per LaFleur's Wednesday confirmation; his rookie contract includes $50.5 million guaranteed, automatically making him the highest-paid running back in the NFL.
- Former Georgia Tech dual-threat Haynes King, who ran a 4.46 40-yard dash and scored 37 career rushing touchdowns, is among the rookies worth watching in the preseason opener.
- The game airs Thursday, Aug. 6 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC (streamable via fubo) from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, with DraftKings listing the Panthers as 1.5-point favorites and the over/under at 36.5.
Why it matters: Two rebuilding franchises meet in a game the league still treats as an exhibition but these rosters badly need as an audition — Beck's debut shapes whether Arizona has a real QB competition, while Carolina's injury-ravaged receiver room turns a sixth-rounder like Jimmy Horn Jr. into a potential Week 1 starter.
