Expectations are best kept low for the Hall of Fame game, with teams reluctant to put players of note on the field. But there was a least some scoring in this year’s edition, and three players who look a little different now than they did 24 hours ago.
Carson Beck, most notably. He ran Arizona’s offense credibly, moving the sticks with shorter completions and connecting on a couple of longer throws. He finished the game 15 of 19 for 188 yards, with a touchdown and no interceptions.
Beck isn’t a runner. For fantasy purposes, it would be nice if that club was in his bag. So I will stop short of urging those in Superflex leagues to grab him late as a third or fourth quarterback.
But Arizona doesn’t have much else at the position – Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew. So I would say it’s far more likely than not that Beck will be starting some games this year. I will guess that he’ll be rostered in Superflex leagues in December as a low-level backup.
Ultimately, this probably won’t amount to much, but later-round quarterbacks do hit once in a while. In the last 15 years, 17 quarterbacks have been selected between 40th and 80th in the draft. Two of those guys won Super Bowls and were fantasy gems – Jalen Hurts and Russell Wilson (both helped by superb rushing ability). Only two others ever put up top-20 numbers in a season: Jimmy Garappolo and Davis Mills.
| SECOND/THIRD-ROUND QB (best seasons) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Yr | St | Pass | TD | Run | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2023 | • Jalen Hurts, Phil. | 4 | 17 | 3,858 | 23 | 605 | 15 | 435.4 | 2 |
| 2020 | • Russell Wilson, Sea. | 9 | 16 | 4,212 | 40 | 513 | 2 | 435.9 | 6 |
| 2019 | Jimmy Garoppolo, S.F. | 6 | 16 | 3,978 | 27 | 62 | 1 | 323.1 | 14 |
| 2022 | Davis Mills, Hou. | 2 | 15 | 3,118 | 17 | 108 | 2 | 248.7 | 19 |
| 2017 | DeShone Kizer, Cle. | 1 | 15 | 2,894 | 11 | 419 | 5 | 260.6 | 22 |
| 2023 | Desmond Ridder, Atl. | 2 | 13 | 2,836 | 12 | 193 | 5 | 243.5 | 22 |
| 2020 | Drew Lock, Den. | 2 | 13 | 2,933 | 16 | 160 | 3 | 246.7 | 23 |
| 2013 | Mike Glennon, T.B. | 1 | 13 | 2,608 | 19 | 37 | 0 | 210.1 | 25 |
| 2025 | Tyler Shough, N.O. | 1 | 9 | 2,384 | 10 | 186 | 3 | 197.8 | 26 |
| 2016 | Brock Osweiler, Hou. | 5 | 14 | 2,957 | 15 | 131 | 2 | 232.6 | 28 |
| 2019 | Mason Rudolph, Pitt. | 2 | 8 | 1,765 | 13 | 42 | 0 | 144.5 | 30 |
| 2015 | Ryan Mallett, 2TM | 5 | 6 | 1,336 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 96.3 | 36 |
| 2024 | Hendon Hooker, Det. | 2 | 0 | 62 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.3 | 67 |
| 2021 | Kellen Mond, Min. | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .3 | 76 |
| 2022 | Kyle Trask, T.B. | 2 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 77 |
| 2015 | Garrett Grayson, N.O. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- |
| 2016 | Christian Hackenberg, NYJ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .0 | -- |
| 2026 | Carson Beck, Ari. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 2026 | Drew Allar, Pitt. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
On the topic of mobile quarterbacks, how about Haynes King? He pulled out the game last night with a couple of key scrambles in the last minute – a 19-yarder, and the game-winning touchdown. He outplayed Kenny Pickett, completing 21 of 34 for 180 yards, with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions.
No, King wasn’t even drafted. But he was a willing and able runner at Georgia Tech, scoring 36 touchdowns in 36 games. If he ever gets on an NFL field, I’m sure he’ll be running plenty, and such players tend to score out well in our silly little game. After this initial effort, I supposed we should start mulling the potential that Carolina could be sitting on the next Taylor Heinicke. Panthers could be keeping him as a third quarterback.
I will also next week be paying more attention to Jalen Brooks. He got deep for a 34-yard catch early, and later he caught a 49-yarder despite taking a big hit right after the catch. His other reception wasn’t bad either.
Not that this game should put Brooks on anybody’s radar, but it’s looking like there’s a possibility that he’ll be Arizona’s third wide receiver (behind Marvin Harrison and Michael Wilson). For whatever that’s worth.
Brooks was a seventh-round draft pick by Dallas but didn’t get much traction there before getting released after two seasons. Most damning, he caught only 12 of 30 targets in 2024 despite Dak Prescott throwing most of those passes.
But for at least one night, Brooks looked like more of an NFL player. I imagine the Cardinals will give him some opportunities in their upcoming games.
At the same time, it’s wildly rare for receivers to come out of nowhere after misfiring early in the careers. As far as I can tell, only six receivers have ranked outside the top 100 in each of their first three seasons, then put up a top-70 season at some point during their rest of their career. (This is assuming PPR scoring.)
Kevin Walter is the poster child of this rare possibility, finishing as the 23rd-, 31st- and 48th-best receiver in his three most productive seasons with the Texans. Only two others have cracked the top 50 – Ray-Ray McCloud and Richie James.
| SLOW-STARTING WIDE RECEIVERS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Yr | Rec | Yds | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2008 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 6 | 60 | 899 | 8 | 200.2 | 23 |
| 2007 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 5 | 65 | 800 | 5 | 178.0 | 31 |
| 2010 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 8 | 51 | 621 | 5 | 143.1 | 48 |
| 2024 | Ray-Ray McCloud, Atl. | 7 | 62 | 686 | 1 | 144.5 | 50 |
| 2022 | Richie James, NYG | 5 | 57 | 569 | 4 | 138.5 | 50 |
| 2009 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 7 | 53 | 611 | 2 | 128.7 | 55 |
| 2022 | Noah Brown, Dall. | 6 | 43 | 555 | 3 | 116.5 | 59 |
| 2015 | Dwayne Harris, NYG | 5 | 36 | 396 | 6 | 112.8 | 60 |
| 2011 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 9 | 39 | 474 | 3 | 104.4 | 66 |
| 2010 | Ben Obomanu, Sea. | 5 | 30 | 494 | 4 | 109.1 | 68 |
| 2023 | Noah Brown, Hou. | 7 | 33 | 567 | 2 | 101.6 | 68 |
| 2012 | Kevin Walter, Hou. | 10 | 41 | 518 | 2 | 104.8 | 70 |
—Ian Allan
