The Cardinals are finally rolling out the big names in Las Vegas, and Saturday night against the Raiders should give fans their first real look at what this 2026 group can do with starters on the field.
Arizona held its top guys out of last week’s Hall of Fame Game, but that changes now. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Trey McBride are expected to get some work, Jeremiyah Love is set for his unofficial NFL debut, and the starters should see a drive or two before the night shifts into the deeper part of the roster.
That short runway matters. Head coach Mike LaFleur said the first unit will only be out there for a drive or two, so this is less about building a full game plan and more about knocking off the rust.
It will still be worth watching how Jacoby Brissett looks after ending his contract holdout and getting caught up to Arizona’s offense. Even in a stripped-down preseason setting, it should offer a glimpse of where the unit is right now.
Love is the name that will pull the most attention. The Cardinals’ No. 3 overall pick did not play in the opener, but that changes tonight.
There’s no reason to expect a huge workload - probably a few carries and maybe a target or two - and his night could be over quickly. Still, this is the first chance to see Arizona’s biggest offseason investment in uniform, and even one burst or one catch could be enough to get the desert talking for the next week.
Quarterback Kyler Beck also enters the night with momentum after lighting up the country in the preseason opener. The setup is different this time, though.
Brissett and Minshew will take some snaps, and Beck will be working with backups against backups in a vanilla offensive environment. The ask is simple: keep doing what he did last week.
On-time throws, smart decisions and steady command would count as a win for the rookie.
There’s another layer to preseason football, too, and it usually shows up in the later innings. Teams tend to reveal a lot about the pecking order by who keeps playing.
Last week, names like BJ Ojulari and Dadrion Taylor-Demerson were still out there in a game where the starters sat. With the full roster available tonight, it will be worth tracking not just who opens with the starters, but who keeps running with the second and third groups.
That kind of usage can say plenty about where a player stands with LaFleur and his staff.
And then there are the camp standouts trying to turn summer buzz into actual game production. Darius Robinson, Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Isaiah Adams were all identified as winners of camp, but now comes the harder part: showing it against live opponents. A strong preseason showing does not lock anything in for the regular season, but Arizona would love to see those players carry their training-camp momentum onto the field when the action gets real.
In Other News...
Cardinals May Have Found A Young Safety Ready For More
Kitan Crawford has spent his first year-plus in Arizona doing the kind of work that can be easy to miss until the staff starts talking about it. The second-year safety saw limited defensive snaps in 2025, but he made his presence felt on special teams and kept earning attention through training camp and preseason, where head coach Mike LaFleur and defensive coach Teryl Austin both praised his play style and development.
The Cardinals also got a clearer look at Crawford in their recent Hall of Fame Game, where Pro Football Focus graded him among their top performers. With Arizonas defensive scheme creating openings and injuries forcing the staff to sort through depth on the back end, Crawford appears positioned for a larger runway in 2026, and his trajectory is starting to look like more than just a special teams story. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Get First Look At A Raiders Dilemma Fans Should Watch
The Raiders are set to give Fernando Mendoza a real stage in their preseason opener against the Cardinals, and for Arizona it means an early look at one of the most closely watched young quarterbacks in the league. The rookie, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, has flashed enough during training camp to earn attention, and coach Klint Kubiak said he is expected to see significant playing time in the game.
Las Vegas still plans to open with veteran Kirk Cousins as its starter, but Mendozas first live action could shape how long that arrangement lasts. For Cardinals fans, the matchup is more than a summer exhibition - it is a chance to see whether the Raiders are already confronting a quarterback decision that could come much sooner than they thought. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Fans Just Got An Easier Way To Follow Camp Battles
Training camp battles are about to get a lot easier to track for Cardinals fans who want more than practice reports and highlight clips. The team will televise its three remaining preseason games locally on Arizona Family on CBS-5, giving viewers a clearer look at the competition shaping the roster and the bigger-picture decisions the coaching staff still has to make.
The broadcasts will include a 30-minute pregame show hosted by Mark McClune, with Paul Calvisi handling play-by-play, Sam Acho as analyst and Dani Sureck reporting from the sideline. The Cowboys game will also air on NFL Network using the Cardinals broadcast, and J.P. Shadrick and A.Q. Shipley will be on the radio call for both preseason and regular-season games, giving fans multiple ways to stay plugged in as the roster picture starts to come into focus. [Read more 🡒]