Trey McBride — Week 1: Thirteen Targets, Next Best Was Eight
2026 NFL Season · Half-PPR Scoring · Monday, Sep 14
McBride was thrown to 13 times, five more than anyone else on the Cardinals, and caught nine for 95 yards and the three-yard touchdown on second and three with 11:48 left in the fourth quarter that made it 23–14. His 13 targets were worth plus 3.8 expected points; four of them were incomplete, all four on drives that ended in field goals, in a 26–14 win over the Chargers.
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16 to 14, Cardinals, 11 48 left in the fourth quarter, second and three at the Chargers three. Jacoby Brissett threw short left to Trey McBride for three yards and the touchdown, worth +1.2 expected points added — expected points added is what a play was worth given down, distance and field position — and 4.8 points of win probability, the chance of winning the game after the play against before it. It came one snap after Tyler Allgeier was stopped for no gain from the same spot, and it made it 23 to 14. His biggest play by expected points was his first target: first and 10 at the Arizona 30, 14 56 left in the first quarter, scoreless, deep right for 27 yards, +1.7, on the drive that ended in Jeremiyah Love's touchdown.
The line: 13 targets, nine catches, 95 yards, one touchdown, six first downs, +3.8 expected points on the targets. Eight targets before halftime for five catches and 74 yards, five after for four catches and 21. Every catch of 10 yards or more came before halftime: the 27, then 17 short middle on first and 20 with two 35 left in the first, 10 on the next play, and 14 short middle on second and two with one 21 left in the half. The four incompletions were the cost. Third and three at the Chargers nine with six 59 left in the second quarter, tied seven to seven, incomplete short right, −1.4, and Arizona kicked a field goal; first downs from the 22 and the 11 in the last half-minute of the half, both incomplete, another field goal; third and 11 at the Chargers 15 with seven 32 left in the third, incomplete short middle, a third field goal. Four third-down targets, one conversion, six yards on third and four with eight 28 left in the fourth.
13 of Brissett's 37 throws; eight went to Kendrick Bourne, seven to Michael Wilson, four to Love, three to Marvin Harrison, two to Allgeier, none without a receiver. 13 was the most on the team by five, and 95 was the most receiving yards; Bourne's 75 was next. Arizona ran 21 pass plays before halftime and 17 after, and McBride's targets went eight and five.
Back in June the preview called McBride underpriced — a call — the number one tight end per game a year ago on a hundred 69 targets, priced at pick 18 as the first tight end off the board, with targets per game the stickiest stat at the position and his 9.9 the most of anyone. The two things to watch were whether the target share held near 10 under the new staff, and the Brissett contract. Sunday the share was 13 and Brissett took every pass play. One game cannot confirm a season-long volume read, and this one came in above the line the preview drew. Arizona is home to the Seahawks on Sunday the twentieth.
_Data via nflverse._
When Trey McBride's week moves the numbers, you'll know — every episode, in one weekly email.
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