After three Sunday matinee games against the San Francisco 49ers, before the foam settled on the beers around State Farm Stadium,
Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride continued his hot streak. ‘a season.It started with an 11-yard catch down the Cardinals sideline, followed by a 38-yard catch, after which the second-year tight end rolled his shoulders forward in a flex and pointed toward the bottom. This would mark the first defeat he would take, but McBride might as well have been hinting at his future. And that looks promising considering the way McBride has played over the past seven weeks, a stretch that has made the 24-year-old one of the best tight ends in the NFL.Since Week 9, McBride has led all tight ends in receptions, receiving yards and receiving yards per game. “I feel like I’m in the zone,” McBride said after his 102-yard performance in Sunday’s loss to the Niners. “I feel like I can play well, I can match up well.”McBride’s performance since taking over for Zach Ertz as the starter in Week 8 after Ertz went down with a quad injury has put his statistical performance in the conversation with players like Kansas City’s Travis Kelce, T.J. Hockenson and George Kittle of San Francisco. In those seven games, McBride had four games of 89 yards or more and two games of 100 yards, including 131 yards against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 10, which happened when quarterback Kyler Murray returned from his ACL injury. For the season, McBride ranks sixth in receiving yards (712) among tight ends. He also set the Cardinals’ single-season receptions record with a tight final Sunday (he now stands at 66), eclipsing the old record of 56 set by Jackie Smith in 1967 and tied by Ertz in 2021. “I feel like this is exactly what I was drafted for,” said McBride, who sat behind Ertz early in Week 1 each of the last two years but replaced him around the middle of the season due to Ertz’s injuries.“That’s why they chose me. I feel like that’s how I play football. This is my way of doing things, and to finally have the opportunity to show these coaches that this is really what I can do was awesome.”McBride’s breakout season hasn’t gone unnoticed.“He has confidence in his abilities and when you have confidence, it helps a lot,” Kittle said. “But what he does well is he has separation, he has good forward lean, he runs a little bit, he has good acceleration and he is confident with his hands. He does everything correctly. Just keep watching.” Week after week, he feels more and more comfortable playing out there.“Kyler is really starting to get used to him, and a quarterback’s favorite player is a tight end who is consistent. So I think he’s doing a great job with that and enjoying it. You can also see that he’s doing a great job and getting some extra YAC. He is heavily armed. He breaks tackles, he doesn’t go out of bounds. He does everything right and plays tight the right way. It’s just fun to see.
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