As the Arizona Cardinals faced a 2nd and 8 situation, down by a point and with less than a minute to play against the Atlanta Falcons, Trey McBride did something unusual. He told Kyler Murray what to do. 

Speaking to reporters after the game, in which McBride became the first Cardinals tight end to record a 100+ yard receiving game since Robert Awalt in 1989, he explained that “”I told Kyler, and I usually don’t tell him what to do, but I said, ‘If this guy (Falcons safety Richie Grant) has me man-to-man, I’ve been killing him all night, just give me a chance”. 

A chance is exactly what Kyler gave to McBride, firing a 33-yard pass in his direction.  While the pass was underthrown, the second-year tight end took a couple of steps back and brought the ball down, helping to set the team up for a game-winning field goal from Matt Prater. 

A chance is all Trey McBride has wanted since being drafted by the Cardinals in 2022 and he’s taken his at every available opportunity in 2023 during a breakout campaign that has greatly exceeded all expectations. 

Against the San Francisco 49ers, McBride recorded his fourth game of at least 8 receptions and 89 yards this season. No other tight end has more than two in 2023. He has recorded more receptions (66) than George Kittle, Kyle Pitts, Dalton Schultz and Jake Ferguson. He has more yards (712) than all of those men barring Kittle with more receptions of 20+ yards (9) than Tyler Higbee, Tyler Conklin, Darren Waller and Cole Kmet.

From Week 9 onwards, the former Colorado Ram has led all tight ends in receptions, receiving yards and receiving yards per game.

Since taking the reins as TE1 when Zach Ertz was placed on IR after an injury in Week 7 against Seattle, McBride’s average of 77.4 yards per game would rank him 10th overall in the league…amongst wide receivers. 

His 2.54 yards per route run since Week 8 sits him atop all tight ends in the NFL and in rare company – from 2013 the league leaders in that category at tight end have been Rob Gronkowski, Jordan Reed, George Kittle and Travis Kelce. Oh, he’s broken the all-time Cardinals record for catches by a tight end in a single season too. 

Trey McBride is playing like an All-Pro. 

There are a number of reasons for the 24-year-olds success and two huge factors are opportunity and necessity. McBride has seized the opportunities given to him by Drew Petzing, Kyler Murray and Zach Ertz’s injury with both hands like they’re a game defining deep ball. 

With Ertz playing during the first 7 weeks of the season, McBride made 15 receptions on 21 targets. He’s caught 18 passes on 20 targets in the past two games. 

There’s also the concerning lack of aid from the other receiving talent on the roster which has meant that the passing offence has HAD to run through McBride. Since Week 8, McBride leads the team in receiving yards with 542. Hollywood Brown (191), Rondale Moore (152) and Greg Dortch (139) have combined for 482 in that time. 

Becoming the team’s most reliable and effective receiver has also accelerated the blossoming bromance between McBride and his quarterback.

After the game against the ‘9ers, Kyler told the media that “he’s just getting better each and every week. The more he plays, the more confident he gets and the swag and the juice from him just continues to grow.”

The Falcons game was likely the last time that Trey will have to ask Kyler to give him a chance. When the chips have been down over the past weeks, it has been #85 that #1 has looked for. 

In one touchdown scoring drive during the road victory against the Steelers, McBride caught three third down passes including a world-class diving effort on 3rd & 6 as well as the touchdown itself, giving the Cardinals 10-3 lead going into half-time. 

There’s the small matter of talent to consider as well. The Colorado native was the clear cut TE1 in the 2022 draft class ahead of more athletically promising prospects like Greg Dulcich, Chig Okonkwo and Jelani Woods because he was simply the best player at the position. 

McBride’s blend of cultured hands, catch radius, separation ability, toughness at the catch point and willingness to grit his teeth and motor through tacklers makes him a quarterback’s dream. 

In his final season in college, he racked up 1125 yards on 91 catches, which was over a third of Colorado State’s passing yardage. Defences knew where the ball was going and he still dominated. Sounds familiar, right?

While it’s easy to get carried away when watching someone in such a fine vein of form, you can’t blame Cardinals fans or the media when McBride is making the kinds of catches he has this season. The one against the Steelers was incredible. The one against the 49ers, a twisting effort over the head of Ambry Thomas, was spectacular. 

It was already hard to not like the guy given his passion for the game and his endearing, goofy nature which are both unleashed in his high-energy celebrations, now he’s playing as good as any offensive player in the league.

It’s also high time that Cardinals fans had a tight end of their own to watch humiliate opposition defences rather than being on the receiving end of big plays and 100+ yard performances. 

In a team where you can count the amount of true stars on one hand and have enough fingers left to scratch your eyes out in frustration, McBride #85 jerseys are going to flood the stands of the State Farm Stadium. 

Despite his breakneck rise to stardom this season, McBride has shown the humility and attitude to acknowledge that he must improve.

The connection between him and Murray has had a couple of snags that have resulted in interceptions – this will only improve with time – though Kyler’s willingness to continue to target the tight end is the biggest compliment the QB can give McBride and also speaks to Murray’s continually growing leadership 

He recently told Dave Pasch that he wants to be a factor in the run game. While McBride will never be a “do everything” player at the position, his run block grade (via PFF) has taken a leap this year from 46.3 to 57.1. 

As one eye drifts towards the offseason and the potential addition of a premier pass catcher, whether that be through the draft or free agency, Arizona Cardinals fans can feel safe in the knowledge that they already have one on the roster in Trey McBride. 

All he needed was a chance.

Media Credits: NFL, Arizona Cardinals, Sports Illustrated