Right now, there is no clear, locked‑in answer on who will start at RB for the Arizona Cardinals, and it’s very much a “wait for camp and preseason” situation.

Key context on the Cardinals’ RB situation

  • Veteran James Conner is at the center of the question, but his age, injury history, efficiency dip, and contract make his 2026 status uncertain, with some analysts listing him as a possible cut or at least a player the team may want to move on from for cap/age reasons.
  • The team has cycled through multiple backs (Emari Demercado, Bam Knight, Michael Carter, etc.) when Conner has been hurt or ineffective, which has made the backfield feel like a committee rather than a clear “workhorse” situation.
  • At one point during the 2025 season, Bam Knight was specifically noted as the “starting Cardinals RB” going into a matchup, but that was a week‑to‑week designation, not a long‑term franchise decision.

Draft and future outlook

  • Recent analysis and mock drafts have highlighted running back as a real need, with at least one mock linking the Cardinals to Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love in the first round because of Conner’s decline and the lack of a reliable replacement.
  • If the Cardinals do invest early draft capital in a back like Love (or a similar top prospect), that player would immediately be a strong favorite to start or at least share a heavy workload very early in the season.

What this means for “who will start”

Given all of that:

  • If Conner is kept and healthy , he likely opens camp as the nominal RB1, but his grip on the job would be much weaker than in past years because of age, production, and contract issues.
  • If the team drafts a top RB on Day 1 or Day 2 , that rookie would have a real shot to take over as the starter or form a 1A/1B split almost immediately.
  • Depth options such as Bam Knight and others project more as committee/rotational pieces and injury replacements than as clearly anointed long‑term starters, even though Knight has already had at least one start labeled as “starting Cardinals RB.”

So in short: there is no confirmed starting RB yet for the Cardinals’ next season, and the answer will likely hinge on two big offseason variables—what they do with James Conner’s contract and whether they spend significant draft capital on a new feature back.