Should the Arizona Cardinals consider a QB with a Day 1 or 2 draft pick?

There has been some speculation of late that the Arizona Cardinals are looking at early-round QBs. Fact or fiction? Astute or asinine?

It’s NFL draft season, so the rumor mill is churning, speculation is rampant, and disinformation is flying. As an example, you might have heard this week that the Arizona Cardinals have been looking at Oregon QB Bo Nix with their second 1^st-round pick. Local media was skeptical, and one draftnik even called the speculation out as absurd.

While I agree that the Cardinals almost certainly won’t go QB with their #27 pick, would it really be “absurd” for the Cardinals to potentially take a QB with one of their six(!) picks in the first three rounds (Days 1 and 2)? Plus we have another one very early in the 4^th round.

I’m obviously not talking about one of the top three guys, but what if someone from the Bo Nix/Michael Penix/J.J. McCarthy tier slips a bit? Let’s take a quick look at the pros and cons and discuss if this is something the Cardinals could or should be considering. (Note that what follows is mostly purely hypothetical.)

Pros

• Arguably the most valuable commodity in the NFL is a talented QB on a rookie contract. Just look at what the San Francisco 49ers have been able to do with Brock Purdy making next to nothing on his rookie deal.
• The Cardinals could definitely use a backup QB. The only guy on the roster besides Kyler Murray is 5^th-round pick Clayton Tune, who showed very little in the preseason last year and looked godawful in his one game last season.
• Kyler hasn’t exactly been an ironman in his career thus far. If he were to go down, the rookie could step in and would likely be a huge upgrade over Tune.
• In a couple years, the Cardinals could be in the enviable position of having two starting-caliber QBs and could either trade Kyler and turn to the rookie or trade the rookie and continue to build around Kyler.
• We do have those six picks in the first three rounds, so we can afford to take a gamble on a QB if the right player dropped to us at the right spot.

Cons

• We already have a starting QB in Kyler and cheap depth in Tune, and we’ll likely bring in a veteran free agent backup. We don’t really need to spend a premium draft pick on a QB.
• Spending such a pick on a QB might send the wrong message to Kyler, who has not reacted well to adversity in the past.
• Having a young, highly drafted QB behind Kyler could potentially divide the locker room and/or fanbase if Kyler were to struggle next season.
• If we do draft a QB and he turns out to be a bust, we wasted a premium pick on a luxury/betting future.
• Our roster also has way too many holes elsewhere to spend a high pick on a QB.

Discussion

I admit I am a little intrigued at the thought of drafting a QB with one of our early picks—I blame all the Madden drafts I’ve done in franchise mode over the years. You’d always draft a young QB, develop him for a season or two, then trade your starter for several 1^st-round picks. It never failed.

Easier done in a video game than the actual NFL, of course. So while I am intrigued by the idea, I think the cons outweigh the pros. And it’s really just the first and last ones listed above for me—we don’t need a QB and we have too many roster holes elsewhere. Besides, there’s no guarantee that any of Nix/Penix/McCarthy will be there at #35, and the drop-off is pretty steep after that. (Spencer Rattler, anyone?) It was a fun thought experiment, but I don’t think this is something the Cardinals should pursue.

What about you, RotBers? I know some of you love nothing more than wild speculation, and there are definitely more than a few members of the anti-Kyler posse still out there. Let us know your thoughts on the QB question by voting in the poll and/or dropping a comment.