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The Arizona Cardinals know it. At some point they will have to draft a quarterback. With an aging Carson Palmer, whose contract voids a few days after the next Super Bowl, they can't afford to completely ignore the situation.
Even with the situation, don't expect an early pick of a quarterback in this year's NFL Draft, even though many recent mock drafts have Arizona taking a quarterback as early as the first round.
Head coach Bruce Arians told the media on Wednesday (via AZCardinals.com) he did not know who in this year's crop of signal callers "have a 'Wow' factor."
"I don't see an Andrew Luck, a Ben Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning, but I do see some guys that are very capable of playing," he said.
Now, naturally, as the saying goes, if somebody's lips are moving in the NFL before the draft, he's lying, but if we can take one thing from Arians, it appears that an early quarterback pick seems to be out of the question. So projections of the Cards taking Derek Carr in the first round are unlikely. The first round and second round are probably out of the question.
Should one of those "capable of playing" guys is on the board come the third round, it seems reasonable that at point the team would consider it. But before then, as they will ideally want immediate contributors in those rounds, a quarterback that will have to sit at least one season doesn't seem to fit.
This would lead one to believe that Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel, Derek Carr, Teddy Bridgewater and probably Zach Mettenberger will be out of the question. That leaves players such as A.J. McCarron, Logan Thomas, Jimmy Garappolo, Tom Savage, Aaron Murray and others of the like.
Now, as general manager Steve Keim will ultimately make the pick he feels is best for the team, which could mean he pulls the trigger earlier, but it doe snot appear, at for now, that the Cards will be leaning in the direction of a new quarterback until at least late Day 2 of the draft.
