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As the NFL Draft approaches, the rumors and chatter always increases at the last minute. Just a few days ago, I was told that the Arizona Cardinals had told third string quarterback Ryan Lindley that they would not draft a quarterback early, there is new information connecting Blake Bortles to the Cardinals with the 20th pick overall.
Seth Cox has been told that if he's available, he's the pick. In another article citing multiple sources, we learn that Todd McShay say that Bortles is the guy that Arizona covets. Peter king says the same thing, as well.
Bortles does match the physical profile that head coach Bruce Arians likes to have in his signal callers and Bortles has been working out with former Arians pupil Ben Roethlisberger as part of his pre-draft preparation. Arians and Big Ben are very close and Arians likely knows a lot about Bortles, a product of Central Florida.
General manager Steve Keim has been dead set on sticking to his draft board, so it makes sense that, if Bortles is in his top 20, that he would pull the trigger should he be the top of the board when Arizona's pick comes around.
However, it would present an interesting scenario. Arians has been on the record many times as saying that a young franchise quarterback should get on the field to learn, and his track record of working with QBs is that they play early, but with Carson Palmer around, he is the unquestioned starter.
Picking Bortles also keeps the team from selecting someone that would impact the team this year -- a year in which they hope to make some noise and be a Super Bowl contender.
Would you like to see Bortles taken at 20? How reliable do you think this information is? Would the Cardinals pull the trigger, or would they trade down to avoid making that decision right now?
