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After week one of the preseason for the Arizona Cardinals, the likelihood of Blaine Gabbert being on the final 53 man roster has gone up.
He played a very good game, Bruce Arians was happy, and of course the fans were overly excited.
Arians put a little bit of damper on the Blaine Gabbert experience, as he is still clearly the third quarterback on the Cardinals, but Arians did not rule out a chance for Gabbert to surpass incumbent Drew Stanton as the lead backup.
Arians: "There's a chance" Gabbert could push Stanton for No. 2 QB but "there's a long way to go." Stanton knows the offense so much better.
— Darren Urban (@Cardschatter) August 5, 2017
For now, the pecking order remains and Gabbert will this time get the grunt work, the second half of the first preseason game for the Oakland Raiders, the Cardinals opponent on Saturday.
Bruce Arians says after starters get ~15 plays Saturday, Drew Stanton will QB 2ndQ and Blaine Gabbert will play rest of the game.
— Adam Green (@theAdamGreen) August 6, 2017
It means a chance to again prove himself as a player worth a roster spot and it will also again put him in a position to be successful, where he will be playing against, in theory, inferior competition.
For now, the Cardinals have their second quarterback in Drew Stanton, but two more weeks of Gabbert playing well could make things a little murkier.