Cardinals should look into drafting QB early
Full confession. On Nov. 8, 2005, these words appeared in The Arizona Republic:
Reggie Bushfor the Heisman. Matt Leinartfor the Cardinals.
They were mine.
Nearly six months later, after the team used its No. 10 pick on Leinart in the 2006 NFL draft, these words ran about the USC quarterback:
They'll call him Joey Harrington.I'll call him Tom Brady.
Mine, too.
I'm so ashamed.
It is why I expect little tolerance as I pen these words: The Cardinals should consider selecting a quarterback in the first round of the upcoming draft.
No one knows what this organization is thinking. It is that time of the year when teams tease and deceive, and rightly so.
A perception is growing that the Cardinals are taking a closer look at drafting a quarterback early. In Mel Kiper Jr.'s mock draft for ESPN.com, he has the team taking Fresno State's Derek Carr in the first round, and writes his selections are based on "how I believe decision-makers for teams currently value players." Sports Illustrated's Peter King wrote Monday that he is hearing the Cardinals are "sweet on a couple of quarterbacks, Derek Carr and A.J. McCarron, who are first- and second-round possibilities."
Someone in the organization last week told me the team is "well aware Carson Palmer will be 35 in December."
Which may mean nothing. Or everything.
This is not about Palmer. The quarterback was terrific in the final nine games of the 2013 season, throwing 16 touchdowns vs. nine interceptions and leading the Cardinals to a 7-2 record.
The team is in good shape behind center for 2014. How about beyond that? And what if Palmer is injured? A lot of wear and tear exists on a 34-year-old NFL body, especially one that was sacked 41 times last season.
The Cardinals seem to like backups Drew Stanton and Ryan Lindley. But enough to entrust them with their future?
I don't feel that vibe.
The most interesting story line among the quarterbacks expected to go early involves Teddy Bridgewater.
The Louisville quarterback was once a consensus top-five pick. These days, many predict he could drop to the second round.
What cost Bridgewater most was a poor pro-day performance on March 17 at Louisville. A player who wore gloves his entire college career went without them. His passes wobbled. His 71 percent completion percentage with Louisville last season was dismissed as the product of playing mediocre competition. So was the 31-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
Leinart had a decent ratio (28 to 8), too, his final collegiate season but they are not the same quarterback. His coaches and teammates say Bridgewater is consumed by the game, loves the game and always works to improve. Leinart allowed himself to be distracted.
Opinions about Bridgewater vary. Kiper has him rated above all other quarterbacks. Other mocks drafts have him going late in the second round.
Mental toughness will take you a long way in the NFL. If he's available, I would love to see the Cardinals take him.
No quarterback is a sure thing in this draft.
Many analysts have Fresno State's Carr rated high. But Todd McShay, an analyst for Scouts, Inc., said he wouldn't take Carr higher than the fourth round.
"I don't see it," he said on ESPN. "(He) struggles against pressure, and that tape I watched against USC, that is not a quarterback that to me looks like a potential starter in the league."
And then there's Alabama's McCarron. Who knows if the Cardinals' interest in him is real. If so, it surely would be for the second round or later.
His success with the Crimson Tide was impressive but he won't blow anyone away with his arm strength or mobility. Also, Kiper said something on a conference call recently that gave listeners a moment of pause. He wondered if McCarron could be "a right-handed Matt Leinart."
Oh dear.
The expected top quarterback picks in this draft — Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel and Central Florida's Blake Bortles — likely will be gone by the time the Cardinals pick.
The organization doesn't have a great track record when it comes to selecting quarterbacks in the first round.
We all know how things turned out with Leinart, who was the only first-round quarterback taken by the organization after relocating to Arizona in 1988. Before then it was Kelly Stouffer, 1987; Steve Pisarkiewicz, 1977; Joe Namath, 1965; George Izo, 1960; and Lamar McHan, 1954.
Namath, of course, chose the New York Jets of the AFL instead, and the Cardinals must have felt like the Suns losing the coin flip to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1969 for the right to take Lew Alcindor with the No. 1 pick in the draft.
No coin flip will be involved on May 8, the first day of the 2014 NFL draft, just good old-fashioned scouting and analysis. And based on an impressive first season together, General Manager Steve Keim and coach Bruce Arians have given fans every reason to feel confidence.
Certainly more than amateur analysts.
And, yes, reporters, too.
Reach Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/Paola Boivin. Listen to her streaming live on "The Brad Cesmat Show" on sports360az.com every Monday at 10:30 a.m.