The Arizona Cardinals remain the central storyline for the 2019 NFL Draft, with no one willing to give an inch about their plans at the quarterback position. Just when there's starting to be buzz about Arizona sticking with Josh Rosen, they decide to bring Kyler Murray in for a visit and have his agent come with him, causing many people to wonder if there might be some kind of contract negotiation going on between the two parties.
Cards coach Kliff Kingsbury continued to throw people off the Murray scent, noting that Rosen is actually a great fit for his system and a better athlete when he ever was. Do we believe him? To break it down, Brady Quinn joined me on the Pick Six Podcast to talk about how Rosen would work in Kingsbury's Air Raid attack.
And Quinn actually believes that Rosen might be a better fit for what Kingsbury likes to run than Murray.
"I think what people fail to realize is, what was Kliff Kingsbury? He was a dropback quarterback. And he played within the system," Quinn pointed out. "So was Graham Harrell. So was essentially every other quarterback who played in the system, including Gardner Minshew who played in the system up in Washington State this year.
"The entire offense is based upon pocket passers. In fact, you can look at the entire Air Raid system and make the case that Josh Rosen is a better fit than Kyler Murray is. I just think people look at the Air Raid now and think, 'Oh, spread,' because you see a lot of spread formations. And you think about Kyler Murray playing within that system and his ability to run with a field that is so spread out and with some of those running lanes that are available even in the passing game, and you see why people think it would make sense."
Brady believes either Murray or Rosen can be good given the setup, but that Rosen might be "a little bit safer" than his younger counterpart.
"Both quarterbacks can play in and excel in the system. I don't personally think they would be handicapped by Josh Rosen and, to be perfectly honest with you, I think Josh Rosen is probably a little bit safer within the offense than Murray is, only because he's got NFL experience so far," Quinn continued. "Looking at the history of NFL quarterbacks, they tend to be guys who have the history of the skillset of Josh Rosen than the skillset of Kyler Murray."
This is the fascinating choice the Cardinals are facing -- do they believe they have enough in Rosen to keep pressing with their second-year quarterback in Kingsbury's system? If they do, it would make all the sense in the world to draft Nick Bosa or Quinnen Williams with the first overall pick, improve the defense and try to build around their 2018 first-round pick.
Ultimately it comes down to who is the best fit with Kingsbury's system and who provides them the most value. If they believe it's Rosen, as Quinn does, they should pass on Murray and try to land a blue-chip player at another position.
