The Arizona Cardinals did not select a quarterback in the 2017 NFL draft. It may have been a smart move.
It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that the Arizona Cardinals would select a quarterback in the 2017 NFL draft. The only real questions were which round, and which quarterback? But with seven rounds come and gone, the Cardinals – to the dismay of many fans – did not draft a quarterback. Somewhere Arizona Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim is chuckling to himself and saying “I told ya’ll we were going to stick to our board.”
It’s understandable why Cardinals fans would be anxious to find Carson Palmer’s heir apparent. When a fan base has spent so many years in the quarterback desert with the likes of Timm Rosenbach, Kent Graham, Derek Anderson, John Skelton, and Ryan Lindley, they understand how important it is to have a viable starting quarterback.
But you know what? Steve Keim might just be on to something.
How teams used to go about finding a quarterback
The quest for a franchise quarterback is ubiquitous. If you don’t have one, you are trying eagerly to find one. Historically, this quest has involved using a first round pick to draft a quarterback who, after a year or so of sitting or struggling, hopefully develops into a franchise quarterback. Emphasis on “hopefully.”
Sometimes the plan works as expected, and teams have a good quarterback like Matthew Stafford or Joe Flacco. In rare cases, teams find a true franchise quarterback like Aaron Rodgers or Andrew Luck. Unfortunately, the quest for a quarterback all too often results in reaching for players like Christian Ponder or EJ Manuel.
Ultimately, the mantra of this approach has been find the quarterback first, and then build around him.
There are a few things to keep in mind about this traditional way of finding a quarterback. First, if a team misses on a first round quarterback, it severely stunts the team’s development. The problem is not only that the team failed to draft a true franchise quarterback, but also that it usually takes at least a few years to come to grips with that reality and move on.
The second thing to consider, is that some young quarterbacks falter not for lack of ability, but because they were drafted into a bad situation. There is an argument to be made that players like Tim Couch and David Carr might have been successful had they not been placed into such bad situations as rookies.