Arizona Cardinals: Drew Stanton only call to make, for now
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals lost starting quarterback Carson Palmer for likely the rest of the season to a broken arm, now it’s Drew Stanton time
A lot of people were pining for Blaine Gabbert to play instead of Drew Stanton on Sunday after starting quarterback Carson Palmer went out of the game with an arm injury. That injury turned out to be a broken arm that will sideline Palmer for at least eight weeks.
Those eight weeks take him right up until the end of the season. He likely has seen his last throw as an Arizona Cardinals or as an active player in the NFL. We’ll see.
Drew Stanton, who is the backup, came in and played poorly against the Los Angeles Rams. Now he will get the start in two weeks against the San Francisco 49ers. He will also be the starter for the rest of the season.
Coach Bruce Arians confirmed that after the game on Sunday. However, you’d have to believe that if Stanton struggles mightily, and many expect that to happen, then Gabbert would get the call.
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People are perplexed why no the call now? Well, to put it bluntly, Arians said you don’t skip number two to get to number three. There is a reason for the depth chart.
He’s right. Even though many expect Stanton to fail, and he might, he needs to be given that opportunity. Even at 3-4, while the picture seems bleak, the Cardinals still have meaningful game to play.
Remember, Gabbert just joined the team in May. A lot of what we saw out of him in preseason was based on a vanilla offense for him. He also saw vanilla defenses.
Gut feeling though says the first sign of trouble, Arians will turn to Gabbert. That doesn’t mean he sticks to him initially if he does turn to him but he likely gets a chance to show what he can do at some point in the near future.