Arizona Cardinals: Always easy to make a call after the fact
By Scott Allen
Arizona Cardinals fans a number of times on social media on Sunday complained Deshaun Watson is a Houston Texan
When the first round of the NFL Draft took place at the end of last April, by the time the Arizona Cardinals were on the board, Deshaun Watson was already gone. It wouldn’t have mattered, he apparently was never on their board to begin with.
That has some puzzled as to why? Watson, after his performance on Sunday in a 41-38 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, now has 19 touchdown passes and eight interceptions.
General manager Steve Keim and the Cardinals ended up taking linebacker Haason Reddick at number 13 of the first round. Reddick will be something special in his own right someday.
The fact that the Cardinals have an aging quarterback and haven’t addressed the future yet at that position has left many fans frustrated. There is no saying though how Watson would have worked out in the Cardinals offense though.
At some point the Cardinals were going to need to address their defensive needs as well. After what looked to possibly be Carson Palmer’s last throw in the NFL last week in London against the Los Angeles Rams, now it is almost a certainty the Cardinals will look to draft a quarterback this April.
More from Raising Zona
- Arizona Cardinals: Could Eric Bieniemy come to the desert?
- Would Jonathan Gannon be a good fit for the Arizona Cardinals?
- Arizona Cardinals: Budda Baker right in his take regarding the next coach
- Arizona Cardinals: 3 reasons new coach should want to work with Murray
- Arizona Cardinals special teams could be completely revamped in 2023
They may have done so anyway even if Palmer had played out the entire season. That being said, now the issue is at the forefront.
There isn’t much the Cardinals or anyone else can do about it now. The Cardinals would have had to trade up to get Watson. With a number of needs at other positions, it was going to be hard for the Cardinals to part with other picks to trade up to get Watson or any other quarterback.
The Cardinals were more interested in Pat Mahomes, who was picked 10th by the Kansas City Chiefs. Once he was gone, the Cardinals focused their efforts on getting Reddick.
We can play general manager all we want at home but there are certain things they look at when deciding on a player. Being a fit for the team is one of them.
Sure, mistakes are made all the time in the draft and admittedly so from time to time. Don’t expect to ever hear the Cardinals say they missed out on Watson though.
For now, we can just sit and enjoy his play and be happy he is in the AFC and not the NFC. The Cardinals will only have to see him once every four years.
For now, the Cardinals move on with Drew Stanton as their starter the rest of the season. That is until he does something that warrants a Blaine Gabbert appearance.