Arizona Cardinals: Drafting passers hasn’t been their thing
By Jim Koch
Since moving to the desert, the Arizona Cardinals organization has not had much luck when it comes to drafting quarterbacks
The Arizona Cardinals have been hearing it for quite some time now. NFL observers have practically mandated that the club come out of the upcoming draft with their “quarterback of the future”. The general thought is that Cards’ management has avoided the issue for long enough, and the problem can no longer be swept under the rug.
Since moving to the desert back in 1988, the Cardinals have drafted a total of 13 signal-callers. Without having much success in doing so, one might say. In fact, their inability to judge the most-important position in professional sports is downright scary.
Out of the 13, only one (Jake Plummer) became a multi-year starter for the franchise. For whatever reason, Arizona has a blind spot when it comes to evaluating college passers. That’s not great news, considering the fact that the front office will most likely be selecting another one in a few, short weeks.
Plummer, the one pick that they did get right, was a second-round pick (1997) out of Arizona State University. The “Snake” played with the Cards until 2002, leading them to a Wildcard playoff berth in 1998. The highlight of Plummer’s time with the team was a 20-7 postseason triumph over the Dallas Cowboys following that season.
The Cardinals drafted current New York Jet Josh McCown in ’02, following Plummer’s free agent departure. The third-round pick has had a 17-year career as a journeyman, but only four of those campaigns were spent in Arizona. McCown’s most-productive season with Big Red was in ’04, when he threw for 2,511 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Matt Leinart was the Cards’ first-round selection in 2006 (10th-overall) and, like McCown, spent just four years with the squad. The USC product started only 17 times for the Cardinals, ultimately being cast aside for the great Kurt Warner. Leinart, by most accounts, preferred womanizing and partying over sharpening his craft.
Timm Rosenbach was a first-round pick (1989 supplemental draft) who’s Cards’ career fizzled out even quicker than McCown’s and Leinart’s. The Washington State University product was affected when his friend, Detroit Lion Mike Utley, became paralyzed during a contest in 1991. Rosenbach played just three years in the “Valley of the Sun”, his best being when he tallied 3,098 passing yards and 16 touchdown tosses in 1990.
John Skelton was a fifth-round pick in 2010 who started 17 games while with Arizona. “Skeletor” racked up 3,707 yards passing and 15 touchdowns during his three-year stay, before being released in April of 2013.
The remainder of the list of signal-callers they’ve drafted since migrating to Arizona is not impressive in the least. Logan Thomas, Ryan Lindley, John Navarre, Chris Greisen, Stoney Case, Tony Sacca, Jeff Bridewell and Tom Tupa round it out. None of those names will be candidates for the Cards’ Hall of Fame any time soon.
Next: New rule for Arizona Cardinals and NFL is tough
Hopefully, general manager Steve Keim and company have done extensive research on the 2018 crop. Free agent signees Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon are band-aids for the all-important position, at best. It’s about time that our Cardinals get this quarterback thing right, once and for all.