Much-maligned Cardinals quarterback is showing improvement

An impressive preseason out of Chris Streveler has the Arizona Cardinals organization believing that he can be an NFL quarterback.

The 2020 campaign ended on an extremely sour note for the Arizona Cardinals and their fans.

As we all know, a victory over the John Wolford-led Los Angeles Rams in the finale would’ve resulted in the Cards’ first postseason berth in five years. That didn’t happen, of course, and there was plenty of blame to go around following that heartbreaking defeat.

One individual who took a tremendous amount of criticism for that failure, justified or not, was backup quarterback Chris Streveler. Starter Kyler Murray‘s first-quarter injury against the Rams thrust the former CFL star into the spotlight. Streveler was far from impressive, and Arizona’s playoff hopes went out the window with the 18-7 loss.

Many observers wondered after the contest if Streveler has what it takes to be an NFL signal-caller. The 26-year-old entered the offseason not knowing if the Cardinals had any interest in keeping him around.

Arizona Cardinals third-string passer is enjoying an outstanding preseason

The much-maligned Streveler must have worked at refining his game over the past seven months. The 6-foot-1, 216-pounder has played quite well during both of the Redbirds’ exhibition games thus far. Streveler has always been able to gain yards with his legs, but the rugged competitor is also showing that he can move an offense with his arm as well.

Last week, Streveler engineered two fourth-quarter scoring drives that resulted in a 19-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys. There was also a trademark 23-yard run up the middle in the second quarter that set up an Eno Benjamin touchdown.

This past Friday, Streveler completed 5 out of his 6 pass attempts for 74 yards and a touchdown during the Cards’ 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The scoring toss was a beautiful 20-yard strike to tight end Ross Travis with 9:03 left in the matchup.

Streveler’s performance this summer, albeit against the opposition’s backups, is proof that he possesses the skills to compete at pro football’s highest level. Whether he has done enough to earn a spot on Arizona’s 2021 roster remains to be seen.

(Statistics provided by ESPN’s NFL scores)