Arizona Cardinals take different QB in 2018 re-draft

The Arizona Cardinals could have avoided a few bad seasons with the selection of a different quarterback in the 2018 NFL Draft.

The 2018 draft set the Arizona Cardinals back so far that it resulted in the team owning the first overall draft pick for the first time in team history.

Josh Rosen was the original selection, and not only did he never do anything in college except a 34-point miracle comeback (ironically against Christian Kirk, who would become future teammates), but Rosen also delivered one of the cringiest quotes of all time with the “Nine Mistakes” comment.

Just how different would things have been if the Arizona Cardinals had taken another “Cardinals” quarterback? Yep, if you didn’t guess it by the picture, Lamar Jackson is the re-do pick here. Jackson had it all at Louisville, and he’s been pretty dang good for the Baltimore Ravens.

Jackson was good enough to win playoff games and also deliver the team’s first MVP award.

Lamar Jackson as the Arizona Cardinals quarterback means no Kyler Murray

This is the part of the article where it’s going to get crazy. There is the Murray camp that feels strongly that he’s the guy for the Cardinals, and simultaneously the smattering of Cardinals fans who don’t see Murray as the team’s future.

The reason why Jackson is picked here is that Steve Keim absolutely failed to help ensure the quarterback position in 2017 when they drafted one of the bigger busts in recent memory, Haason Reddick (and no, what he’s done outside of Arizona is not a viable rebuttal).

2017 was Carson Palmer’s last season, and the quarterbacks in the 2017 draft included Deshaun Watson (before all of his incidents happened) and Patrick Mahomes. And if we’re basing this on who was available and on the board in 2018, Jackson is the clear answer.

Forget the Murray-Jackson comparisons. Ask yourself the following question: Would you rather have Jackson or Rosen?

The answer is pretty easy.