Kliff Kingsbury said it in October when the NFL and the Cardinals weren’t even a twinkle in his eye. Now, he’s saying something else.
Kingsbury, who has said he would draft Kyler Murray with the first pick if he could, now says Josh Rosen is his quarterback for now and the future.
“Our feelings toward Josh haven’t waned or changed,” Kingsbury said Tuesday, via video from Mike Jurecki of the team website. “I get it. We have the first pick, so there are going to be a million scenarios over the next three months that are going to come. Kyler is a tremendous player. I said that being very complementary before we played an opponent. I understand the sound bite, but like I said, there are going to be a ton of scenarios that are going to come up before we get to the draft.”
The Cardinals used the 10th overall choice on Rosen in the 2018 draft. They now have the first overall pick and a new coach in Kingsbury, who before Texas Tech’s game against Oklahoma said he would “take [Murray] with the first pick of the draft if I could.”
He now can but doesn’t sound like he will.
The Cardinals, though, could benefit from Murray’s entry into the draft if a team decides it wants the Heisman Trophy winner badly enough to move up to No. 1.
Rosen went 3-10 as a rookie, behind an awful offensive line, throwing 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions with a 66.7 passer rating.