A year ago, the Cardinals drafted Josh Rosen 10th overall after signing Sam Bradford in free agency. The Cardinals named Bradford the starter but added they would give Rosen a chance to compete for the job.
Everyone knows how that turned out. Both quarterbacks now are gone after a three-win season.
While Kliff Kingsbury stopped short of naming Kyler Murray the team’s starting quarterback for the 2019 season opener, General Manager Steve Keim stated the obvious.
He quickly answered, “Yes,” when Rich Eisen asked if Murray would start against Detroit on Sept. 8.
Eisen followed with, “You didn’t stutter,” prompting Keim to say, “No.”
“We didn’t draft him one overall to ride the pine,” Keim added on The Rich Eisen Show this week. “I know it’s a lot to put on his back, but that’s why we drafted him. He’s a fierce competitor, and that’s what he did at Oklahoma this year. He put the team on his back. They didn’t have a great defense, and he knew he had to score on almost every series to give them a chance to win. I sort of like the chances there.”
Kingsbury answered, “We’ll see,” when asked about Murray starting on The Jim Rome Show, and mentioned veteran Brett Hundley. (And, no, he didn’t seem to intend it as a joke.)
The Cardinals wasted the Rosen choice, giving him no chance to become the franchise quarterback they obviouslythought he was a year ago. He’s now in Miami, and the Cardinals now are Murray’s team.
Who could have envisioned that?
“Oh, man,” Keim said. “It’d be hard to understand any circumstances other than the one that just happened that that would happen. I know it sounds far fetched, but again, if I didn’t the feel I got while watching the tape of Kyler Murray and how dynamic he is, there’s probably zero chance of that happening.”
Keim’s future now is in Murray’s hands from Day One.