Cardinals Quarterback 2018
UPDATED: July 25, 2018 at 1:52 pm
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Sam Bradford looks to pass the ball as players run drills during a voluntary team activity Thursday, April 19, 2018, at the Cardinals' training facility in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Steve Wilks was noncommittal when asked who would be the Cardinals' starting QB moving forward – Josh Rosen or Sam Bradford. — Bob McManaman (@azbobbymac) September 24, 2018. Josh Rosen led the Cardinals in passing air yards in 2018 with 1301. See more advanced stats here. With Carson Palmer retired and no quarterbacks under contract for 2018, the Cardinals have a blank slate to work with at the position heading into free agency and the draft. AP Photo/Matt Dunham. These quarterbacks have started at least one game for the National Football League (NFL)'s Arizona Cardinals.They are listed in order of the date of each player's first start at quarterback for the Cardinals. The Cardinals drafted Rosen 10th overall in the 2018 draft, after signing both Bradford and Mike Glennon in March. Coach Steve Wilks named Bradford the starter, saying throughout the preseason that.
Az Cardinals Quarterback 2018
Football’s right around the corner.
And with the added additions to the quarterback pool, there have been some shifts in the hierarchy of the signal-callers.
Using a total of 50 NFL insiders, including 10 who range from assistant coaches to salary cap managers, 10 general managers, five head coaches, 10 coordinators, 10 senior personnel executives and five quarterback coaches, ESPN’s Mike Sando broke down every team’s starting quarterback into four tiers.
Looking at the quarterback situation in Arizona, Sam Bradford falls into the Tier 3 category as a No. 28 overall ranking.
But what exactly is a Tier 3 quarterback?
“A Tier 3 quarterback is a legitimate starter, but needs a heavier running game and/or defense to win. A lower-volume passing offense makes his job easier.”
Based on that definition alone, it’s no surprise to see the veteran QB there.
When healthy, David Johnson is a workhorse for Arizona, acting as one of the true lead backs in the game. In 2016, his second NFL season, Johnson rushed for 1,239 yards and 16 scores to go with 879 receiving yards and four more touchdowns on the ground.
Pair that with a defensive-minded head coach in Steve Wilks and a team that bolsters Chandler Jones and up-and-coming Budda Baker and Bradford could be seen more as a facilitator than a game-changer like Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady.
But, injuries — again — were a big reason for his spot in the ranking.
Bradford’s performance for Minnesota against New Orleans in the 2017 opener would hold up well against any game any quarterback might play, multiple voters said. The fact that Bradford could not stay in the lineup the next week despite suffering no new injuries was troubling.
“The teams that have him don’t seem to want to stay with him,” a former GM noted.
In his Week 1 outing with the Minnesota Vikings, Bradford completed 27-of-32 pass attempts for three touchdowns and no picks.
Bradford has only played two full seasons in his eight-year career but has shown flashes of potential.
In 2016, Bradford started 15 games and posted a league-leading 71.6 completion percentage to with a 99.3 passer rating. He threw for 3,877 yards, 20 touchdowns and had just five interceptions.
Among the starts in the NFC West, no one made the Tier 1 group. Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson topped the division at No. 6 (Tier 2), followed by San Francisco 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo (No. 13; Tier 2), Los Angles Rams’ Jared Goff (No. 19; Tier 3) and Bradford.
Doug & Wolf
With free agency approaching (March 14), we're analyzing the quarterback position on the Arizona Cardinals:
2018 cap hits of top returnees: None
Pending free agents: Drew Stanton, Blaine Gabbert and Matt Barkley
Key stat: When he was healthy, Carson Palmer put up statistics as good as anyone's in the NFL. In 2015, he was an MVP candidate who threw for career highs in yards (4,671) and touchdowns (35). He then threw for 4,233 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2016 but missed the final nine games last year because of a broken arm and retired after the season.
Money matters: Aside from paying Palmer $32.4 million from 2013 to '17, the Cardinals' only real investment in a quarterback was the $8.75 million they paid Stanton. Arizona never paid another quarterback who started for them from 2013 to '17 more than $775,000. Essentially, they didn't invest in the position they needed the most.
Big picture: Recently, the Cardinals haven't done well signing a quarterback in free agency or drafting one. In the past five years, Arizona has drafted one quarterback -- Logan Thomas -- but that experiment failed and Thomas is now a tight end in Buffalo. Since 2013, the Cardinals signed Stanton, Brian Hoyer, Barkley, Ryan Lindley, Gabbert, Zac Dysert, Caleb TerBush, Jeff Matthews, Dennis Dixon, Phillip Sims, Chandler Harnish, Aaron Murray, Jake Coker, Mike Bercovici and Trevor Knight, and only four started for them. Going back more than a decade, however, the Cardinals signed Kurt Warner as a free agent in 2005 and drafted Matt Leinart in the first round in 2006 -- Warner panned out; Leinart did not.
Ravens Quarterback
Cardinals Starting Quarterback 2018
The game plan: Well, the Cardinals need one, for starters. They don't have a quarterback under contract for the 2018 season, so the plan is to find a starter and his backup(s) for next season. New head coach Steve Wilks has said the Cardinals will be 'very aggressive' in their search for a quarterback, whether it's through free agency, the draft or a trade. It's likely Arizona will sign at least one QB in free agency and possibly draft one, depending on how the board falls. Wilks wouldn't guarantee the Cardinals will have four quarterbacks on their roster by the time they begin offseason workouts April 2, which could be a sign they are planning to draft one later that month.