Big Red
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- Mar 16, 2019
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The amount of work – 5,000 written reports on between 400 and 450 players, in addition to multiple meetings breaking each guy down – the Cardinals put into preparing for the draft is immense.
Yet this spring, it doesn’t seem as immense as the amount of attention that has been spotlighted on just one of the 10 Cardinals’ draft picks.
The draft is finally here, beginning at 5 p.m. Arizona time Thursday evening, and the Cardinals won’t be waiting much longer beyond that. (Barring a trade down, of course, but more on that later.) The Cardinals have the No. 1 overall pick. Will it be quarterback Kyler Murray? Edge rusher Nick Bosa? Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams? When you’re picking No. 1, it’s not just the team’s fan base that wants to know. It draws the attention of the entire NFL, and those who talk about it for a living.
As recently as Tuesday, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury said the team was still working on its final draft prep. General Manager Steve Keim said last week the final decision had yet to be made, because there was still time.
But by now, the Cards – again, barring a trade – know what the selection will be. Speculation was once overwhelming that they would take Murray, and look to trade incumbent quarterback Josh Rosen. But that speculation has softened of late, and if the Cardinals build their Kingsbury offense around Rosen and add a defensive difference-maker like Bosa or Williams, that too makes sense.
When it comes to Murray, it’ll be about the evaluation. The Cardinals have consistently said they like Rosen’s game and believe in him. Choosing Murray would be about the belief that he would be a transcendent player. That’s the decision Keim must weigh.
“We, as an organization, will take the best player that makes the biggest impact,” Keim said last week.
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