Kyler Murray has been the presumptive No. 1 overall pick for a while, but could the Arizona Cardinals legitimately go another direction?
Coming off a 3-13 season, the Arizona Cardinals need to add talent in multiple spots. It’s been assumed they will take quarterback Kyler Murray No. 1 overall, then look to trade 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen. But along with the faint idea Murray could fall if the Cardinals don’t take him first overall, there’s now a report suggesting Arizona won’t be drafting the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
The final days going into the draft are filled with misinformation, smokescreens and outright lies teams feed to media members to get the narrative they want out there on certain players. If there’s a player said team wants, they want him to fall to them so negative information may come. Propping another player’s stock up works the same way, to try to assure a guy a team wants falls to them.
Pete Prisco of CBS Sports doesn’t seem to dabble in putting incomplete or misleading information out there. So his report on the Cardinals’ plans for the No. 1 overall pick stands out.
Initially, the ownership pushed for Kyler Murray, that much I know, I was told that. The reason they did is they are having a hard time selling tickets. Well, they put it out there. Arizona was lukewarm to it. So now, all of a sudden, they are pulling back and from what I’ve been told, they are going to go in a different direction. They are not going to draft Kyler Murray.
Rosen did not get a fair shot as a rookie last season, behind a bad offensive line and with a general lack of talent around him. Bailing on him just one year in after that feels foolish, even if he’s not seen in the same light as Murray as a great fit for Kliff Kingsbury’s version of the Air Raid offense.
Since it is pre-draft lying season, Prisco’s report could be a Cardinals-driven smokescreen. If it’s out they’re even leaning toward not taking Murray, leaving aside how definite Prisco seems to be that they flat-out won’t, better trade offers for Rosen might come. Advancing the idea they’re willing commit to Rosen and go another direction with the first overall pick might just work, one way or the other.