NFL Draft 2013: Arizona Cardinals Will Hold Private Workout with Matt Barkley
By Josh Hill
The Arizona Cardinals now have a slew of quarterbacks to choose from when it comes to finding a capable starter to kick off the Bruce Arians era in the franchise’s history. But while they have Brian Hoyer, Drew Stanton, Ryan Lindley and now Carson Palmer in town, it appears that’s not going to stop the team from at least entertaining the idea of drafting a quarterback this month.
How serious the Cardinals ultimately are about drafting a quarterback is yet to be seen, but their interest in doing so seems to increase every day, and they’re to the point where they feel comfortable enough to hold a private workout with USC Trojans’ quarterback Matt Barkley.
Cardinals HC Bruce Arians and GM Steve Keim are scheduled to hold a private workout Saturday at USC for QB Matt Barkley.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 4, 2013
The Cardinals have four quarterbacks on roster, which means they’ll no longer be drafting one with the seventh overall pick in the draft this month, but it’s not crazy to believe that the team will re-visit that thought when they go on the clock in the second and third day of the draft. Barkley was once considered to be the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, but that was a brief period in time that now seems like ancient history. A miserable, injury-laden season with the Trojans last year sunk his stock, but his value seems to be holding in the second round.
While Carson Palmer is going to get the benefit of the doubt and will be anointed the unofficial starter, the Cardinals will want to plan for the future, and that means drafting a potential franchise quarterback to develop while Palmer and the gang eat their hearts out trying to prove themselves to whoever’s watching.
Barkley’s not the best quarterback in the draft, but he’s far from the worse and new Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians has proven himself to be somewhat of a quarterbacking guru. Arians’ quick and early success with both Ben Roethlisberger and Andrew Luck show that he knows what he’s talking about when he trains a quarterback, and that could mean a serious turn-around of NFL fortune for Barkley should he wind up in Arizona when the draft is all said and done.