Arizona Cardinals Leaning Towards Drew Stanton As Starting Quarterback
By Josh Sanchez
The Arizona Cardinals are a team that has been linked to a number of the top quarterbacks in the 2013 NFL Draft class, but don’t expect them to pull the trigger on a rookie quarterback early in April’s draft.
All of the talk coming out of Arizona from head coach Bruce Arians is that the team is confident in Drew Stanton as their starter going forward.
Arians spoke to the media at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix and made it no secret that he was backing Stanton.
“We already found one,” Arians said, via ESPN.com. “I have all the confidence in the world with him being our starter.”
Stanton is familiar with Arians offense after their time together in Indianapolis last season. That gives him an instant jump on the competition and that early lead should be enough to earn the job. Arians does not want to draw out the quarterback competition so Stanton’s head start on the offense should clinch the deal.
“I’m not a two-quarterback guy,” Arians said. “When everything settles down and the roster is complete for spring, we’ll look at the situation and if we feel we can name a starter, we will name a starter. We need leadership on that side of the football and in our whole locker room.
“We’ll exhaust every opportunity in the draft, whoever else is available, but we are quite honestly comfortable with Drew Stanton.”
The Cardinals had the NFL’s worst offense just a season ago, so it would make no sense for them to return to John Skelton or Ryan Lindley who were a big part of the team’s struggles.
Stanton has not had a real chance at being anything more than a clipboard holder, but that could all change in 2013.