Cardinals General Manager Steve Keim: Josh Rosen Is the Starting Quarterback 'Right Now'
Josh Rosen is the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals "right now," general manager Steve Keim told reporters Wednesday at the NFL Combine.
Rosen is coming off a rookie year that was less than stellar, and with new coach Kliff Kingsbury coming in with the expectation of upgrading the offense, there has been speculation the Cardinals are going to draft another quarterback who Kingsbury had a say in acquiring.
In January, a video from October resurfaced in which Kingsbury was discussing eventual Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray. Then the coach at Texas Tech, Kingsbury heaped tremendous praise on the Oklahoma standout, saying, "I've never seen him have a poor outing. Not one. Which at quarterback, it's impossible to do, but he's done it. I would take him with the first pick of the draft if I could."
Kingsbury is now in a position where he could do just that. Arizona holds the No. 1 pick in April's draft after finishing 3–13 in 2018.
"I think what Kliff said was trying to avoid bulletin board material," Keim said. "I think if you’re at Texas Tech I would have said the same thing about an Oklahoma quarterback. But, you know, again, it’s still early in the process. We haven’t even gone through a full evaluation at all the positions. So really, it’s, again too early to say."
After deciding to skip out on a potential baseball career, Murray has become one of the most intriguing players in the draft. His size has put his draft stock in question for some, but others see him as the next in the line of players like Drew Brees and Russell Wilson, who have so much talent they can overcome being below average height for the position.
In his rookie campaign, Rosen got the start in 13 games, and the team went 3–10 in those contests. He completed 55.2% of his throws for 2,278 yards, 11 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
"Is Josh Rosen our quarterback?" Keim said, repeating the question that was just posed to him. "Yeah. He is for right now, for sure."
In Kalyn Kahler's latest Mock Draft, she had the Cardinals taking Ohio State pass rusher Nick Bosa with the No. 1 pick while Murray went to the Dolphins at No. 13.
