Do Cardinals Have NFL's Next Brock Purdy?
When San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy broke on the scene last year as a rookie, teams around the league took notice - even their division rivals in the Arizona Cardinals.
After Michael Bidwill fired Kliff Kingsbury following the conclusion of the 2022 regular season, the Cardinals' owner referenced Purdy and the 49ers, who beat them just the previous day.
"I also recognize yesterday we were beat by a team with a backup quarterback and they had a great team around him that was able to beat us in (QB) Brock Purdy. We’ve got to be able to have that next man up mentality including at the quarterback position," said Bidwill back in January.
It's obvious that the Cardinals saw the success their NFC West rivals had and knew more options were needed behind Kyler Murray moving forward - especially with Murray still recovering from a torn ACL - without spending heft capital to upgrade the quarterback room.
Arizona chose to forego top quarterback options in free agency while affirming their confidence in Colt McCoy and David Blough. On the final day of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Cardinals selected Houston QB Clayton Tune.
NBC Sports' Connor Rogers and Chris Simms debated who would be this year's version of Purdy, and they didn't have to travel far within the division to find 2023's best candidate.
Rogers: "Colt McCoy [is] hurt a lot, and has to play a lot. There's a world where we get to Clayton Tune starting for the Cardinals this year."
Simms: "I don't think that's crazy. I don't. Clayton Tune, the other reason I would throw him in there and he would be my pick if you had to choose any of these [rookie quarterbacks] - you mentioned that, right? In a lot of ways too he's like Brock Purdy. He's played a ton of football. A ton of drop back passes and I actually think his physical ability, the potential, is greater than Brock Purdy. He's a better athlete than Brock Purdy. He's a bigger guy. He ran, what, 4.59 at the combine?"
Rogers: "He's one of those guys that could do the backflip just standing up."
Simms: "And you're like, whoa, didn't expect that. I didn't expect that from a white guy drop back quarterback, right? And then, you know, his motion is silky smooth. My only issue with him in the draft process was I just wish he would cut it loose a little bit more. Like, throw it with everything you got here instead of being smooth and in rhythm sometimes. But yeah, he's the one that I would look at. I think he's my number one pick to go along with you."
Shortly after he was selected, Tune told reporters he felt like he was the best passer in the class.
"I think I'm the best quarterback in this class and I feel like God's got a plan for me, so I wasn't too stressed about it," Tune said. "I didn't have too many expectations but I'm just happy to go to such a great organization and be able to live out - I'm just happy to go in there and work and compete."
There's a lot to like about Tune's game and production - and he'll certainly have the opportunity to compete, but we'll see if a rookie fifth-round pick can beat out the likes of Blough and McCoy.
As for the Purdy comparisons... let's not crown anybody quite yet.
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