Guarantano Continues to Battle Adversity
After Kyler Murray, Colt McCoy and Trace McSorley, not a lot of people know about Cardinals rookie quarterback Jarrett Guarantano.
In the second half of the Cardinals' 36-23 road win against the Cincinnati Bengals last week, Guarantano stepped in and completed 7-for-10 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. His first drive resulted in a 5-yard touchdown by finding Jontre Kirklin in the end zone, putting the Cardinals up 20 with 10:50 left in the third quarter.
Guarantano has made it look easy so far in Arizona. He's shown his potential during training camp and in the preseason.
But the road to reaching to the NFL wasn't easy. He transferred for the 2021 season to Washington State as a graduate after playing four seasons at Tennessee, where he passed for 6,174 yards with 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions.
Unfortunately for Guarantano, he suffered a knee injury in the first game and appeared in only two games last season with the Cougars.
Before the 2022 draft, Guarantano said in an interview with The Draft Network in March, “Going through these things has allowed me to show my true colors and to learn a lot more about myself as I prepare for the NFL."
He went undrafted and the Cardinals signed the 24-year-old in May.
His father, James, was a wide receiver at Rutgers from 1989 to 1992 and a former NFL player. He would later enter the Rutgers Hall of Fame.
Despite the obstacles, the 24-year-old is determined to take his "tough" childhood surroundings from Lodi, N.J., and apply it to the NFL.
"So I grew up in a tough place," Guarantano told reporters on Friday. "Mentally there, it's kind of tough, and it's just rough streets around there. And when I was growing up, my dad always told me that this is just a way of life. It's always gonna be about ups and downs."
Guarantano is competing for the third quarterback spot with McSorley. He believes in the hard work each and every quarterback puts in.
He said. "We just really focus on ourselves every day just trying to get better. I was watching (the) Derek Jeter (ESPN documentary) and he said, 'Competition eliminates complacency.' And I think when you have a team like that, and when you have a room like that, you feel the competition and you want to get better every day."
It will be hard for Guarantano to make the 53-man roster, especially with McSorley's professional experience on top of his 163 passing-yards performance last week.
Yet, the youngster is not looking ahead to the future.
"I try not to think about it as much and try to just focus on one day at a time for myself. Coach Kliff (Kingsbury) says it all the time. When we go out there in any preseason game, it's an audition for all 32 teams. So just for myself, just preparing the right way and trying to stay mentally (strong) whether it's with (the) Arizona Cardinals, which I hope it is, but with any team in the NFL," Guarantano said.
Kingsbury was impressed with Guarantano's efforts in last week's game, especially with the limited amount of work beforehand.
"For not getting a bunch of reps, I thought he made some good decisions and handled the operation well," Kingsbury said after the preseason opener. "So starting with the quarterbacks, who haven't gotten a ton of reps — I mean, Trace has picked up with the other two sitting out — but I thought they performed well."
Guarantano has grown accustomed to learning a new offense on the fly. He's doing it with Arizona just like back in his college days.
"In college, I was around five different offenses, so it was difficult for me to throughout college (to) understand how to get to the study and routine. But when I first came to the NFL, Colt has been doing a great job with (teaching me). (Co-passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach) Coach (Cam) Turner allows me to understand that offense and it's been an every-day process (and) trying to get better and better at it."
Last Friday, Murray was given play-calling duties during the fourth quarter when Guarantano was quarterbacking. Guarantano said that Murray will "probably" do it again in prime time Sunday night when the Cardinals face the Baltimore Ravens. He also said that Murray's a "funny guy" on the microphone calling plays.
No matter what happens, Guarantano appreciates the help he's been given by the Cardinals.
"I'm thankful and grateful for this organization because they gave me the opportunity to continue my journey and every day it's a learning curve for me and I'm just trying to get better," Guarantano said.
