Cardinals Not Ready to Name Starting Quarterback

The Arizona Cardinals won't commit to anybody as a starter right now, which includes the quarterback position.

TEMPE -- The Arizona Cardinals have just finished practice for the day, a rather short and sweet session as the team will soon pack their bags and head to Minnesota for a week of joint practices with the Vikings before the two squads meet in their preseason finale on Saturday. 

As rosters are soon required to be trimmed to 53 players ahead of the regular season, there's been heavy talks around certain position battles and who will emerge as winners. Elijah Wilkinson has seemingly locked down the left guard spot after two preseason games while positions such as inside linebacker and cornerback are still up for grabs. 

The mystery around Arizona's quarterback room has only grown as the regular season approaches. Kyler Murray is still rehabbing a torn ACL and thus the reigns have (again) been given to veteran Colt McCoy to be the starter.

Yet the Clayton Tune hype train has consistently gained steam, and two preseason outings have offered some upside that no other healthy quarterback can offer. A long summer of praise out of rookie and mandatory minicamp only grew with his play in training camp. 

With one game left before the regular season begins, McCoy is still very much the frontrunner for the job - but the noise on Tune simply can't be ignored, especially with Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon praising his rookie quarterback after Week 2's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs:

"He’s a mobile guy and I think some of that too is the timing of the play. He got a little bit off, so when he’s expecting guys to be where they are at and they’re not, that’s what is going to happen. Maybe one or two bust protection, or whatever. (There are) things we need to clean up, but I did think that he did a good job of getting us out of trouble a couple times and extending some plays," Gannon said. 

"I thought he operated well in the two-minute, which is good to see. He will have some things, like everybody after a win or loss, that we have to look at and get cleaned up but I think he did a good job on that.”

Tune has flashed solid athleticism and pocket presence but still was inconsistent in some of his throws. 

The thought of throwing out a rookie fifth-round pick is a daunting one, and though McCoy is still believed to be the opening day starter, Gannon refused to name him the starter come opening day in Washington.

"When we need to name the starters, we'll name the starters," said Gannon when asked if McCoy was the guy. "But he's doing a good job. I thought he operated well. I think that he's getting more and more comfortable with what we're asking him to do. He's obviously played a lot of football, but I like where his game's trending."

Tune has played a vast majority of offensive snaps while McCoy has only played a total of four drives in the first two games, all with the first team offense. Gannon likened live-game reps to gold, especially for somebody in Tune's position:

"I thought it was a good learning experience for him, they gave him a lot of different looks. Reps are gold in the NFL, especially for rookies, especially for rookie quarterbacks," Gannon said while also mentioning Tune was improving every day. 

"So I thought he took a step forward and I like where he's going, but it was good to see him make a couple throws in there and some things - like everybody - that he needs cleanup."

Gannon and his staff have been fairly quiet on even saying who would play in preseason action, so the refusal to broadcast who will be the starter in Week 1 (though Washington just named Sam Howell as their starter vs. Arizona) isn't a surprise at all. 

It would be quite a surprise to see Tune named the starter, at least to begin the season. Yet for one reason or another, the Cardinals remain uncommitted to crowning McCoy at this time.