Rookie Profile: Clayton Tune Has Rare Opportunity With Cardinals

Next on our breakdown series of the Arizona Cardinals 2023 NFL Draft class is a fifth-round pick who could be a week one starter - Houston quarterback Clayton Tune.

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The Arizona Cardinals decided to take a quarterback with one of their draft picks from the 2023 NFL Draft - and Houston's Clayton Tune became their guy in the fifth round. 

Tune is a classic college quarterback - a bit limited for his pro upside, but highly successful in his scheme and did what he was asked to do at a high enough level. The Cougars were a bowl team in all three seasons that Tune was a full-time starter and an overall confident football program with him under center. That means something to GMs.

The likelihood that the Cardinals start 2023 with Kyler Murray on injured reserve thanks to his late-season ACL tear is high and because of that, we may see Tune on the football field very soon, perhaps even Week 1.

To get to know Tune a bit better, we break his profile down on our continuing series of the Cardinals' 2023 NFL Draft class.

Accomplishments

• Three-star recruit
• Three-time team captain (2020-2022)
• First-Team All-AAC (2022)
• Nearly 12,000 career passing yards
• 119 career touchdowns

2023 NFL Draft profile

• Four-year starting quarterback at Division-I program
• High-volume producer at the position
• Limited arm strength, but a confident thrower of the football

What the tape shows

Few quarterbacks entered the 2023 NFL Draft with as much production as Tune has. Tune started 42 games in four years for the Cougars and was often a slow starter who got things going by the end of the year. It turned into Tune being one of the best quarterbacks Houston has ever had and one of the most productive quarterbacks college football has seen over the last decade.

Many will wonder why Tune wasn't drafted higher or why he didn't leave college earlier when looking at his stats and it revolves around his limitations as a player. Tune doesn't have the strongest arm in the world and his footwork can be a bit of a mess, leading to some accuracy issues. 

At best, Tune is a very inconsistent quarterback, but this doesn't mean he's a bad player by any means. He put up some video game numbers with the Cougars and still has the moxie to be a quality quarterback at the next level. 

Projected role for 2023

Folks, Tune may very well be your Week 1 starting quarterback for the Cardinals. Take that however you may, but the possibility is much stronger than many may realize or like to admit.

The most important thing the Cardinals must remember in 2023 is that getting Kyler Murray back onto the field should be of low precedence. This team is not competing with or without him in 2023 and should instead look to evaluate talent on the roster. 

Tune will be part of that evaluation as a rookie as he competes for a spot as the team's primary backup and I believe he can become just that.

Tune will be up against Colt McCoy, David Blough, and Jeff Driskel to be QB2 on this roster and I don't see many reasons why he can't be the best of the bunch. 

If Tune can standout with his gamer mentality that made him so good in college, he could become the Cardinals favorite quarterback and help the team at least be watchable while Murray recovers.