In most years, the first overall selection in the draft is known long before the clock officially starts ticking. 2019, however, will be different as the Arizona Cardinals have not yet given any clear indications about what they plan to do with pick number one. Will they draft Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray? Will they go after a defensive lineman like Nick Bosa or Quinnen Williams? Will they make a trade out of the top spot?
Whatever their decision, its implications will be felt around the league — especially if Murray, as is expected at this point, indeed gets drafted by the Cardinals. And even though Arizona has publicly expressed support for 2018 first-round selection Josh Rosen as the team’s starting quarterback for now, it sounds as if people across the NFL feel that the team could very well invest in a new passer just one year after picking another tenth overall.
Count some inside the New England Patriots organization among them as ESPN’s Josina Anderson recently shared on Twitter: unless the Cardinals get “blown away” by a trade offer, the belief is that 2018’s worst team will select Murray with the first overall selection. The fallout of such a decision might also have an impact on the reigning world champions because it would likely make Rosen available for a trade — if not right away, possibly later during the offseason.
As we have discussed before here on Pats Pulpit, Rosen is an intriguing potential target should the Cardinals decide to go with Murray and put him up for sale. As colleague Mark Schofield wrote in his breakdown of the quarterback about to enter his second season in the NFL, “he might be the best option for the Patriots to address the quarterback position behind [Tom] Brady this offseason has to offer.”
Whether or not push comes to shove regarding Murray and more importantly — from New England’s perspective — Rosen remains to be seen, of course. If Anderson’s reports from her Patriots sources and others across the league turn out to be true, however, expect speculation regarding the 2018 first-round quarterback to heat up immediately after the first pick of the 2019 draft gets announced tomorrow night.