Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon has not announced who his starting quarterback will be on Sunday in Cleveland. Joshua Dobbs, who had been starting for Arizona before being traded to Minnesota, wasn’t going to start Week 9 even if he was still on the roster. The decision is now down to rookie Clayton Tune or Kyler Murray (if he’s ready to play after recovering from a torn ACL). A Tune start would set an NFL record tied for most rookie QBs starting in a single season — and the season is only halfway done.
Dobbs played fairly well early in the season for Arizona but the Cardinals have lost five straight games, the longest active skid in the NFL, and topped 20 points just once in that span. Gannon decided Monday that it would either be Tune, a fifth-round pick out of Houston, or Murray this week. Reading between the lines, it’s likely to be Tune as the Cards want like to give Murray as long as possible to rehab his knee. Murray has one more week to be activated before he would need to sit for the year. He tore the ACL in Week 14 last season and had surgery on Jan. 3.
The former No. 1 overall pick, Murray has been practicing but not officially activated yet. It might be wise to wait until Week 10 at home vs. Atlanta, as either QB is likely to be under siege against a stellar Cleveland defense that ranks No. 1 in yards allowed and has 20 recorded sacks, led by Defensive Player of the Year candidate Myles Garrett’s 8.5.
Frankly, the Cardinals franchise also wants to lose as much as possible this season – Tune would presumably help in that regard — to aid the rebuild and potentially pick first in the 2024 draft. The Cardinals (1-7) currently hold the top pick by a half-game over the Panthers (1-6). Whether Arizona would then take USC QB Caleb Williams with that pick and trade Murray is a story for another day.
Tune was a very good quarterback at Houston in a fast-paced offense. He threw 70 TDs his final two seasons, the sixth-most most across the FBS in that span. His 104 career TDs are second in school history behind Case Keenum’s 155. Tune is the great-great nephew of Jim Lawrence, the first ever draft pick by the Cardinals franchise in 1936.
If Tune does start, and with Jaren Hall starting for Minnesota on Sunday with Kirk Cousins lost for the season, they would be the eighth and ninth rookie starting QBs this year, tied with 2019 for the most since 1950 (in non-strike seasons).
There are expected to be seven rookie QBs starting in Week 9 (Tune, Hall, Will Levis for the Titans tonight, Tyson Bagent for the Bears, C.J. Stroud for the Texans, Bryce Young for the Panthers, and Aidan O’Connell for the Raiders), which would be tied for the second-most in a single week since 1970 and the most this early in a season.
Arizona has gotten 2,349 snaps from rookies this season, the fourth-most in the NFL. DraftKings seems to expect Tune to earn the nod. While there are no individual props set for him yet, he is +4000 to throw for the most yards of any QB on Sunday and Murray isn’t listed. The Cardinals have an over/under team total of just 14.5 points and are +500 favorites to be the lowest-scoring team Sunday.
Cleveland is an 8-point favorite as it comes off a loss in Seattle. Kevin Stefanski is 18-7 in his career following a loss, the third-best record by an NFL coach since 1970 (min. 20 games). Only George Allen (24-7) and John Madden (22-7-1) have had better records over that span. Deshaun Watson appears to be the likely starter at QB for Cleveland after missing time with an injury.
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2023-11-02 16:15:00
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