With the NFL Draft less than a week away, there are circulating rumors that the Arizona Cardinals could be interested in drafting Ty Simpson as the team looks for its next franchise quarterback.
With speculation rising about the Cardinals getting a rookie quarterback, head coach Mike LaFleur gives his thoughts on whether or not rookie quarterbacks should sit behind veterans.
Mike LaFleur Shares His Perspective on Rookie and Veteran QBs
There has been a lot of debate about incoming rookie quarterback Simpson, mainly when and where he’ll be drafted. Recently, there has been ongoing momentum for the Cardinals to draft the Alabama quarterback, a sentiment that has been shared by NFL Analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who said the following on “The Pat McAfee Show”:
“I believe firmly he’s going to be a Cardinal… I just think he’s a Cardinal.”
In PFSN’s CFB Quarterback Impact Metric, Simpson ranked as the 25th best quarterback in college football with an impact score of 85.4 and a letter grade of B. He completed 63.9% of passes for 3,567 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and only 5 interceptions.
Currently, the Cardinals’ quarterback room is led by veteran Jacoby Brissett, but he plans to skip the team’s phase 1 of the offseason program while holding out for a new contract.
If the team drafted Simpson, would he sit behind Brissett? LaFleur gave his thoughts on rookie quarterbacks sitting behind veterans during a recent press conference:
“There’s no factual statement with what I’m about to say, but the college game and the pro game are just so different,” LaFleur said. “Then (it comes down to) where did that college player play? Was the competition as high as it was at school A compared to school B? So, there’s so many factors in there. Ultimately, you’re going to play the best player that you think is going to give you the best chance of winning, period.”
“If all things are equal, then yeah, you’d rather have that veteran kind of show that guy,” LaFleur added. “But again, if we all believe as an organization that the young guy is going to give you the best chance during that 60-minute game to win, then you’re going to throw him out there.”
Ultimately, the quarterback that gives the Cardinals the best chance to win will start for the team, whether it’s Brissett or if the team drafts Simpson.
Coming into the draft, the biggest question about Simpson is his lack of starts in college football, as he started just 15 games over his four-year career at Alabama.
Adding fuel to the fire on the Simpson rumors, General Manager Monti Osenfort responded with the following when asked about quarterbacks with less collegiate starting experience:
“I think with that you have to look at the reasons for that,” Osenfort said. “There’s advantages to time on task. There is. There really is, and I think you have to look at why. Why is there not as big of a body of work? Then ultimately, you’re going to evaluate the tape that you have to evaluate.”
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
“Some guys are going to have more, and some guys’ tape looks better than others,” the Cardinals GM added. “I think that’s just another piece of that evaluation process. I think you just have to go with what you have, and with some guys, there’s less, and some guys, there’s more. It’s just figuring out why exactly that is.”
With the draft less than a week away, will the Cardinals go all in on Simpson, or will the lack of tape drive them away?
