The Arizona Cardinals will officially begin training camp next week on Wednesday when veterans report. Before that happens, we will preview each position group.
We begin with the quarterbacks.
The players
There are four quarterbacks on the roster.
Kyler Murray: He is a rookie, drafted first overall this year. He is expected to start.
Brett Hundley: He enters his fifth year and first with the Cardinals. He spent a season with the Seattle Seahawks as a backup last year and three with the Green Bay Packers.
Charles Kanoff: He enters his second year with the team. He was an undrafted rookie a year ago and spent the season on the practice squad.
Drew Anderson: He is an undrafted rookie.
The expectations
Murray, unless something terrible happens, will start as a rookie. He was drafted first overall for a reason. He is playing in a system under rookie coach Kliff Kingsbury that is suited to his skills and similar to what he ran in college at Oklahoma.
He is a favorite to be Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Hundley isn’t conceding the starting job and will compete to win it but is expected to be the backup unless the Cardinals decide to add someone more veteran.
Kanoff and Anderson are not expected to make the roster.
The questions
Starting as a rookie has ups and downs. So the first question is obviously what sort of problems might Murray might face. He is undersized and a mobile quarterback coming from a spread system. Will he be able to process the looks opposing defenses will give him?
Will he be quick to takeoff and run?
Hundley has barely played in the NFL. He started nine games two years ago when Aaron Rodgers got injured and went 3-6 in those games. Otherwise, he has little experience. The question is whether the team views him as sufficient as a backup.
The position battles
Hundley will tell you he is competing for the starting job. He should tell people that. But everyone knows Murray will be the guy. If Hundley is the starter in Week 1 against the Detroit Lions. something has gone terribly wrong.
The only real position battle is between Kanoff and Anderson. However, it will not be a battle for the active roster. They are essentially battling for a practice squad spot.
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