The quarterbacks were always going to be the biggest story of the offseason. That may have been true the day Carson Palmer retired, it probably was true the day Sam Bradford signed, and it definitely was true once Josh Rosen was selected in the first round of the draft. Quarterback is always an important story for any team, regardless of who is in there or what stage of his career. It's the most important position on the team.
In the Cardinals' case, Rosen gets the headlines. He was proclaimed the most NFL-ready by most draft experts of all the QBs that came out, so it stands to reason now that he is on a team people are waiting to see -- or predicting -- that Rosen indeed will supplant Bradford in the starting lineup. And it's true that Rosen has looked solid in OTAs. Those who have been out there can see it themselves, and coach Steve Wilks has definitely offered praise.
But, as noted in the headline, it's just June.
This isn't to throw cold water on Rosen expectations. Bottom line, he's the QB of the future. That's what he was selected to be, and what the Cardinals count on. There, however, is a long way between now and Sept. 9 against Washington. There is a long way between practice football without pads and QBs never getting hit (this time of year) to practice football with pads but still never getting hit (training camp) to preseason games where you can get hit but gameplans both offensively and defensively are fairly basic, to regular-season football.
That's a lot of steps that must be made. And in between, Bradford's reps will inevitably ramp up, and his experience -- or Rosen's lack of it -- will have a chance to impact this discussion. We don't even know how Wilks and Mike McCoy like to evaluate players, and how that might make an impact.Â
QB will still be the main topic -- even for me, because it almost has to be -- but as the Cardinals go through the process, the prism for which we view these QBs absolutely has an opportunity to change dramatically.