Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill at State Farm Stadium during the 2025 season.
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With the Cardinals trending in the wrong direction, Michael Bidwill ultimately chose to move on from head coach Jonathan Gannon.
The Arizona Cardinals need a long-term solution at quarterback. While this draft is not exactly full of blue-chip quarterback prospects, fans are still divided on whether to take a signal-caller in the first round.
Since Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will likely go to the Las Vegas Raiders with the first overall pick, Alabama’s Ty Simpson is the next best quarterback.
However, Simpson is not the prospect Mendoza is. Simpson is likely to be a later first-round pick, meaning the Cardinals would have to trade back into the first round. So what do the Cardinals do?
This conundrum was explored by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, who appeared on Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta show.
What Did Brugler Say About Simpson and the Arizona Cardinals?
Is it worth taking Simpson in the first round for Arizona?
Simpson has one year of starting experience in college. Just 15 games of starting experience. This is part of what worries Brugler.
“There’s no substitute for experience,” Brugler said. “He graduated from Alabama before he threw his first touchdown pass. That’s tough. You can start to make compromises when maybe he has the physical traits of an Anthony Richardson when you have that size, that speed, that arm. Ty Simpson doesn’t have that.
“He does do a lot of NFL things. I think the way he navigates the pocket. You watch the first six games of the year, you think, ‘This is an NFL starter. This is someone we want on our team.’ Then you look at the back half of the year, you just can’t ignore that part of it.”
Most successful NFL quarterbacks have at least two years of college starting experience. In fact, according to ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, former Cardinals signal-caller Kyler Murray is the only quarterback with fewer than 20 college starts to make multiple Pro Bowls.
Just that alone will give front offices pause before even looking into the rough back end of last season for Simpson.
So Who Else Should They Have on Their Radar?
If not Simpson, there’s another quarterback who Brugler says should be on Arizona’s radar.
Brugler believes LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier “would make sense” for Arizona later on in the draft.
“He’s the type of quarterback that’ll throw into games and throw you out of games,” Brugler said. “That’s why we’re talking about him as a third- or fourth-round pick and not a first-round pick like we thought he potentially could have been over the summer. He’s another guy that grew up around the game, dad is a longtime college and NFL coach.
“There’s a lot to like about his command, the way he operates and his ability to distribute the football all over the field. If you’re looking for someone realistically who can start games for you, I think Garrett Nussmeier would be in that mix.”
Brugler also offers Penn State’s Drew Allar and North Dakota State’s Cole Payton as developmental options in the later rounds.
While there are plenty of developmental options at quarterback in this draft, the Cardinals must get this right.
It may be in their best interest to take a quarterback early in the 2027 NFL Draft, where there is a plethora of blue-chip prospects, rather than take a mediocre one later this month.
But if the Arizona Cardinals do decide to go for a quarterback in the early to mid rounds this year, look for it to be Simpson or Nussmeier.