Quarterback or wide receiver?
Or, quarterback and wide receiver?
The consensus among most experts is the Arizona Cardinals need to select a player at both positions in this year's NFL Draft -- and most also believe the Cards will pick a player who plays one of those positions with their first-round pick (13th overall) next month.
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians told ABC15 recently that the team will be on the lookout for the guy who can succeed 37-year-old Carson Palmer at QB, but the team won't bend over backwards to take one.
"Every year, we would love to have a quarterback. I think every draft you want one, but you never should reach for one," he said.
Arians said the Cardinals had their eye on a certain quarterback during each of the last two drafts, but they were taken by another team right before the Cards were able to pull the trigger.
Interesting... Bruce Arians said the Cards were ready to draft QBs in each of the last 2 years, but they were taken right before their pick. pic.twitter.com/MdBvybNlxf
— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleABC15) March 25, 2017
"The last two years, we had guys ready to pick, and they were picked right in front of us," he said. "That's the terrible thing about the draft. You could have it all set up and have the card filled out, and somebody trades right in front of you and takes your guy.
"And then, you have to go to another position because you can't just draft positions; they have to be at the right spot on the board."
With the departure of Michael Floyd, a lot of experts believe the Cardinals will select a wide receiver with their first-round pick. The two names typically mentioned are Mike Williams from Clemson and Corey Davis from Western Michigan.
But Arians suggested the team will be set at the receiver position regardless of whether they select one in the draft, citing the addition of free-agent Aaron Dobson, a second-round pick in the 2013 draft, and the return of Jaron Brown, who was having the best season of his NFL career before suffering a season-ending ACL injury.
"Right now I really have high hopes for Aaron Dobson, who we signed and who's a big, tall, physical guy and fast. Getting Jaron Brown back healthy, he's that guy, too," he said.
"If we don't get a receiver, I'm really happy. If we get one, it's going to be really tough for him to crack the lineup."
The first round of the 2017 NFL Draft will begin at 5 p.m. Arizona time on Thursday, April 27. Rounds 2 and 3 will be conducted April 28, and Rounds 4 through 7 will take place April 29. This year's draft will be held in Philadelphia.
