The Cardinals must roll with Clayton Tune as starting QB

With starting quarterback Kyler Murray still recovering from a torn ACL last season, it appears that either veteran Colt McCoy or fifth-round rookie Clayton Tune will start for the Arizona Cardinals to begin the season.

First-year Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon was coy about who would start when asked on Monday. 

"When we need to name the starters we'll name the starters," Gannon said. 

McCoy has gone 9-of-12 this preseason for 42 yards while Tune has received a steady run, going 25-of-47 passing for 268 yards, a passing TD and an INT. 

Tune's also been impressive as a scrambler, an element that McCoy doesn't have to his game at 36 years old. 

In Arizona's 38-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night, Tune was a bright spot with 35 yards rushing. Gannon called Tune mobile and noted he was able to get the offense "out of trouble a couple times."

Tune had a great collegiate career at Houston, including 4,074 passing yards and 40 touchdown passes last season. If the Cardinals roll with McCoy as their starter, it's likely a failed experiment right out of the gate, as McCoy's had a long yet mediocre at best career. 

McCoy's 11-25 as a starter with 34 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. Conventional wisdom would say roll with a veteran that knows how to study a playbook. However, what good does knowing a playbook do when the QB doesn't have the ability to succeed once they're on the field? 

Tune is a work in progress, there's no denying that, but he presents hope in 2023 where McCoy represents settling. What could be in Tune's favor is McCoy's a leftover from the prior GM and head coach where Tune was drafted by current GM Monti Ossenfort. Even if it winds up being Tune's job to lose, there are improvements he must make.

"I think he's got to step into throws and make sure his hand's over the ball," Gannon explained. "A lot of that's not just the delivery, it's footwork... we'll get that cleaned up."

The 6-foot-3 Tune is taller than McCoy at 6-foot-1, he's a lot faster, has a much stronger arm, and has the potential to be better than McCoy's ever been in the league. And more importantly, he looks better than McCoy right now. 

ESPN's Dan Graziano recently said that it's likely Arizona moves on from Kyler Murray at the end of the season, which presents a perfect opportunity to give Tune an audition while Murray's still sidelined. The Cardinals may have something with the Houston gunslinger, or maybe they have nothing. The important thing is finding out and there's no need for Colt McCoy to be in the way of that.