Whisenhunt, Graves address Cardinals QB situation

Will the talk surrounding the Arizona Cardinals
quarterback position ever end?

After the 2010 season, the upgrading of the position was
discussed daily. Would John Skelton ascend to be the
starter? Would the Cardinals draft Blaine Gabbert? Would
a veteran like Kevin Kolb or Matt Hasselbeck be brought
in?

We know how it shook out: the Cardinals traded for Kolb
and he and Skelton both showed glimpses of promise in an
8-8 campaign.

Here we are a year later, and the questions about the
quarterback position remain. They’re a little different,
but they’re still around. Will Kolb be the starter?
Will Skelton take over? Will the Cardinals pursue Peyton
Manning if he becomes available?

Arizona GM Rod Graves and head coach Ken Whisenhunt joined
Doug and Wolf Thursday for Newsmakers Week and addressed
that very position.

“At all positions, we try to maintain flexibility and the
ability to take a look at any free agent out on the market
that we feel has the ability to help our football team,”
Graves said.

OK, so that’s not exactly an invitation for Cardinal fans
to start saving money for red #18 jerseys, but Graves and
all NFL execs operate in a shroud of ambiguity when it
comes to players under contract.

Whisenhunt did speak more specifically, but about his own
quarterbacks.

“We’re in a heck of a lot better position at the
quarterback position right now than we were a year ago
today,” he said. “We’ve got two guys that we feel can
play. They’ve shown at times that they can do things very
well. They’ve shown at times, they’re knuckleheads.

“It’s our job to get the players on our team to play
better, and that’s what we’re going to do and we’re
excited about that.”

There’s a great chance that the Cardinals will go into the
2012 season with Kolb and Skelton as the only experienced
quarterbacks on the roster. Kolb got a huge contract
before last season and Skelton led the Cards to six
victories in the second half of the season. Does that
mean without Manning in the mix, that this job is up for
grabs?

“There’s always competition, at any position and I don’t
think that you can ever say ‘this guy is going to be the
guy’,” Whisenhunt explained. “We’re always opening it up
to let other guys compete for spots, and the best players
are going to play.”

Sounds like the making of a quarterback showdown in
Flagstaff this August to me.

Stay tuned.

Follow @Vincemarotta