Cardinals QB Trevor Knight gets the chance to learn and win in Arizona

Cardinals rookie quarterback Trevor Knight had a privileged college career.

As a starter for two powerhouse programs at Oklahoma and Texas A&M, Knight became somewhat of a big name after leading the Sooners to an upset victory over Alabama in the 2014 Sugar Bowl.

Now in Arizona, Knight won’t be in the headlines or see much time on the field.

In fact, he may not even make the team. The Cardinals currently have three quarterbacks above Knight, with veterans Carson Palmer, Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert all ranking ahead of him on the depth chart.

But as an undrafted free agent coming out of A&M, Knight had options where he wanted to go play. He chose the Cardinals for what he could learn and for the chance to be a part of a winning team.

“When it boiled down to it, you just look at coach (Bruce) Arians’ track record with quarterbacks, you look at Carson and what he’s been able to do over the past five seasons I believe that he’s been here, and then just the situation for me,” Knight told Doug and Wolf Monday on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station. “I feel like it’s a great organization to walk into, to have a shot to compete to be on the roster, to compete to be on a practice squad, stick around here and a team that has a chance to go and play a lot of postseason games and that’s what you want to do.”

Knight acts as a “sponge” in the Cardinals meeting rooms and practice fields, soaking in the information and advice given to him.

In his senior season at Texas A&M, Knight threw for 2,432 yards, 19 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 11 games. He has NFL size and a strong arm, but still went undrafted.

With the transition to the NFL, the preparation level and mindset changes, no one better personifies that than Palmer.

“It’s been fun for me to sit back and watch,” Knight said. “Specifically in walk-throughs the way that he manages the offense, the way he runs everything so smoothly, you can sit back there and understand it all, but once you actually get up to the line and have to make those split-second decisions, it’s a completely different game.”

As is the case for most rookies, Knight will need time to learn how to play the position at the NFL level. When it comes to making good decisions, he admits he has not always come through.

“Back my sophomore year at Oklahoma on College Gameday, we were playing TCU and Katy Perry gave me a little shout out and told me to call her, and that caught some media buzz for quite some time,” he said. “And I guess you could say the dumbest thing I ever did was not give her a call back.”