Kurt Warner chimes in on the Arizona Cardinals QB situation

It’s been a rough start to the season for the Arizona Cardinals, who’ve dropped their first two games by an average margin of 26 points. In his first two games in Glendale, quarterback Sam Bradford has put up just 243 yards on a completion rate of 60.7 percent.

Waiting in his shadow is rookie quarterback Josh Rosen, who was taken with the tenth overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. The UCLA phenom finished his senior campaign with 3756 passing yards on a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 26-to-10.

Arizona legend Kurt Warner gave his thoughts on the team’s quarterback situation during an interview on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station’s Doug & Wolf.

“It’s always more pressure when you’ve got a guy looking over your shoulder and you’ve got people clamoring for the young guy,” Warner said. “You’re in a situation where you know everybody wants to start the future. Now that doesn’t mean that they don’t want Sam (Bradford) to play right now and have a great season, it’s just that we know this guy is the future.”

Bradford faced two tough defenses to start the season with Washington and Los Angeles. Both teams finished top-four in passes defended last season and are headlined by star defensive backs Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters and Josh Norman. The Cardinals’ difficult schedule will continue on Sunday when they face a Chicago defense that leads the NFL in sacks through two games.

Still, Bradford’s role with the Cardinals is threatened by the young gun waiting in the background. There’s no telling when Rosen’s professional journey will begin, but the window is opening for a sooner opportunity with Bradford struggling. Through Bradford’s first two starts, the Cardinals rank dead last in both first downs and third down conversions with 19 and 4 respectively.

“[Rosen] is the guy that we expect to lead our franchise for the next decade or so, so when does that era start,” Warner said. “You’re caught between wanting to play great football but also knowing if you have one of those games where you’re trying to play confident and things just don’t go your direction. It could easily not be your fault, right? Now Sam’s in a tough spot to figure out how to play football now with the guys around him and the situation that he’s in so he can continue to play and do what this team needs him to do to win.”

Rosen has yet to log any minutes for Arizona in the regular season, but he connected on 16-of-29 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown through two preseason games. Bradford will likely retain the starting position in the near future, but the team’s recent struggles may force head coach Steve Wilks’ into a change of direction moving forward.