Cardinals QB Colt McCoy in lower third of PFF rankings ahead of 2023 season

Pro Football Focus doesn’t have much confidence in the quarterback position of the Arizona Cardinals ahead of the 2023 season, ranking starter Colt McCoy in the No. 29 spot out of 32 teams.

Two of the three guys behind McCoy, who’s starting at least part of the season for the injured Kyler Murray, have yet to throw a pass yet in the NFL – C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans and Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts.

Desmond Ridder, who took over for Marcus Mariota late last season in Atlanta, is second-to-last on the list.

Pro Football Focus said while the situation in Arizona may appear to be the worst in the league, McCoy is expected to be better than some players coming right out of college after serving as the Cardinals main signal caller at times over the past two seasons.

McCoy had some success starting in place of Murray in 2021 – winning two of three games, completing 74.7% of his passes for 740 yards, throwing three touchdowns and only having one interception to keep the team afloat in the postseason picture.

The former Texas Longhorns quarterback started three games again in 2022 after Murray went down with the knee injury late in the season, but didn’t have the same effectiveness of the previous year.

The Cardinals lost two of the three games McCoy started. He threw only one touchdown and had three interceptions. McCoy completed 68.2% of his passes for 780 yards.

He turns 37 years old at the start of the season and will take the reigns of an offense that will no longer include DeAndre Hopkins after the former Pro Bowler was released on Friday.

Not surprisingly, Patrick Mahomes is the No.1 ranked quarterback after delivering another Super Bowl victory to Kansas City in February.

He’s followed on the list by Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and the New York Jets’ new quarterback Aaron Rodgers to wrap up the top five.