The Arizona Cardinals were one of the worst offensive teams in the NFL last season and after going 5-11, the franchise has the seventh overall pick in the draft and could be using it to build for the future by picking West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith or USC Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley.
The team fired head coach Ken Whisenhunt and general manager Rod Graves following the 2012 season and brought in former Colts coach Bruce Arians to take over. Arians won coach of the year after going 9-3 in the place of head coach Chuck Pagano, who was dealing with leukemia treatments. Arians took a 2-14 team from the previous season and made them into a playoff team, riding rookie Andrew Luck to the postseason.
Arians could find himself in a similar situation that he saw with the Colts, as Indianapolis had a high roster turnover from the season before and brought in a rookie quarterback with their first round draft pick. The talent level is not the same as with the Colts, but the Cardinals started off 4-0 last season before losing nine games in a row and with the right quarterback things could have gone differently.
The team got barely any production from Kevin Kolb, John Skelton and Ryan Lindley, which is one reason why Arians may be inclined to select a quarterback at number seven, despite a number of needs for the team on defense. If Smith drops past the Oakland Raiders at three and then the Cleveland Browns, the Cardinals may not be able to pass up the opportunity to select him.
Smith may not be the game changer that Luck was, but he would immediately be an upgrade from the Three Amigos and Smith put up some staggering numbers in college last season, throwing for 4,205 passing yards, 42 touchdowns and six interceptions, while completing 71.2 percent of his passes.
The Mountaineers started 5-0 under Smith and he passed for 25 touchdowns before throwing his first interception of the season. Smith was solid, but not stellar at the combine and he may have to show scouts a few more things in the passing game before they decide he is a number on pick.
Matt Barkley could be another option for the team, but some experts have said that after his struggles this season he may not be a top 10 pick anymore. The Cardinals also may want to avoid taking a senior USC quarterback, as the last time they did it was Matt Leinart and that never worked out for either side.
Barkley had a down season compared to his other years as a Trojan, but he still had fantastic numbers against tough Pac-12 competition, throwing for 3,273 passing yards with 36 touchdowns and 15 interceptions before being declared out for a shoulder injury sustained against UCLA. Barkley completing over 63 percent of his passes and had a fantastic game against Oregon, passing for five touchdowns and nearly 500 yards. He also had a six touchdown game this season in a win over Colorado.
The Cardinals were one of the most inconsistent teams in the NFL last season and one of the rookie quarterbacks could provide a spark for the team going forward. If Smith or Barkley can form a relationship with franchise wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, the Cardinals could start to turn things around.