None of the Arizona Cardinals backup quarterbacks have played well in preseason

Arizona Cardinals starting quarterback Carson Palmer isn’t going to be around forever. He likely has just two years remaining in a Cardinals uniform before he retires. It is questionable if any of the backup quarterbacks currently on the roster will be able to fill his shoes.

One of the reasons number two quarterback Drew Stanton returned to the Cardinals instead of signing elsewhere in the offseason was that he was promised a shot at becoming the full-time starter in the days post-Palmer. So far, his audition isn’t going very well.

To put things in perspective, it is preseason. The offense is vanilla. The playbook is hardly expanded upon. That being said, the plays being called aren’t being executed. Stanton already has two interceptions in limited playing time. He is just 4-13 so far, a 30 percent completion percentage.

Number three quarterback Matt Barkley hasn’t looked much better. Although Barkley’s stats only include one interception and do look slightly better, going 18-39, a 46 percent completion percentage, he’s missed badly on a number of throws.

Neither one of them have made any Cardinals fan jump for joy. Unfortunately preseason or not, this is the only time they likely see the field in 2016, save for injury or garbage time at the end of games.

So preseason is the only sample to go from. What if the Cardinals win the Super Bowl this season and Palmer decides to hang it up after the end of the 2016 season instead of 2017 or even 2018? What do the Cardinals do then? Right now, Stanton isn’t ready to take on the starter role.

I loved what Stanton did in 2014 in place of Palmer. The Cardinals were lucky. However he has seemed to have regressed since that point. I wouldn’t give up on either Stanton or Barkley yet (although there is a good chance Barkley could be cut if the Cardinals do go with just two QB’s in the regular season).

The part that scares me and probably you as well, is we don’t want another 2010. After Kurt Warner decided to hang it up, the Cardinals had no backup plan. I have more faith in general manager Steve Keim than I did in Rod Graves, however it certainly has to be weighing in on the minds of many Cardinals fans. Oh and before you comment, Jake Coker is a nice story but he isn’t in the mix to hang around.