Paola Boivin

azcentral sports

If the 2014 NFL draft taught us anything, it is that a quality quarterback can be found in the low first round, high second round.

Color me intrigued about what the Cardinals may do with their 29th pick in a draft that is just about a month away.

The team has started thinking about life after Carson Palmer. The 36-year-old could play one more season. He could play four. The opportunity to have someone ready is vital.

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A draft two seasons ago told an interesting story.

Teddy Bridgewater was the 32nd overall pick by Minnesota and Derek Carr the 36th pick by Oakland. Carr has started all 32 games in two seasons, Bridgewater 28. Both already have landed in a Pro Bowl.

Bridgewater, who has demonstrated impressive skills, confidence and leadership, was the first rookie quarterback to complete more than 70 percent of his passes in four straight games.

Carr, who has handled the speed of the NFL game better than most young quarterbacks, in 2014 became the first Raiders quarterback to start all 16 games since Rich Gannon in 2002.

Both have work to do but their promise sends an important message: If the right guy is available at 29, grab him.

NFL mock draft tracker:Who will Cardinals pick?

Most analysts agree North Dakota State’s Carson Wentz and California’s Jared Goff will go high. ESPN analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay have the 6-foot-5 Wentz going second to the Browns and the 6-4 Goff staying close to his college home and being selected seventh by the 49ers.

After that, it gets interesting.

The names that come up most after the top two are Michigan State’s Connor Cook and Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, who have been tagged by many analysts as late first-round or early second-round picks.

Lynch is intriguing because he has demonstrated nice athleticism for someone 6-7. And while missing part of his senior season with a knee injury is a concern for some, he rose to the occasion when needed, posting some of his best numbers against ranked opponents.

Opinions are more divided on Cook, who was 34-5 as a starter and whom many analysts agree is one of the more NFL-ready quarterbacks available. Some have questioned why Spartans teammates didn’t select him as one of the team’s three senior captains, an issue school officials and players have gone out of their way recently to downplay.

Other names that have drawn attention, but are discussed more in the third-to-fifth-round range, are Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg and Ohio State’s Cardale Jones.

Hackenberg has rubbed some the wrong way during interviews, according to Robert Klemko of Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback, by blaming coach James Franklin for his decline in numbers. “Despite the fact that it’s probably true, you don’t want to hear a kid say that,” one evaluator said.

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The Cardinals traded their second-round pick to the Patriots in a deal that brought Pro Bowl defensive end Chandler Jones. They do have picks in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth rounds.

Recent reports have Jones, Mississippi State's Dak Prescott and Louisiana Tech's Jeff Driskel coming to the Cardinals’ facility for workouts.

Whatever quarterbacks get a chance to talk to the Cardinals, they’ll certainly be grilled by coach Bruce Arians. He likes to throw situational questions at them to see how they respond.

That the team would consider a quarterback with its late first-round pick isn’t a statement on Matt Barkley, third on the team's depth chart, as much as it is a reality. The Cardinals just haven’t had a chance to see much of him, in practice or the preseason, and they don’t feel they can bank on the little knowledge they have.

And they will do their best to get this right, whether it’s an early-round, late-round or no-round experience.

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The Cardinals haven't made many mistakes in player personnel decisions recently, but their evaluators are disappointed Logan Thomas never developed the way they thought he could. A fourth-round pick in the 2014 draft, he was released last September. In December, the Dolphins elevated him from their practice squad.

It’s clear General Manager Steve Keim won’t force the issue and draft a quarterback simply because the team feels it needs one. Management has to be confident it’s someone who can play in this league.

Of the starting quarterbacks in Week 1 of the 2015 season, 19 were first-round picks. That’s a pretty strong argument that using that top pick on a quarterback can pay off. Sure there are the Tom Brady (sixth round) and Tony Romo (undrafted) stories, but there is often great reward for a team with a first-round quarterback.

It’s something the Cardinals must consider.

Follow Paola Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin. Listen to her streaming live on “The Brad Cesmat Show” on sports360az.com every Monday at 10:30 a.m.