Kliff Kingsbury says Cardinals haven't made a decision on No. 1 pick yet
If you pay attention to reports out of the NFL scouting combine, you may have gotten the impression that the Arizona Cardinals know exactly who they’re taking with that first overall pick in April’s NFL draft: Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray. New Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was reportedly telling people at the combine that it was a “done deal.”
But with seven weeks until the draft, Kingsbury went on the official Cardinals team podcast to dispel those rumors. He insisted the team hasn’t decided who they’re taking with that all-important top pick.
"But it's fun to hear how I've said I do [know] and that it is a done deal and all those things. So you just roll with it. Enjoy this process."
He also specifically denied that he told anyone at the combine that picking Murray was a done deal.
"Yeah, just rolling around Indy saying it's a done deal. I would have to adamantly deny that."
It’s hard to know if Kingsbury was actually walking around the combine saying that (though stranger and dumber things have happened), but some of this mess is of his own making. Just four months ago, when Kingsbury was still coaching Texas Tech, he heavily praised Murray and said that he would take Murray with the first pick if he could.
Of course, when Kingsbury said that he couldn’t have known the Cardinals would hire him. He was speaking hypothetically. But the universe works in strange and mysterious ways. Now Kingsbury actually can take Murray with that No. 1 pick.
But will he? We still have 50 days until we know for sure. And to Kingsbury’s credit, he seems to be enjoying the ride and having fun with the position he’s in.
“It makes it fun having the first pick because nobody knows if you are trying to throw smokescreens or telling the truth or what. There are a thousand different ways you can go with this, and we are still 50 days away.”
It’s hard to believe that anyone but Murray or Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa will be taken with the No. 1 pick, but seven weeks is a long time. Who knows what names we’ll hear tossed out before the Cardinals make their final decision.
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