Friday open thread: Which player on the Cardinals would you want on the Lions roster?

Each week, as part of our game preview articles, I’ll be using the Question of the Day post to examine the roster of the Detroit Lions’ upcoming opponent. I’ll sort through their top players, then present the following question to the fans base:

Which player on the Cardinals would you want on the Lions roster?

The Arizona Cardinals are a really nice model of how to rebuild a roster through key offseason moves. One of the best examples is by not settling for an average quarterback—no matter how much you have invested in him—and instead, going after “your guy”, can be the difference between mediocrity and success. Moving on from Josh Rosen (despite him being the 10th overall pick in 2018) and drafting Kyler Murray first overall in 2019 was a massive decision and it’s paying dividends.

They’ve drafted well, made successful trades, and signed free agents at the right spots to give them a balanced roster. Let’s take a closer look at some of their best options and how they were acquired in parenthesis.

• EDGE Chandler Jones (Trade 2016)
• S Budda Baker (36th overall, 2017)
• WR Christian Kirk (47th overall, 2018)
• QB Kyler Murray (1st overall, 2019)
• WR DeAndre Hopkins (Trade, 2020)
• LB Isaiah Simmons (8th overall, 2020)
• LB Zaven Collins (16th, 2021)
• WR Rondale Moore (49th overall, 2021)
• EDGE JJ Watt (Free Agent 2021)

As usual, for this exercise, I am eliminating the players on injured reserves as choices (sorry Watt and Hopkins fans) but there are still plenty of appealing options that would be upgrades for the Lions.

My choice: Kyler Murray

Murray has improved in each of his three seasons and is playing at an MVP level in 2021. Look no further than the stats that Jeremy Reisman pulled out for his Cardinals’ scouting report earlier in the week:

• Yards per attempt: 8.7 (first)
• Completion percentage: 71.6% (first)
• Passing TDs: 19 (t-11th)
• QBR: 61.5 (fifth)
• Passer rating: 106.0 (third)
• QB rushing yards: 267 (10th)
• QB rushing TDs: 5 (t-third)

Awfully impressive.

Landing a quality quarterback would make all the difference in the world for the Lions’ franchise and there is a lesson to be learned from Arizona. Yes, the Lions have a lot invested in the position, but good teams don’t let that hold them back when an opportunity arises to get “your guy”.

Is that “guy” in this draft class for the Lions? It’s too early to tell. Maybe that player will come in the 2023 draft class? Regardless of when, if they have someone they fall in love with, I would hope the investment in Jared Goff wouldn’t prevent them from being aggressive and going after a franchise quarterback.

Am I right? Wrong? Which Cardinals player would you steal away?

Vote in the poll and sound off in the comments.