The Arizona Cardinals will embark on a new season in secrecy.
Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon continues to refuse to publicly name his starting quarterback. When asked Wednesday if he might announce who will take the first snaps at the most important position in the sport, Gannon remained defiant.
"I ain't telling you anything," he told reporters.
Arizona began its training camp with a choice to make between veteran Colt McCoy, who won one of his three starts made in place of the injured Kyler Murray last season, and rookie Clayton Tune. By the time the preseason neared its end, general manager Monti Ossenfort decided to shake up the order of the Cardinals' quarterbacks room, acquiring Browns backup Josh Dobbs via trade and releasing McCoy a few days later.
The move left Dobbs with less than a month to assimilate, digest Arizona's offense, and attempt to win a job he likely didn't anticipate would be available to him just weeks earlier.
Gannon praised Dobbs on Wednesday for his ability to pick up Arizona's offense and execute it in a relatively short amount of time. Still, Gannon didn't provide reporters with any indication he might tab the former Browns, Steelers and Titans quarterback as his starter, even if he's already informed his team of their plan under center.
As for potential leaks, Gannon isn't worried. The clandestine Cardinals still value what they perceive as a competitive advantage more than transparency.
"I trust our guys," Gannon said. "Media's the media. That's your guys' job, I understand that, but we're gonna do what's best for our football team as we see fit and try to execute that."
On paper, it would make more sense to proceed with Dobbs, even if he hasn't had a full camp to get comfortable as Arizona's top option at the position. Dobbs has some starting experience, which is more than Tune can claim at this point in his nascent professional career. Dobbs also has familiarity with Arizona's offense, which is coordinated by his former Browns quarterbacks coach, Drew Petzing.
Still, the football world likely won't know who is starting for the Cardinals until they take the field Sunday in Washington against the Commanders. As strange or unnecessary as it might seem to be, it's how Gannon is choosing to begin his tenure in Arizona.
"Players know the plan," he said.
Fair enough.
