Cardinals hope 5th-round pick Clayton Tune can turn into another late-round find like Brock Purdy

“I try to stay away from all that stuff,” Tune said. “I try not to listen to the media. I’m here to work hard and put my best foot forward and do something I can look back on and be happy with.”

Coach Jonathan Gannon wouldn’t say the Cardinals went into the draft specifically thinking about taking a quarterback – “We explore all possibilities,” he said – but bringing in a lottery ticket at the position can’t hurt. The Cardinals do have to find a QB depth chart to begin the season that won’t include the injured Kyler Murray, and the ceilings of Colt McCoy, David Blough and Jeff Driskel are already known.

“He’s a little bit different than the other quarterbacks we have here,” Gannon said.

The Cardinals had an idea of what they might have before Tune was drafted; current quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork coached Tune at the Senior Bowl when Woolfork was still part of the Cleveland Browns’ staff.

Tune, who threw for nearly 12,000 yards and 104 touchdowns at Houston, also caught people’s attention when he said he believed he was the best quarterback in the 2023 class the day he was drafted.

“He’s a confident guy and that’s what you want from everybody out there,” Gannon said. “But ultimately you need to put in the work day-by-day, speak softly, and carry a big stick.”

Tune admitted he was a little surprised at the reaction to the comment, but “I am confident in who I am and how I play.”

“I’m not the type of guy who’s going to act like I’m this and that, but I am very confident in my abilities and now it’s up to me,” he added.

With Murray rehabbing, the other Purdy similarity is the need to find someone to play the position after an injury. Like Purdy, it seems unlikely Tune gets on the field barring other injuries – but then again, there figures to be early opportunity for Tune to show if he indeed can be Purdy good.

“I try not to think about it,” Tune said. “I’ll try to do my job the best I can. I still have a lot to learn. Finding my role is my focus … and providing value for the team, whatever that looks like, doing the best I can do at that.”