General manager Steve Keim and the Arizona Cardinals had to choose between potential franchise quarterback Kyler Murray and stud edge rusher Nick Bosa at the top of the 2019 NFL Draft.
A star player at Ohio State, Bosa was pretty much the top player on every draft board leading up to the annual event. However, the Cardinals were coming off a three-win season and had a need at quarterback with Josh Rosen struggling.
Leading up to the draft, it became clear that Murray would go No. 1 overall to Arizona. Meanwhile, the division-rival San Francisco 49ers were sitting at two and ready to do cartwheels up to the podium to select Bosa.
Apparently, the defensive end knew that Arizona was going with Murray when he met with Keim and then-head coach Kliff Kingsbury leading up to the draft. His warning to the then-Cardinals brass was absolutely hilarious.
“I think you guys are probably going to end up taking that little quarterback. And if you do, Steve, I will haunt you for the rest of your career,” Steve Keim on what Nick Bosa told him ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Fast forward less than four calendar years, and things have pretty much played out that way. Both Keim and Kingsbury are no longer with the Arizona Cardinals’ organization. Kyler Murray is coming off a torn ACL with his future as a franchise quarterback up in the air.
All the while, Nick Bosa earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors for a championship-contending 49ers team last season.
Though, it is pretty cool that Keim can look back at that conversation and laugh. Arizona did not necessarily make a mistake by selecting Murray with the first pick. It didn’t really have a need out on the edge with Chandler Jones coming off a 13-sack season.
After a Heisman performance under Lincoln Riley in Oklahoma the previous season, Murray was the logical choice.
Will a 2023 NFL Draft prospect pull a Nick Bosa?
It’s interesting to look at. We could have a similar situation in the 2023 NFL Draft. While Alabama quarterback Bryce Young is almost a lock to go to the Carolina Panthers with the first pick, everything is up in the air after that.
Selecting No. 2 overall, the Houston Texans had been linked to quarterbacks throughout the entire process. More recently, reports have suggested that they could opt for Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson with the second pick over a quarterback.
The division rival Indianapolis Colts are also slated to pick fourth overall. They have been linked to both pass rushers and quarterbacks. We would have loved to be a fly on the wall when Anderson took visits with both of those AFC South squads ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft. Perhaps, he pulled what we now have to call a Nick Bosa.
Epic stuff.