Joshua Dobbs likely to be Cardinals starting QB, Arizona taking even heavier Under action on NFL-low 4.5 win total

The Arizona Cardinals made big news Monday when they released presumptive Week 1 starting quarterback Colt McCoy. Now the Cardinals are expected to go with the recently acquired Joshua Dobbs under center even though he didn't take a snap with the team in the offseason or preseason. Are the Cardinals tanking this year? Some believe so, and their over/under season win total of 4.5 is the NFL's lowest by two full games.

Arizona has a franchise quarterback under a long-term deal in former No. 1 overall pick Kyler Murray, but he will miss at least the first four games on the PUP list while recovering from the torn ACL he suffered last season. Yet the moves the team has made sure make it feel like the Cards are trying to land the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and potentially take outstanding USC QB Caleb Williams (Arizona also has Houston's first-round pick). Thus, this might be Murray's final season in the desert.

Earlier this offseason, the team released likely future Hall of Fame wideout DeAndre Hopkins and will pay more than $21 million in dead money while he plays for the Titans. The team opted not to re-sign defensive lineman Zach Allen and cornerback Byron Murphy (both expected starters for new teams) and last week traded away 2020 first-round pick Isaiah Simmons for a seventh-round pick.

How do any of those moves make the team better this year? First-year GM Monti Ossenfort is clearly putting his own stamp on the roster, and he has no ties to Murray. Neither does first-year coach Jonathan Gannon.

At BetMGM, Arizona is now taking the most Under tickets for its win total of any team in the league despite the minuscule 4.5 number. In terms of money, only Las Vegas at 6.5 wins is taking bigger Under action than the Cards, who may not be a favorite once all season. This would be the fifth straight season that a team would enter every game as an underdog. None of the previous four teams ended up having the top overall pick in the following draft.

It's no sure thing that Dobbs, who is 0-2 in the NFL as a starter (both last year with the Titans) will start Week 1 if the Cardinals are truly tanking as rookie fifth-round pick Clayton Tune is also in the mix, although he largely struggled in the preseason. Tune has been around the Cardinals' new offense since May, while Dobbs has been with the team less than a week. New Arizona offensive coordinator Drew Petzing was Dobbs' QBs coach in Cleveland, where Dobbs spent time before moving to the Titans last year.

The Cardinals are the fifth team in the last 15 seasons to enter Week 1 with 0 career wins among their active QBs. That includes this year's Packers team with Jordan Love and Sean Clifford.  

"I'm not going to name a starter because I think it's a competitive advantage for us going to Washington," Gannon said after McCoy was released. "But, we'll know who the starter is."

Arizona had been +6 for Week 1 at Washington, but is now +7.

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