The Arizona Cardinals are getting closer and closer to beginning the 2024 NFL season as a three-game preseason slate begins on Saturday. While most of the players hope to showcase what they can do in a game setting against different opposition, star quarterback Kyler Murray is ruled out for precautionary reasons to keep him fully healthy going into Week 1 of the regular season.

Since Arizona’s starting quarterback won’t be playing, this has opened up the doors for second-year Cardinal Clayton Tune and newly-acquired Desmond Ridder to battle it out for the backup position. Ridder was traded to the Cardinals in exchange for wide receiver Rondale Moore during the offseason.

Since Tune and Ridder will both have expanded roles and a chance to impress the coaching staff, Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing spoke to the media on Wednesday about what he is looking forward to with seeing these two guys compete.

“I think this preseason is going to be a great opportunity for those guys to get a lot of reps, put themselves on tape, go out and compete and show what they can do,” Petzing said. “I think they worked really hard in the spring and throughout training camp to be ready for that. Certainly the decision with Kyler is always going to come down to what we feel is best for the team. Excited to see those guys play.”

The Kentucky native Ridder spent two seasons (2022-23) with the Falcons after being selected as a third-round (74th overall) pick in the 2022 Draft. He played 19 games (17 starts), completed 322-of-503 passes for 3,544 yards and connected for 14 touchdown passes. Atlanta was 8-9 when Ridder was their quarterback.

For Tune, he made seven appearances in his rookie season last year and started once, a 27-0 loss to the Cleveland Browns. He completed 12-of-21 passes for 62 yards, threw two interceptions and scored a rushing touchdown behind Murray and Josh Dobbs.

Seeing progression in his game from a year ago, Petzing believes by Tune being better accustomed to everything around him, he will be more comfortable making the right plays.

“In year two, there are a lot of things that aren’t new,” Petzing said. “He is coming into a building that he is familiar with, teammates he is familiar with, a system that he knows. He can focus on the finer points of being a quarterback, I think we have seen that through the offseason and camp. Looking forward for him to put that on display here on Saturday.”

The competition between the two will provide the intel the team needs to make the correct decision of who is Murray’s backup heading into the regular season. As of right now, there is no clear-cut favorite of who that will end up being.

Explaining that there will be a process in which the coordinators and coaches will deliberate over a multitude of different factors heading into a choice they feel confident in, Petzing identified two key factors that can boost one over the other.

“I think at the end of the day, that’s playing the quarterback position is operating the offense at a high level, taking care of the football and giving us the opportunity to score points,” Petzing said. “I think the big thing in a preseason game is there are things that are exactly like an NFL regular season game and things that aren’t. I think it is going to be on decision-making and operation, kinda the big two points that we are going to stick on. It’s going to take a look at the whole picture over the next couple of weeks to make that final decision.”

The Cardinals officially start their preseason on Saturday when they host the New Orleans Saints at 5 p.m. PT inside State Farm Stadium.