Tennessee football: Does Jarrett Guarantano have a chance in Arizona?

He had one of the most up and down careers ever for Tennessee football before transferring last year to the Washington State Cougars. An injury limited his time there as well. Still Jarrett Guarantano has a big arm, so you knew an NFL scout would give him a look.

Well, that look worked out, as he signed with the Arizona Cardinals, according to a report from the Knoxville News Sentinel. Despite a rocky six-year run in college, could he finally be going to the place he needs to be at?

Arizona is obviously dealing with its own quarterback issue right now depending on what Kyler Murray wants. Kliff Kingsbury remains an offensive genius. This is where Guarantano is headed. He revealed the news himself Sunday evening on Twitter.

Guarantano committed to Tennessee football as a four-star in 2016 and became the starter midway through 2017 en route to the worst season in school history. Butch Jones got fired later that year, which wasn’t his fault.

Then there was starting on the 2018 team that went 5-7, being benched early in 2019 before coming back in to help the program rebound from a 1-4 start to an 8-5 finish and then the midseason collapse in 2020, losing five straight after a 2-0 start. It was all a wild ride for Guarantano with the Vols.

Last year, Guarantano played in two games before suffering a season-ending injury. He finished his college career completing 61.5 percent of his passes for 6,478 yards, averaging over seven and a half yards an attempt, along with 39 touchdowns and 20 interceptions.

What does this all mean about his pro career, though? With any other player, his college play would say he’s not cut out for the next level. Guarantano had major issues with accuracy and taking care of the ball, a bad combination for the next level.

However, he was always thrown in bad situations. Jones set him up to fail by throwing him in out of desperation to save his own job in 2017. He had a historically bad line and a system change in 2018. Another offensive coordinator change happened in 2019. COVID hit in 2020. Then came his injury in 2021.

Simply put, Guarantano never really got stability. Taking all that into account, maybe this is where he needs to be to finally get his chance. However, making it in Arizona is going to be difficult given his profile in the past, especially what he showed with Tennessee football.

Kingsbury’s air raid offense requires some aggression for quarterbacks. While Guarantano has a big arm, he’s only at his best when he makes the safest throw. He also struggles beyond his first read. Add in the accuracy issue, and it’s hard to see him being a fit for this offense.

On the other hand, Guarantano is in a better situation than he ever was with Tennessee football. He’s also in a better situation than he was at WSU since he got hurt there. As a result, pay attention to what happens with him. Maybe he shocks the world and makes the roster.