Clayton Tune: The Fateful Path of an NFL Legacy
by Walter Mitchell
photo: @azcardinals.com via Instagram
During the second night of the 2023 NFL Draft, Clayton Tune received a call from the Green Bay Packers. The Packers wanted to assure Clayton of their interest in drafting the University of Houston quarterback at some point on day three.
When the Arizona Cardinals selected Clayton Tune with the #139 pick a day later, he was surprised, given that the Cardinals had not expressed any significant interest in him during the pre-draft process. The Cardinals were not one of the six teams that brought him in for 30 visits (Texans, Saints, Browns, Steelers, Bucs, Giants). Tune had also been given a private workout by the Rams.
The eventual link the Cardinals had to Clayton Tune was that Israel Woolfork was one of his coaches at the Senior Bowl. At that time, Woolfork had just finished his second year of a Bill Walsh/Bill Willis coaching fellowship with the Cleveland Browns.
A few of weeks later, Israel Woolfork, who had been working closely with QB coach Drew Petzing in Cleveland, was hired to be the Cardinals' new quarterback coach. It was a curious hire by the Cardinals given that Woolfork was a wide receiver at Grand Valley State University and that he came to the Cardinals with no direct experience coaching quarterbacks at any level. The obvious plan was for Drew Petzing, who came with two years of coaching quarterbacks at the NFL level (as an assistant QB coach for the Vikings in 2018 and as the Browns' QB coach in 2022), to groom him.
Yet, for Clayton Tune, after being surprised about being drafted by the Cardinals, imagine his added surprise when he discovered his own historical link to the Cardinals in that in 1936, his great uncle, running back Jim Lawrence from Texas Christian University was the Chicago Cardinals' very first draft pick.
photo: @ azcardinals.com
Now the Cardinals have waived Clayton Tune after two seasons of being the backup quarterback to Josh Dobbs and Kyler Murray, with his only chance to start a game coming 9 weeks into his rookie season versus the Cleveland Browns amidst a relentlessly ferocious pass rush led by All-Pro Myles Garrett --- it was a 27-0 loss in which Clayton Tune completed 11 of 20 passes for 58 yards, 0 TDs, 2 interceptions, 7 sacks for -41 yards, a lost fumble and a RTG of 20.8.
The sole bright spot was that Tune led the Cardinals in rushing that day, carrying the ball 5 times for 28 yards, for an average of 5.6 a carry. As a team the Cardinals rushed for 41 yards ---
And last season, after Clayton Tune beat out Desmond Ridder for the Cardinals' QB2 job, Kyler Murray was able to start all 17 games.
Then, one of the first moves the Cardinals made this off-season was to sign Jacoby Brissett to a 2-year $12.5M contract with $8M guaranteed --- which basically sealed Clayton Tune's fate in Arizona as a 53-man roster player, given that the team was not going to keep 3 QBs on the 53.
It was a very challenging pre-season for Clayton Tune, trying to lead a makeshift offense of 2nd and 3rd stringers, especially as the QB3 is relegated to limited reps in practice. At home versus the Chiefs, Tune struggled to find a rhythm, but in the 4th quarter, he was able to lead the offense to what became the game-winning field goal.
At Denver versus the Broncos' suffocating defense, Clayton Tune was having to throw the ball very quickly against high pressures and sticky pass coverages. He suffered the same fate that all three of the 49ers' QBs had suffered the week previously. To Tune's credit, his RTG of 68.8 versus the Broncos was higher than Mac Jones' of 53.3 (who was highest of the 49ers' 3 QBs).
This past weekend, Clayton Tune played the entire game versus the Raiders and helped lead the team to a 20-10 win, the highlight of which was a textbook break-contain play-action bootleg left TD pass to WR Simi Fehoko at the left pylon wherein Tune, on the run, managed to square his shoulders to make a dime of a throw. Click here:
Those close to Clayton Tune call him "Cinderella Man" by virtue of his exemplary resilience.
If there was ever any proof of why they call him "Cinderella Man", over the past two weeks of action, versus the Broncos and Raiders combined, Clayton Tune was faced with 46 QB pressures, 7 sacks for -38 yards and 13 QB hits. The near miracle is that Clayton did not fumble or throw a single interception.
When one looks at how hard and gutsy Clayton Tune played in his last game as an Arizona Cardinal he left everything he had out on the field. He did what his OC Drew Petzing wanted his whole offense to do: (1) Play Fast; (2) Finish. Clayton Tune walked out of State Farm Stadium a winner.
When one door closes, another one opens:
Update on Clayton Tune: Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers who did a lot of work with him in the 2023 draft process are signing him to their practice squad. Clayton becomes QB3 behind Jordan Love and Malik Willis. More on this to come at the Red Rain Blog for Cardinals fans.
This is such a golden opportunity for Clayton Tune. Matt LaFleur is one of the most prolific QB developers in the NFL and Clayton now goes to a team that was far more invested in him from the get-go than the Cardinals ever were. Plus, it's a bonus for him to reunite with his former Houston WR Matthew Golden.
Kurt Warner once said that the best thing that ever happened to him was having a coach in Dick Vermeil who gave him the opportunity to play with "the 1s" --- that being a backup and only having a chance to play in pre-season games with the "2s" and "3s" is never going to be a fair way to judge a QB's best abilities or whether he is a true gamer, or not.
I hope that Clayton Tune gets another chance to start an NFL game, only the next time under far more auspicious circumstances. I believe in his talent, and I believe in his football character. And, like his closest friends, I believe he is a "Cinderella Man."
After studying pre-draft and post-draft game tapes of Houston games, I became fascinated with Clayton's talent. Here's an article I wrote back in February:
And if this next chapter of Clayton Tune's NFL legacy couldn't get even more fateful, it just so happened that Clayton's great uncle Jim Lawrence, after leaving the Cardinals, went on to play for the Green Bay Packers and was a part of the Packers' 1939 championship team.
Clayton Tune: The Fateful Path of an NFL Legacy
As the band Chicago would sing, "It's only the beginning, only just the start."
Thrilled for him. He deserves, like every young player, to be coached. It's the least any NFL team owes a kid drafted.
ReplyDeleteHope Clayton can catch on with the Packers. Preseason isn't ideal when you are running reps wth 3rd string players and position coaches calling plays. He has the ability he just needs game reps to help his development.
ReplyDeleteVery cool. I still think Tune has potential and now GB has the best QB names in the league. Love Train, What you talkin bout Willis and Name that Tune.
ReplyDeleteGreat Jethro!
DeleteBest wishes to Tune, hopefully he'll get opportunity to prove himself, he's never really had much opportunity with Cardinals.
ReplyDeleteAnother wasted pick coupled with botched player development. We’ve been botching Murray’s development during the same time frame all the same. I have very little faith in this current regime and really hoping they make me eat a ton of crow this year and beyond
ReplyDeleteperfect. I don't know what to make of this iteration-FO and coaching staff. They are stuck on mediocre never having a winning season. I don't see them making the playoffs-just too many holes on defense and I'm not sure if our OC can improve the passing game, make the right adjustments, and call the right plays when needed. I hope I'm wrong and will be thrilled if I am.
DeleteGlad to see Tune is getting a new opportunity. It just seems that he never got buy-in from the Cardinals coaches. After the Cleveland game, even on the rare occasion he saw the field, they made sure he wasn't getting a chance to throw. I know Walter's been high on him since he was drafted, and I've liked what I saw in previous pre-seasons, particularly when he was outplaying Desmond Ridder last year. This pre-season was a little more troublesome, but overall it's hard to imagine at this point a change of scenery and coaching would be anything but beneficial for the guy.
ReplyDeleteThanks TMatty. I agree with you.
DeleteAnyone else find it interesting that our throw aways are being picked up by future opponents? DeeJay Dallas by Carolina, Tune by GB.
ReplyDeleteDon't be surprised to see them released after we play those teams.
Both Dallas and Tune have flashes, but if we're honest, they are mediocre fringe players.
Wish him luck in Green Bay. Who are we going to sign to PS as emergency QB3? I would have just kept Tune.
ReplyDelete