Heading into his seventh NFL season, it would be fair to label Blaine Gabbert’s professional career a bust thus far. The former No. 10 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft has nearly as many interceptions (37) as touchdowns (38) in his professional career. He lasted only three seasons in both Jacksonville and San Francisco and has only 16 starts over the last four seasons combined.

Considering his performance to date, it could be viewed as a surprise that Arizona signed the veteran quarterback to a one-year deal after working him out last week. The move was likely driven by the Cardinals’ failure to land a quarterback in the latest draft. While his signing may seem like a stopgap for the time being, Arizona head coach Bruce Arians still sees the potential in Gabbert.

Still only 27, Arians has faith that Gabbert’s best football very well could be in front of him. According to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic, Arians recently spoke up for Gabbert, suggested his poor NFL performances to date had more to do with the talent around him in Jacksonville and San Francisco — or more specifically, the lack thereof.

“When you look at some young quarterbacks, the situation they get in (determines) whether they fail or not,” Arians said. “When you look at the receivers he’s played with – I’m not knocking them in any way – they can’t touch ours. He would have never played with the kind of receivers he would have here. And he fits our system.”

Another factor working in Gabbert’s favor in Arizona, the Cardinal coach claims he liked what he saw from the former Mizzou standout during the 2011 pre-draft process. No stranger to identifying quarterback talent, Arians helped coach Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Andrew Luck to early success in their professional careers.

“I had a very, very high grade on him (in the 2011 draft),” Arians said. “I thought he showed a lot being in the read option last year. He almost beat us twice.”

After throwing for over 6,800 yards and 40 touchdowns in three seasons in Columbia, it’s not impossible that Arians is able to work his magic on yet another NFL quarterback and get solid production from Gabbert. After all, before Carson Palmer arrived in the desert, many suggested his NFL career was over. Five seasons later, Palmer is still playing at a high level for Arizona, although his age would suggest his NFL career may soon be coming to an end.

If Arians is able to get the most out of Gabbert, the former Top 10 pick could be the one to take over the quarterback reins from Palmer in the desert.