TEMPE, Ariz. – To make the ideal Bruce Arians Quarterback, mix one part Peyton Manning, one part Ben Roethlisberger, one part Andrew Luck, one part Carson Palmer and add a dash of Tim Couch.

Voilà. There he is.

“You’ve got one hell of a player,” Arians said with a smirk.

There’s just one problem: Finding the perfectly made quarterback is impossible, but especially in this year’s draft. If the Arizona Cardinals decide to draft one – whenever it may be – they’ll be looking for someone who closest fits the bill of the ideal Arians Quarterback.

“It really starts here [Arians points to his head] and here [he points to his heart],” he said. “If you’ve got a guy who’s got grit and can lead, you can probably live with his skill level.

“Now, if he’s got the skill level, you’ve got the world champ.”

There’s no question Arians has a type of quarterback he prefers: a tall, big-armed, pocket passer. That’s the one common thread Manning, Couch, Roethlisberger, Luck and Palmer share.

Yes, even Couch.

"Tim Couch led the Browns to their last playoffs, and got broken up," Arians said. "Tim Couch was no bust. He broke his leg the last regular-season game the year the Browns went to the playoffs, and he had a torn labrum, torn … he got sacked 135 or 136 times his first two years. He was never a bust in my mind. He was a heck of a young prospect."

With the likes of Deshaun Watson, Mitchell Trubisky, Pat Mahomes, DeShone Kizer, Brad Kaaya and Davis Webb all potential future Cardinals, what does a realistic Arians quarterback look like?

Arians broke it down.

“First of all, you have to have some stature,” Arians said. “There are no 5-11 quarterbacks. There haven’t been any since Doug Flutie, and it took him a hell of a long time to get in, and the game’s changed since Fran Tarkenton’s played, so you have to have some stature.

“You have to have some arm strength. It doesn’t have to be a cannon because most guys with a cannon wait to see the guy get open and they throw a fastball and those get intercepted the other way.

“You have to have some anticipation. So, if your arm isn’t quite as strong, you anticipate better and you’ll get it out on time. Accuracy is key, you know?”

If the Cardinals decide to draft a quarterback this year, it’s more than likely -- almost guaranteed -- he’ll sit a year behind Palmer, the starter, and backup Drew Stanton. And if the rookie gets drafted with an accuracy issue, Arians said he’ll need at least a year to improve.

“It’s like professional golfers,” Arians said. “Sometimes great ball strikers can’t putt but you can teach them to putt. It’s harder to teach them to be a ball striker. You can change their [the quarterbacks'] stroke but you’re not anticipating playing him as a rookie. Look at Tiger [Woods, he] changed that string twice and it took him a year to get that thing where he trusted it in action. That’s the same thing with a quarterback.”

To Arians, a quarterback’s brain is the hardest part to evaluate. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it scenario, Arians said. Quarterbacks either have the smarts or they don’t.

“Being able to decipher the information: What’s my protection? Am I hot? Do I have a sight adjustment weak side? What’s the coverage? Who do I throw to in this coverage? That all happens in 1.5 seconds. If you can’t process that information, you probably can’t play.”

Arians, who’s been dubbed a “quarterback whisperer” for his work with Manning, Roethlisberger and Luck, doesn’t think teams can find a plug-and-play quarterback in this year’s draft. He said there’s one he believes can start Day 1. However, if a team can afford to sit a quarterback for at least a year, like the Cardinals can, then this year’s class is “huge.”

Arians has said that whenever he retires, he’d like to leave the Cardinals with a quarterback for the future. That may mean this draft or next year, or even later on down the road. But whoever the Cardinals decide is that man, the quarterback they’ll build their franchise around for the next 10 years, ideally, may not be a mixture of the legends Arians has coached.

Then again, he may be.

At some point in the near future, Arians believes the NFL will see another wave of quarterbacks who will be of the same caliber of Manning, Roethlisberger, Luck and Palmer. Maybe better.

“With the quality of coaching right now, they’re going to come,” Arians said. “All these 7-on-7 camps, you’re going to get better passers. What are the offenses are they in? Are they going to get in a full-scale pattern read?

“You are going to get taller, faster, better-armed guys than when I was coming out and running the wishbone.”