Perhaps Bruce Arians was blowing some smoke at the NFL owners meeting or maybe he isn’t enamored with Geno Smith, the West Virginia quarterback who some have linked to the Arizona Cardinals with the seventh overall pick.

Arians has made it clear he doesn’t want a quarterback competition and from the sounds of things Drew Stanton will get every opportunity to be the starter in Arizona. This is a weak draft class for quarterbacks, at least compared to a year ago when Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III went 1-2 and along came Russell Wilson in the third round.

Arians was asked if Smith compares to Luck, who he worked with this past season in Indianapolis.

“Athletically, yes,” Arians said, according to Mike Sando of ESPN. “He can throw the football and he obviously had a great workout the other day. The guys that were in the combine last year, all of them when they left the room, you went, ‘Wow.’ No one in this draft made me go, ‘Wow.’ Now, can they throw the football? Yeah.

"He has got the skill set as many guys have skill sets. You don’t play the game with that skill set. The two muscles that you play quarterback with you can’t evaluate. The brain and the heart. That is a winning quarterback. Until you get in the huddle with them, you don’t know what you have."

Of course, maybe Arians actually covets Smith and hopes that he falls to No. 7. It could be he is off the board by then. We just don't know yet.

Follow me on Twitter: @BradBiggs

Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune