WS Chronicle

Arizona Cardinals’ quarterback Kyler Murray has been tearing it up this season. At the time this article was written, he has his team sitting at 7-0 and the only undefeated team left in the NFL. Murray is a mobile quarterback, but he is proving that his arm is his most deadly weapon and I anticipate more NFL teams will look for a carbon copy in the years to come.

Murray came into the league drafted first overall in the 2019 NFL draft by the Cardinals and there were a few question marks about Murray. At only 5’10” he is short by traditional quarterback standards and there were also questions about his hand size and propensity to run.

As a rookie, Murray started all 16 games for the Cards and posted a 5-10-1 record. He threw for 3,722 yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also ran for 544 yards and an additional four touchdowns.

Murray did a lot of running around buying time in the pocket as a rookie and that resulted in some amazing plays. He also had a completion percentage of 64% and seemed to get better as the year progressed.

I’ll admit that I was not sure about Murray.  On one hand, I could see how his career could turn out similar to Russell Wilson, because of Murray’s tremendous skill set. But on the other hand, his small stature and ability to run made me nervous about his durability. After watching him for a few games, I saw that he does not take big hits and knows how to get down when needed.

I think I was most impressed with his ability to throw the football. I knew from his time in college that he was an excellent passer, but I did not think it would look so easy for him.

He started his career at Texas A&M in 2015, but chose to transfer to Oklahoma the following year. Murray was the backup for the 2017 season, but broke out when he had the opportunity to start in 2018. That year he threw for 4,361 yards with 42 touchdowns. He also added 1,001 yards rushing with an additional 12 touchdowns. Those fantastic numbers led to him winning the Heisman trophy in 2018 and eventually the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Murray showed a lot of progression in his second year, although I thought he left some plays on the field by running instead of looking downfield. The Cardinals finished with an 8-8 record and Murray threw for 3,971 yards and 26 touchdowns. He added 819 rushing yards and 11 more touchdowns. For his efforts last year, Murray earned his first Pro Bowl appearance.

This season, Murray has put everything together and is having a phenomenal season thus far. Through seven games, he’s completing over 73% of his passes with 17 touchdowns and 2,002 passing yards. He has also run a lot less; so far he only has 126 rushing yards, which means he has been keeping his eyes downfield and finding open receivers.

He has wowed everyone with his play this season and I think he has only scratched the surface of how good he can be. Fox NFL analyst Daryl Johnston summed Murray up perfectly when he said, “You can do everything right and he still makes you wrong.”

Murray had a shoulder injury during the second half of last season that I felt kept him back from making even more progress. I think that has contributed to him not running as much and just buying time in the pocket and letting his skill position players make the plays instead. That has worked out very well for not only Murray, but also the Cardinals as a team.

“My legs should be a luxury,” Murray said during the offseason in an interview. “And it kind of wasn’t like that last year. It was me having to run for us in a sense. Once my shoulder was banged up and I wasn’t trying to put myself out there and take those hits, we hit a lull. Honestly, I think it was a lesson for us. We can’t be one-dimensional.”

That’s an extremely mature assessment from such a young player. He knows that he can’t just rely on his legs to get things done and for him to be successful, he has to use his arm. This is why I think this kid is going to be top three in the league over the next two seasons.  

Another benefit for Murray is his plethora of weapons he has to work with. He has arguably the best wide receiver in the league with DeAndre Hopkins, along with A.J. Green, Christian Kirk and speedster Rondale Moore. His running backs Chase Edmunds and James Conner have also produced for Murray as well.

The thing I like most about Murray is that he does not just key in on Hopkins. He spreads the ball around so much, every receiver on the field runs their routes all out because they know if they’re open, they will get the ball. Many quarterbacks force the ball to their star wideouts, but Murray has shown another sign of maturity by just throwing to who is open.

Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury has proven to be a great play caller and designer of the offense. He has put Murray in the perfect situations to be successful. I was unsure of both Murray and Kingsbury, but they have proven to both be excellent as a player/coach combination. With both of them being so young, the sky’s the limit to what these two can do in the league.

Murray is setting himself up for a run at the league MVP this season. He is fifth in the league in passing yards, fourth in passing touchdowns, and first in completion percentage.  If the Cardinals continue to win, I see no reason why Murray can’t take home the MVP trophy.

I bet no one is questioning the height and the fact that Murray is mobile now. There are different styles of running quarterbacks. Guys like Lamar Jackson are different from the likes of Russell Wilson. While both players are mobile, Jackson uses his legs a lot more as a threat to run for the defense, while Wilson uses his legs primarily to buy more time.  

Murray seems to have started out more like Jackson, but transitioned his game to be more like Wilson. That will bode well for him in the future and NFL general managers have definitely taken notice. Don’t be surprised if you find more teams trying to find a quarterback with a similar style to Murray, one that has 4.3 speed, but only uses it when needed.