Arizona Cardinals: Five questions that must be answered in the draft
By Avery Duncan
How will Steve Keim build around Kliff Kingsbury’s Air Raid offense?
You don’t sign Kliff Kingsbury to be your head coach without going all-in on his offense; because that side of the ball is exactly why he was hired. Keim went all-in in the past with Bruce Arians, and he’s expected to continue the trend with the young offensive mind.
Although Kingsbury did say he’s going to add NFL concepts to his signature pass-happy offense, he’ll still need players that fit his scheme. Like Arians and his deep-threats, Keim should mold his offensive selections to that scheme.
This is a reason why Kyler Murray is such a popular pick to the Cardinals at No. 1 overall. Yes, he’s extremely talented, but he’s also an Air Raid guy. But, the Air Raid goes past the quarterback, all offensive pieces have to be proper to get the best results. With that being said, here are priorities/archetype builds for each position group on the offense;
- Quarterback – cerebral, quick release.
- Running back – elusiveness, receiving.
- Tight end – all-around, route-running.
- Wide receiver – YAC, separation.
- Offensive line – quick feet, experience with spread pass-sets.
Of course, more goes into priorities for positions, but when you think of Air Raid you think of these qualities for each grouping. It’s not only why Kyler Murray would be a good fit, but it’s also why his Oklahoma teammate Marquise Brown would be too.