Kyler Murray can take the Arizona Cardinals to new heights

The Arizona Cardinals made one of the boldest moves in NFL history in selecting Kyler Murray No. 1 overall, and it’s no secret as to why.

If you’ve been reading my articles long enough, you’d know that I always represented Team Rosen. My logic behind that was that although Murray may have the higher upside, Rosen is a talented prospect and the team has other needs. With that being said, Murray is the pick, and we now look towards an exciting future of Cardinals future.

Kyler Murray, despite his smaller stature, has found a way to win everywhere he goes. At Allen High in Texas, Murray won three straight state championships and had a starting record of 42-0. And after his brief stint at Texas A&M and year of sitting behind Baker Mayfield, Murray proceeded to lead Oklahoma 12-2 with an appearance in the playoffs.

You don’t have to look far to see why Murray has won so many games.

Murray has the arm talent to make the toughest throws. It doesn’t matter if the throw is 60 yards down the field, or if he’s on the run evading pressure or even throwing off his back foot, Murray can push the ball down the field at a blazing pace with accuracy.

Per Pro Football Focus, Murray ranked second in the 2019 quarterback class in adjusted completion percentage with 78.9%, and ranks seventh in both average depth of target and deep pass completion percentage, with 12.0 and 51.9%, respectively.

Even better, Murray is a true dual-threat at the position. In his lone starting season at Oklahoma, the quarterback ran for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns to go with 4,364 passing yards and 42 touchdowns to just seven interceptions.

Of course, Murray isn’t a sure-thing prospect, which is another reason why I preferred Rosen. At 5-foot-10 and a playing weight that is likely sub-200-pounds, durability will be a concern because he does run so much. His mechanics aren’t perfect either, and you’d also like to see him handle pressure with a tad bit less aggressiveness.

But Murray may be a perfect fit with the Cardinals. Not only can Kliff the ‘quarterback whisperer’ Kingsbury work out his kinks, but he also employs a very similar offense to Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma system.

Kingsbury was high on Murray throughout high school, college, and now this off-season because he believes Murray has the ability to run his offense at a high level, his Sooner tape just reaffirmed that as he set the college football-landscape ablaze with his electrifying play and understanding of the spread/Air Raid offense, in turn, winning him the Heisman Trophy.

Although Murray and Kingsbury will have to adjust to the NFL’s speed and complexity, they are a perfect marriage in terms of x’s and o’s. Murray has seen success in the Air Raid, while Kliff Kingsbury is a disciple of that very offense.

Combining Murray’s skillset with Kingsbury’s offense, and it’s hard not to envision an electrifying Cardinals offense very soon.

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