In the first Arizona Cardinals rookie film room, we look at five plays that define Kyler Murray as a player.
As one of the most polarizing prospects in recent NFL draft history, Kyler Murray has earned his fair share of critics and fans. Whether it be due to his height, lack of experience or play in the Oklahoma spread, many believe that the Arizona Cardinals reached for Murray by selecting at No. 1 overall, while others believe the exact opposite.
Although the Cardinals didn’t necessarily have a need at quarterback heading into the draft, they selected Murray with the top pick, and it’s not too hard to see why. Murray’s film is one of the more impressive reels I’ve seen from a quarterback in the past few drafts. By my perspective, it ranks in the Baker Mayfield/Sam Darnold/Patrick Mahomes/Deshaun Watson category – it’s just that impressive.
In 2018, Murray passed for an outstanding 4,364 yards and 42 touchdowns to just seven interceptions on a 69% completion rate. He also ran for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns. His dual-threat ability was a key part of winning a Heisman. Pro Football Focus graded his final year at an elite 94.6 and ranked him as the top player in the draft.
Per PFF, Murray’s adjusted completion rate of 78.9% ranks second in the class; so does his adjusted completion rate against the blitz (76.6%). Though he’s one of the more accurate passers in the draft, he’s not a game manager; he pushes the ball down the field at an alarming rate, his 12.0 average depth per target proves that, per PFF.
However, analytics, despite how far they’ve come and how accurate they can be, can’t describe Kyler Murray as a quarterback. But the film does. After watching hours of play against shoddy Big-12 defenses, the list of “wow” plays was narrowed down to five (that wasn’t easy) in order to show what Murray brings to the table.
Play 1: Vs. FAU, 1st quarter, 8:31 remaining, 2nd & 8
What the offense is running: RPO play out of the shotgun with the slot running a deep cross route and the outside receivers running deep comeback routes.
What the defense is running: MIKE blitz, four-man pressure. Two deep-man coverage (Cover 2).
What happens: This play is broken from the get-go. The strongside tight end whiffs his block, which, in turn, gives Murray immediate pressure. Although the RPO is a quick-read, the defender is an arm-length away, in turn forcing Murray to run.
Yes, the run was amazing; he avoided pressure easily and frankly, made a lot of players look bad. He simply ran laps around the defense. But, it’s key to watch happens before he runs. He’s looking downfield, with his shoulders square, like he’s going to pass the ball. That’s impressive, despite the pressure in his face, Murray, a dual-threat quarterback, goes pass first then run.
Some may say Murray should’ve run immediately. While the result at the end of the pay is a run, he was smart to go pass-first. Why? Because it’s an RPO, a remarkably quick-developing play, he could’ve had a wide receiver wide-open, and that’s ultimately what he checked for.
Takeaways:
- He’s not run-first, he shows just that here. Although he’s an amazing talent with the ball in his hands, he’s looking down the field first – really, really smart play.
- You can tell he’s coached well. He could’ve had a highlight from the get-go but he stayed disciplined until the last second.
- Quick-thinking and awareness; this is obvious, the entire play happens really fast. For most quarterback’s this would be a sack, but not Kyler, he’s so aware of his surroundings.
- Natural running talent is apparent. Kyler is special with the ball in his hands, most football players, no matter the position, just don’t have that combination of speed, burst, and agility.
Play 2: Vs. UCLA, 1st quarter, 1:33 remaining, 2nd & 10
What the offense is running: Mesh concept out of the shotgun, which is a key aspect of the Air Raid. Features an out-and-up route for the Z-receiver.
What the defense is running: A man coverage that was highly modified to defend mesh. There is a four-man rush with the weakside defensive end dropping back in coverage to dissuade the pass to the shallow route by Marquise Brown.
What happens: UCLA’s unique defense at first works against the mesh, a concept specifically designed to beat man coverage. The defensive end dropping back does sort of mask Brown’s shallow route. Unfortunately for Chip Kelly’s Bruins, Kyler reads the defense perfectly.
Notice how Kyler focuses on the two inward facing shallow routes right when the play starts. That’s for a reason, they are easy throws and are his first-reads because they get halted by the end of the field. However, he sees the pseudo-zone coverage underneath, which limits the YAC, so he decides to go big.
On the outside, CeeDee Lamb runs a perfect out-and-up route, but it’s well defended. However, Murray has the arm talent to make the throw, which he does, flawlessly. Instead of ripping it, Murray is able to couple a lob pass with excellent velocity, in turn, creating the perfect pass that only Lamb could catch.
Takeaways:
- This isn’t the craziest highlight, but it shows one reason why the Cardinals were so high on him; his understanding of the mesh concept, which is a key aspect of Kingsbury’s scheme. He shows that he knows how defenses play it, what read progressions to make and when.
- Great anticipation. Although Lamb wins the route, it’s marginal. However, Murray anticipates where Lamb is going to be and throws it open.
- That’s a tough throw, and Murray makes it look so easy. His timing set up with the velocity shows two things; arm talent, and excellent mechanics. You need both to make throws like that.
- CeeDee Lamb is nuts. He’s seriously such a perfect fit in the Air Raid offense, he runs a beautiful route here and does so on a regular basis. If the Cardinals were to draft him next year I’d be very happy.
Play 3: Big-12 Championship, 4th quarter, 2:04 remaining, 3rd & 10
What the offense is running: Looks to be a deep high-low concept with right side receiver running a curl to clear space for the tight end to get open on the corner, the other side is similar to this where the wide receiver runs deep and the slot runs a quick out.
What the defense is running: Defense is running man coverage with safeties covering slot/tight ends; bunch of quarterback spies and contain pass-rush in order to keep Murray in check.
What happens: The play design with the tight end running a corner route and the receiver running a curl worked really well; it kept the outside cornerback in check, which, in turn, gives a one-on-one matchup of safety and tight end. The safety defends the play well, though.
However, this ultimately looks like the matchup that Murray wanted. Notice how he gets the ball, and immediately looks to throw that corner route. He sees that the safety will be covering the tight end in man coverage pre-snap (multiple indicators), and sees that as the play that will get them out of a third and long.
The tight end really isn’t open, because the safety plays it well. But, that doesn’t stop Murray from making a brilliant pass, he tosses a lob-back-shoulder throw to only where the tight end can catch it. Obviously a fantastic pass and catch, but it’s a good understanding of leverage and mechanics. This play also shows his ability to stay cool and calm under pressure, if Oklahoma kicked a field goal it was just a one-score game.
Takeaways:
- Murray read the defense pre-snap and looked like he changed the play at the line of scrimmage to that corner, curl combination. That’s an impressive audible.
- Excellent mechanics; he follows through with his body and arm to lead the ball into a tight window.
- Reaffirms that Murray is an excellent fade-route thrower. His ability to throw not just with touch, but with accuracy and velocity will be key in red-zone play.
- Love his mentality here. This was a close game and Murray led the Sooners down the field to win and ultimately get into the playoffs.
Play 4: Vs. Oklahoma State, 1st quarter, 4:44 remaining, 2nd & 5
What the offense is running: Shotgun set, strong side outside receiver running a go, slot running a deep out. Weak-side receiver running a deep out.
What the defense is running: Tampa 2 zone coverage variant with a quarterback spy.
What happens: The play set out of the strong side is designed to beat two-deep zone coverage. There is a soft spot between the roaming safety on that side and the cornerback running a shallow zone. The deep out opens that soft spot more by forcing the cornerback to stay in that shallow zone, and in this case, making the deep safety pause.
Often the go route by the receiver is a decoy; he runs down the field to lure defenders with him. However, Murray seems to know this defensive coverage, and the safety bites on that out. So guess what? That decoy turns into the open-man for a very short period of time, which Murray takes advantage of.
It’s another perfect pass into a tight window by Murray. He threw it quick enough to get the ball harmlessly to his man. That deep-outwards bound, timely throw isn’t easy; it takes serious arm strength to deliver that pass before the safety realizes the receiver is in the soft spot of zone coverage.
Takeaways:
- We’ve seen Murray shred man coverage, and he does the same to zone coverage here. His arm strength, accuracy, and understanding of timing will certainly benefit him in attacking zones with faster players in the NFL.
- Good pre-snap read to see it’s a Tampa 2 coverage, but also a good post-snap read. He doesn’t blindly throw it in the soft spot. The route combination is essentially a high-low concept, meaning his progressions go through the corner route first.
- Again, excellent mechanics. His follow-through, quick-release, and hip swivel to put his body into the pass are all pristine. You’d like to see him clear up his footwork but he has an outstanding pro-ready base and release.
Play 5: Orange Bowl, 3rd quarter, 3:10 remaining, 1st & 10
What the offense is running: Play-action, with the slot receiver running a skinny post, X-receiver is running an out-and-up.
What the defense is running: Cover 1 with a five-man pressure and a quarterback spy.
What happens: ‘Bama sniffs out the play-action and instead sticks their attention to Murray. The play is essentially ruined, but it’s Kyler freakin’ Murray, so of course, it stays alive. Again, the quarterback manages to avoid pressure and keeps his eyes downfield to make a throw rather than run first.
This backyard football to the max. Plays like these are why Murray receives so many Russell Wilson comparisons. This play should be dead, but, instead of Murray running for a marginal gain or getting sacked, he sees that his slot burns two guys downfield and decides to rip one of the most beautiful passes I’ve ever seen.
Unreal.
That pass can’t be understated, most pro quarterbacks can’t make that, it’s a sort-of baseball throw. He not only throws it to where his receiver is going to be, but he also throws it 55+ yards down the field, running, with pressure around him.
Takeaways:
- Excellent pocket poise and sense of where pressure was coming from. That pocket was collapsing but Murray remains cool, calm, and collected. Instead of bouncing around, he keeps his shoulders square and looks to make the play before freaking out and bailing.
- What.a.throw. I seriously can’t believe he made that. Those types of plays are why the Cardinals were so high on him and why he gets Patrick Mahomes comparisons.
- Improved footwork in the pocket from what I’ve seen before. He used to kind of skip around when there was much more pressure, instead, Murray shows concise, planned steps to navigate pressure.
- The intangibles. This was the biggest game of his career. Although his defense disappointed in the first half, Murray almost led an improbable comeback. Not even Alabama could stop him from making others look silly.
Final notes, thoughts, tidbits
Although I was very much in support of Josh Rosen and didn’t care too much for Keim’s handling of the situation, the logic to drafting Kyler Murray at No. 1, even with Rosen on the roster, makes sense. Murray is an electrifying product with both the arm and legs to make a difference on every play — he simply can change the game on any given snap.
You’ll notice that I avoided most of Murray’s big runs, and all of the shorter passes, why? Well, Murray won’t be able to run for 70 yards week-in-and-week-out in the NFL, the players are simply bigger, faster, and stronger. For as impressive as those plays are, they came against weaker competition. But that doesn’t take away how fast and quick he is.
As for the shorter passes; Oklahoma’s offense destroyed defenses last year on short, quick, death-by-paper-cut passes. Like Baker Mayfield before him, Murray was able to take advantage of often open players by throwing accurate and well-timed passes. But, eight-yard slants don’t define Murray, his arm strength, processing, running ability, anticipation, and touch does.
Now for the negatives. For as good as Kyler is mechanically, you’d like to see him continue to clean up his footwork. Although he showed improvement in this area through his college football tenure, it will need to take another step in the NFL. He sometimes also floats passes when he should throw them with zip and vice-versa. However, these are things that can easily be coached out and won’t hinder his ability to start and make an impact day one.
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