Four Arizona Cardinals cornerstones to get excited about

Kyler Murray

This one is a given. Murray had an up and down season in 2019 during his rookie campaign and has made his fair share of mistakes in 2020. Hey, it happens with young quarterbacks. Especially for those young quarterbacks who didn’t play much in college.

But Murray may just be the most dangerous dual-threat quarterback in football today. The only other player who comes close to Murray in such terms is Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. However, unlike Jackson, Murray has the uncanny ability to lead his team to wins over formidable opponents while Jackson tends to fold.

Murray’s also an expert at taking care of his body, opting to slide to avoid contact or ducking out of bounds during a scramble in favor of taking a hit. It will add years to Murray’s career and he won’t wear down his body like many dual-threat quarterbacks before him.

But it isn’t just Murray’s football IQ that sets him apart. He has made a leap in almost every statistical category in Year 2 in win-loss record, touchdown passes, touchdown pass percentage, completion percentage, first downs, sacks, yards per attempt, quarterback rating, and sacks.

The only blemish is that his interception total and interception percentage has increased. However, the increase is rather minute, from 2.2 percent in 2019 to 2.8 percent in 2020. Statistically, and in the important win-loss column, Murray has proved he can be the franchise quarterback to lead the Cardinals annual trips to the playoffs so long as he is in command.