Five reasons why Kyler Murray will win the MVP this year

Kyler Murray is the best chance the Arizona Cardinals have at winning their first-ever MVP award.

It’s frustrating for the Arizona Cardinals who’ve been around since 1898 that they’ve never had a league MVP. Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer are the two who have arguably been the closest the Cardinals have gotten. Technically, the only MVP that’s been around the team since the turn of the Millenia was Larry Fitzgerald’s Pro Bowl MVP in 2008. Murray was actually part of the conversation for quite some time last season, and if it wasn’t for Russell Wilson’s uncharacteristic hot start, It would’ve been Murray alone in the spotlight for the first half of the season.

However, if there ever was a year that Kyler Murray was going to win the MVP, it’s this upcoming year. There are five reasons that will be covered, giving Arizona it’s first MVP player ever.  These include other candidates finally fading from the discussion, Murray’s own growth and more.

So here are the five reasons (countdown style) why Kyler Murray will win the MVP this year, as he works to become the face of the NFL.

Reason #5 Kyler Murray will win the MVP: Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers regress

Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers (the reigning MVP) were the two QB’s last season that most people favored to win the MVP. After all of the off-season talk headed into the 2020 season which highlighted Wilson never even garnering a single MVP vote, the “Let Russ Cook” campaign began to the surprise of the NFL. The Seahawks *actually* listened to their quarterback and let him throw the ball to early-season success.

Rodgers also got his offense out to a hot start, but when Rodgers and the Packers lost to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in an embarrassing loss (which really ended up being foreshadowing for the playoffs), the MVP talk cooled off. It wasn’t until late in the season did he become a favorite to win it.

With both quarterbacks going through huge drama this offseason and the fact that Rodgers may not play for GB this season is going to affect how these two operate. I believe that in the back of their minds that it’ll cause some passive-aggressive issues later down the road that will manifest against them. Both have asked for personnel help- linemen for Wilson, receivers for Rodgers.

Neither of them have really gotten it (and no, Stone Forsyth and Amari Rodgers don’t count as solutions). They will still produce, but Murray will be better. Murray was 13th in passing yards last season, and second in QB rushing yards. He also earned his first pro bowl selection, and given how he has improved from his rookie year that will continue in 2021.

Reason #4 Kyler Murray will win the MVP: Eliminate costly turnovers

Everyone who kept an eye on the MVP race last season remembers that Murray fell out in a hurry. After the Miami game, the offense was stuck in neutral for all but two games (Buffalo, Philadelphia). If you include that game against Miami and the following games afterwards, Murray had 5 interceptions and 6 fumbles (3 recovered). Now all of that isn’t Murray’s fault. Seeing a QB his size get rocked by a typical NFL defensive linemen can make anyone fumble.

Murray didn’t decrease his interception count from his rookie year, but taking 21 less sacks also helped. The new offensive line with Rodney Hudson and Brian Winters on the inside will help solidify the weakest part of the offensive line. This is a key to limiting the number of “bad throws” made (see my article on Murray’s advanced stats for more info).

Not to mention actually having OTA’s and minicamps, let alone a true training camp for him and receivers to go through will ultimately be a part of decreasing turnovers. There should be less confusion and more cohesion, thus resulting in longer drives for the Cardinals. Improving upon his 9/24/188/2 outing against the Dak-less Dallas Cowboys in which 42% of his yards came on the long touchdown to Christian Kirk is something that you won’t see again in year 3 of Kyler Murray.

Reason #3 Kyler Murray will win the MVP: The defensive front seven gives him more possessions

Steve Keim has ripped the hearts out of Houston Texans fans in the past two seasons, acquiring DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt. Watt chose Arizona this year over playoff teams like Buffalo and Cleveland, perhaps signaling a shift in culture here in the desert. Getting Chandler Jones back (despite his one sack last year before his injury) will also create a nightmare along opposing offensive lines.

With Isaiah Simmons and newcomer Zaven Collins manning the second level, the Cardinals are trying to build a franchise defense for the very first time. Could this be the Cardinals K.J. Wright/Bobby Wagner combination? Only time will tell.

All of these additions and players returning can help get off the defense off the field, something that was a such slow, but brutal burn towards the end of the year as the team lost to inferior talent to end the last two games of the season.  The real concern is the secondary, in which there was little improvement and is the weak spot of the team.

Reason #2 Kyler Murray will win the MVP : He’ll win the division

Without a division championship since the 2015 era, Murray will guide this offense well enough to finally put another division title banner up in the giant toaster. With their strength of schedule being tied for 13th, the challenge is there but it can certainly be done. The defense as mentioned before will also finish out any last-ditch efforts and finally let us see more victory formations.

Having three primetime games against playoff teams will also help his case. Being able (or at least schedule) to play Rodgers for the first time in Murray’s career would be an electric matchup. Each and every time the Cardinals play the Packers it sends this Wisconsin-born Cardinals fan into “high blood pressure week”.

A showdown with the L.A Rams and Matthew Stafford is a shootout waiting to happen between two Texas high school football legends. Capping it off with a Christmas Day home game against the Colts (probably the least challenging of the 3) will give Murray the opportunity to show the nation that he’s here to lead the team to the playoffs and the MVP award.

Reason #1 Kyler Murray will win the MVP: Kliff Kingsbury takes next step

In what was basically growing pains in the 2020 season, there sure were some crazy calls by Kliff Kingsbury. We may never know what caused all of them as maybe it was the irregular offseason caused by COVID-19. I have a good feeling that Kingsbury can make the change and turn his critics (as I have been so far) into believers.

We saw a lot of creativity in 2019 with K2, but that seemed to go out the window in 2020. There should be more deep balls thrown to DeAndre Hopkins. It’ll be interesting to see how fast Rondale Moore can become the #2 WR if Larry Fitzgerald doesn’t come back. If Moore can at least catch slants in the end zone when it matters, then it will happen quicker than most expect it.

All Cardinals fans are hoping that the running backs can stay healthy this year. James Conner and Chase Edmonds haven’t been the healthiest of players and there are doubts if they can survive 17 games instead of 16. Hopefully Kingsbury works with run game coordinator Sean Kugler to take advantage of the rebuilt offensive line to make the run game set up the pass.

If all of that happens, then I can’t see why Murray can’t win the NFL MVP. There’s always the fact that someone may just ultimately perform better than him. Predictions can be wrong. But if there’s anyone I could say is in the front to win it, it’s Kyler Murray.