Cardinals QB Kyler Murray labeled “Polarizing Player” by PFF

Pro Football Focus released a quarterback ranking that places Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray in the “Most Polarizing Players” tier. 

After leading the Arizona Cardinals to their best record in over six seasons, Kyler Murray is a name that still causes some controversy in the world of NFL media.

A writer for Pro Football Focus, Seth Galina, recently released his rankings of the current quarterbacks in the NFL separated into unique tiers.

At the top were the “Golden Oldies,” such as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, who are advanced in age but still producing at a top level in the league.

In Tier B were the “Shooting Stars,” or players under 30 who have impressed at the pro level and seem set to have long and successful careers in the NFL.

It would have been reasonable to assume that Murray would have found himself in this tier alongside the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Joe Burrow, and Lamar Jackson.

However, you must look one tier down to the “Most Polarizing Players” before finding Arizona’s signal-caller.

In Tier C, Murray is joined by two other quarterbacks that have contributed to countless debates on national sports shows, Twitter, and most likely bars across the nation. Those two others were Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott and Raiders, QB Derek Carr.

It is easy for each of these three players to find camps that consider them the best or the worst, with a seemingly small number of fans caught between. It is undoubtedly noticeable within the Arizona Cardinals community.

Does Kyler Murray deserve to be in this category?

To be perfectly fair, Murray is a bit of a confusing player. However, through the first seven weeks of the 2021 season, he was a bonafide MVP candidate who consistently lit up secondaries and made teams pay with his quick feet.

Fast-forward through the remainder of the season, and the quarterback witnessed by football fans mere weeks before seemed a distant memory.

Whether from injury or other unknown reasons, the Kyler Murray of Week 18 was almost unrecognizable when compared to the MVP betting favorite of Week 6.

On top of the second-half collapse that saw the Arizona Cardinals lose four out of their last six games, the blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Wildcard round raised many questions of its own.

In that January 17th matchup, Murray posted an abysmal 40.9 quarterback rating and threw for only 137 yards in the 34-11 loss.

No, that monstrosity of a game did not lie entirely on the 24-year-old quarterback’s shoulders. Still, it did give pause to many in the sports media world and probably caused many to reconsider where he lies in the overall ranking of the league’s field generals.

Personally, I still count Murray among the young elite of the NFL and expect him to continue growing as a passer and leader. ‘

However, I can understand why some in the sports world are a bit more hesitant to heap praise upon him, considering the lack of a complete season and the absence of any playoff victories.