Arizona Cardinals: Kyler Murray is playing far worse than you think

Kyler Murray is not giving the Arizona Cardinals any justification for his lucrative contract extension given his performance this season.

For some strange reason, the Arizona Cardinals faithful love to blame only head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim for the team’s failures, yet they are far too happy to give quarterback Kyler Murray a free pass. This is something that has dumbfounded me since Murray, not Keim or Kingsbury, is the one stepping onto the field and playing offense.

Sure, you can blame poor playcalling and overall roster management all you want, but how does a player with Murray’s caliber fail to at least partially remedy the situation, especially in the fourth season of his career?

Compare Murray to draft bust Baker Mayfield for a second. Mayfield went through three different offensive coaches during his first three seasons in the league, yet he still managed to win a playoff game. This isn’t saying that Mayfield is a better quarterback, but it is saying that Murray is yet another former Oklahoma product that has severely underachieved in the NFL, and I don’t care how many popularity contests the guy wins.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback not living to expectations

And it also doesn’t excuse Murray, now in his fourth season, for being on pace for statistically his worst year with the Arizona Cardinals since 2019. Let’s look at his current statistics, then measure them out for a 17-game season.

Before we get to the bad stuff, let’s applaud Murray on one account: He is on pace to log a career best 4,000-plus passing yards, and a career low interception percentage of 1.7%. Now, let’s get to the reality check.

Murray is currently on pace for the following: 4,095 passing yards, 66.7% completion percentage, 23 touchdown passes, 11 interceptions, 3.3% touchdown pass percentage, 6.0 yards per pass attempt, and a QB rating of 86.9. He is also averaging just 240 yards per game, the lowest since his rookie season in 2019.

Murray’s 6.3% sack percentage is also his highest since 2019. He is also on pace to take 45 sacks, also his highest number in that span. His net yards gained per pass attempt sits at a measly 5.16 yards, over a half-hard less than any other time during his career.

He is on pace to have the lowest passer rating than his rookie season, and his QBR of 47.9 is nearly 10 points lower than it was in 2019. His previous career low in QBR occurred last year when it sunk to 57.3. Want more fun? He has lost 186 yards on sacks, putting him on pace to lose 352 over 17 weeks, by far the worst number of his career.

Ditto for his adjusted net yards per pass attempt, which is just 5.08, and nearly a half-hard less than his previous career low of 5.55. Overall, you can blame Kingsbury’s bad playcalling and game management. But the point is, Murray has played in this system for four seasons. And the fact of the matter is, as much as the fanbase is trying to pretend otherwise, Murray has regressed as an NFL quarterback in nearly every facet.

Yes, Murray is just 25, and yes, the fanbase wants to find every reason to give Murray a free pass. But these numbers are just abysmal for a former first overall pick in his fourth season. This is a player that started the 2020 season in the MVP conversation if you remember correctly. And so far, he has been nothing but a disappointment considering his draft status.

(Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference)

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