Arizona Cardinals quarterback has deteriorated since returning

When Kyler Murray tore his ACL nearly a year ago, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Returning from such a serious injury can change someone, and perhaps the same thing would happen to the Arizona Cardinals former first-overall pick. But through three weeks, he has done little to convince us he’s the future.

Murray finished with an 83.2 quarterback rating, with 27 completions on 45 attempts, for 256 yards, and 5.7 yards per pass. But his numbers were far worse before the Rams backed off, and he bottomed out with a 60.5 quarterback rating about three quarters through the contest. 

To say this was a terrible performance is an understatement, as Murray has regressed in all three weeks that he’s been back. He was heroic in Week 10 vs. the Atlanta Falcons, while the game wasn’t entirely his fault in last week’s loss to the Houston Texans.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback is running out of chances in the desert

Today, Murray played like a late-round quarterback or undrafted free agent who was thrust into action to be the team’s impromptu starter. The only remotely positive takeaway from this one is that he has an opportunity to bounce back, but as it stands, it may be time to start reconsidering things in the NFL Draft. 

That doesn’t mean we need to give up on Murray after just three starts, which would be reckless. But it does mean that there should be a massive sense of urgency for the quarterback, who was highly-touted from the minute he started taking snaps regularly when he was still in college back in 2018 and became the top pick after only one good year and one full season as the starter at Oklahoma.

So, Mr. Murray has five weeks to show us he is a lot better than the way he played today. If not, there are options in the draft like Drake Maye and Michael Penix Jr. who would love to show the Red Sea that they can make the entire offense better, something he has never done. Like I said, I tried giving the 26-year-old my full support, but that support is once again starting to slip. 

BetMGM is giving you some support with an INSTANT $200 sign-up bonus right now! New users who bet $10 or more on any game today will immediately receive $200 in bonus bets just for placing the wager. It's as simple as it sounds, but you need to act quickly - sign up for BetMGM now!

(Statistics provided by ESPN.com)