The Cardinals took a huge risk when they drafted QB Kyler Murray at No. 1 overall out of Oklahoma in 2019. Not so much because he was the actual risk, but because they traded away QB Josh Rosen to do so, who they had just picked the previous year at No. 10 overall. Many questioned whether they gave up on Rosen too early just to take another QB in the top-10.
The good news is that they made the absolutely right decision when we look back on it five years later. There was some question recently as to whether Arizona should trade Murray with all of their struggles as of late, but remember, he was out for a lot of that time last season. Whenever he has actually been healthy, the Cardinals haven’t actually been a totally terrible team.
They certainly got far better last year after Murray came back from his injury, but with the worst defesne in the league, they weren’t going to win many games no matter what. Murray also had almost nothing to work with, but he still managed to make the offense at least serviceable.
Arizona has looked like a team that could compete for the playoffs after two games this year. Sure, they lost in Week 1 in Buffalo to a very good Bills team, but they still looked quite impressive offensively and Murray looked great. Then, last weekend, they blew the doors off of the Los Angeles Rams at home 41-10.
Rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr., a top-5 pick in this last draft, caught two touchdowns and torched the Rams for 130 yards. Murray threw three touchdowns with 266 poassing yards. It all came together and they looked nearly unstoppable, there was nothing the Rams did that worked.
According to Next Gen Stats, Kyler Murray finished the game with a perfect passer rating and a career-high +19.3% completion percentage over expected. The Cardinals are 14-1 when Murray finishes with a +4.0% CPOE or better, and 9-21-1 when Murray finishes with a negative CPOE.
The Cardinals success is contingent on the success of Kyler Murray. He has always had all the
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