Kyler Murray finds himself in a rubber meets the road situation with the Cardinals. There have been plenty of personal accolades for the Cardinals’ signal caller, with an Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2019 and Pro Bowl selections in the subsequent two seasons. He signed a five-year, $230 million extension in the summer of 2022 coming off a career season in 2021. Murray has yet to make due on the contract, much of it due to missing a lot of time with a torn ACL suffered that December.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Part of the reason why Murray was unable to build on a promising 2021 season has been the talent around him atrophying. In that 2021 season, he was throwing to DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, Christian Kirk, and Zach Ertz. That season, the Cardinals began the season 7-0 but stumbled in the second half before getting blown out on the road to the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
The Cardinals have worked hard to improve the talent level around him. They were busy in free agency, signing Jonah Williams and Zay Jones to provide some veteran stability to the offensive line and receiver room respectively. They spent their top pick on blue-chip talent Marvin Harrison Jr. to grow into Murray’s future No. 1 target.
2024 marks the first season that he has had a receiving corps that’s even comparable in terms of talent, although they don’t have the same experience. It has a chance to grow into that, along with Murray in 2024.
Add those guys to a receiving group that saw promising seasons in 2023 out of receiver Michael Wilson and tight end Trey McBride, the Cardinals should have a pretty solid receiving corps. By having a normal offseason, Murray has a chance to work on building chemistry with those guys after only playing in eight games.
While there aren’t any household names in this year’s offense yet, it’s a well-balanced group that can attack any part of the field. That should give Murray and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing plenty of opportunities to identify and attack the weaknesses in the opposing defense. Whether it’s the physical downhill run game with James Connor, the inside passing game with McBride and slot receiver Greg Dortch, or attacking the boundary with Harrison and Wilson, they’ve got a lot of options to attack a defense with.
With the talent around him finally good enough, it’s now Murray’s turn to show that he is still the right guy to lead the franchise. He doesn’t have to an elite quarterback, but he has to play well enough to give the Cardinals a chance to win on most Sundays and stay healthy throughout the season. If Murray plays at that high a level and can start all his games for the first time in five seasons, Arizona will have a chance to build themselves into a contender.
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Michael McDermott covers the Arizona Diamondbacks, Arizona Cardinals, and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on X via @MichaelMcDMLB
