The excitement from the 2019 free agency period and the NFL draft has now settled. Most teams have likely finished organized team activities (OTAs) and are now moving on to a mandatory minicamp. Kyler Murray was the player with the most hype leading up to the draft and has still managed to remain a talking point based off going number one overall to the Arizona Cardinals.
Keep in mind, all teams have yet to set foot on a field for a regular season game, so speculation can only be drawn from what we are allowed to see at OTAs, minicamps, and eventually training camp. However meaningless our offseason observations and claims might be it is something that all fans of football and fantasy football are watching.
It shouldn’t come as a shocker, but Kliff Kingsbury has had nothing but good things to say about Kyler Murray during an interview after OTAs and is probably one of the biggest reasons Murray is a Cardinal. Kingsbury has been arguably the biggest supporter of Murray. “He’s a playmaker and if you watch him throughout his career, that’s what he does,” Kingsbury said. “He can take a play that’s not open and turn it into a spectacular play on any given play.”
Christian Kirk was one of the brighter spots in last years dismal offense before going down with a broken foot. In regards to Murray, he went on to say “This offense, Kliff has done a good job of simplifying it, compared to last year when you had a hundred million words you had to say before you called a play. You have a lot to think about, especially being a rookie quarterback. It makes Kyler more comfortable, and that’s when you play your best football when you aren’t thinking.”
Probably the most important players’ opinion that should matter, is future Hall of Famer, Larry Fitzgerald. According to what Fitzgerald told azcardinals.com, “He knows the system better than we do”, “He can get us into any play at any time, and then he has the ultimate weapon in the exit button.”. Fitzgerald is a 15 year veteran with plenty of experience with many different quarterbacks. Cardinals running back David Johnson continues the praise of Murray stating “He’s already conducting, leading the offense. He’s moving around, scrambling – it’s making it tough for the defense to catch him.”.
Regardless of all the positive praise, Murray has not played an actual NFL game, however, he appears to be checking all the boxes possible thus far in an offseason. What will matter the most is when the rubber hits the road and the regular season has started. Cardinal fans and everyone in the Cardinals organization, are looking to Murray to breathe some life into this offense that was tough to watch last year and asking him to do it in a tough NFC West division, with a rookie head coach. The Cardinals aren’t currently scheduled for prime time games outside of one Thursday night game on October 31st, against the 49ers, but eyes will for sure be on Murray and Kingsbury this season.
