K1 Podcast: Kenyan Drake gives Kyler Murray, Cardinals pop vs. 49ers

The numbers haven’t jumped out for rookie quarterback Kyler Murray over his last three starts, but by the eye test, the Arizona Cardinals’ No. 1 pick hasn’t disappointed.

Going beyond the last three games, he’s gone 172 pass attempts without an interception and hasn’t lost a fumble this year. He’s completing 64% of his passes and has the 14th-best quarterback rating in the NFL.

In a 28-25 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday, he went 17-of-24 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Murray also rushed five times for 34 yards, giving Arizona a chance to drop the undefeated NFC West rivals.

The story of the game was running back Kenyan Drake rushing for 110 yards and adding 52 receiving yards just days into his Arizona tenure.

For the Week 9 edition of the K1 Podcast, co-hosts Rudy Carpenter and Kevin Zimmerman discuss Murray’s solid play and the evolution of the run-heavy offense around him. Plus, will the Cardinals’ young receivers take on a bigger role as the second half of the year continues?

Here’s what else we discussed.

2:15 — What does it say that Drake was the best offensive player on the field for the Cardinals?

6:00 — Is there any way Arizona can make the Drake acquisition more than a rental?

9:07 — An Andy Isabella sighting on a rare deep ball for an 88-yard touchdown happened against San Francisco. Will there be more of that?

12:08 — How Kliff Kingsbury has shuffled his WRs around has given opportunities to develop players like KeeSean Johnson and Isabella.

14:45 — Was Kingsbury’s 4th-and-1 timeout before the end of the first half as big of a deal as people are making it out to be? No, the answer is no.

16:40 — What hurt the Arizona offense in the first half before Kingsbury’s much-criticized timeout?

18:05 — There are positives about playing a very good 49ers team tough.

20:06 — We look ahead to Bruce Arians’ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cardinals’ next opponent.

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