NFL execs still see Cardinals’ Kyler Murray as best QB from 2019 class
Aug 18, 2020, 10:52 AM
Daniel Jones #8 of the New York Giants congratulates Kyler Murray #1 of the Arizona Cardinals after the fourth quarter of the game at MetLife Stadium on October 20, 2019 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Arizona Cardinals won 27-21. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was the No. 1 overall pick in 2019. And, at least as far as quarterbacks are concerned, NFL executives still see him as the best player a year later.
That’s according to ESPN, which polled executives and coaches anonymously to get a ranking on the quarterbacks who were taken in 2019. Murray, the Giants’ Daniel Jones, the Broncos’ Drew Lock, the Jaguars’ Gardner Minshew, Washington’s Dwayne Haskins and the Patriots’ Jarrett Stidham were ranked, in that order. Only Murray and Jones were ranked in the order they were actually drafted.
“[Murray’s] got something to him, man,” one veteran NFL quarterback told ESPN. “He’s got some magic to him.”
At the time he was drafted, part of the allure with Murray was that he was a threat both in the air and on the ground. He could make plays with his legs but also turn and throw the ball down the field, something that is credited in part to his baseball background; Murray was a top prospect not just in football but also as a ninth overall pick by the Oakland A’s.
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Interestingly, though, ESPN Stats & Information said Murray had the 10th-best QBR in the NFL when he was inside the pocket (63.3). When he left that protection, though, his QBR was 25.2, only 21st in the NFL and the sixth-largest difference in QBR comparing inside with outside of the pocket.
That might be in part because he took some unnecessary sacks after leaving the pocket last year, a big reason why he was tied for the league lead in sacks taken with 48 (Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan also had 48 sacks).
Still, the consensus is that Murray is the best quarterback prospect from his draft class. Per ESPN, an NFL coordinator said Murray would “eventually be harder to stop than [Baltimore’s] Lamar Jackson.”
“[Kyler] neutralizes a good defensive line,” the coordinator said. “Lamar, you know what you have to do to stop him. Not that it’s easy. He’s a runner. Kyler has that release.”
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