Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray was nowhere to be found in ESPN’s list of the top NFL quarterbacks ahead of the 2024 season – which is compiled on votes and opinions of league executives, coaches and scouts.
Top names dominated the list, as expected:
NFL QB Rankings
1. Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)
2. Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
3. Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
4. Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
5. Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)
6. Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
7. C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans)
8. Aaron Rodgers (New York Jets)
9. Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
10. Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
Murray typically is considered a fringe top 10/12 candidate when healthy – which is why it was a bit odd to see not even grouped in the “honorable mention” category with the following names:
- Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers)
- Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers)
- Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles)
- Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins)
- Kirk Cousins (Atlanta Falcons)
- Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Murray did receive an unspecified amount of votes to land on the list with Tampa Bay Buccaneers passer Baker Mayfield in the same category, though to not finish in the upper half of quarterback rankings – even after missing half of last season with an ACL injury – is… something.
If you paid close attention to Arizona’s 2023 season, you’d notice the night-and-day shift with the Cardinals offense under Murray’s guidance. All but one of their wins came under Murray, and quite honestly Arizona was a ball bounce away from maybe one or two more wins on their resume.
Statistically speaking, the Cardinals had a top ten offense for the end of the season when Murray came back.
With an improved offense in essentially all areas, it’s interesting to guess as to why people aren’t all over the hype train in the desert:
so the cardinals ranked 9th in offensive EPA/play weeks 10-18, have a full offseason of a healthy kyler murray, added a receiver projected to get 1,000 yards in marvin harrison jr to pair with a tight end who ranked 4th in YPRR last season and still have a james conner led… pic.twitter.com/J98Bvgif14
— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) July 9, 2024
Budding star and Cardinals tight end Trey McBride – who was also left outside of the top ten in his positional rankings – believes Murray can win the MVP award this season.
“This is the most confident I’ve seen him. This is the first year I’ve been fully healthy with him — he’s fully healthy — I think everything is trending the right way. He has a ton of weapons out there and I have full confidence that he’s capable of an MVP season,” said McBride.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said he couldn’t contain his excitement for Murray to play a full season:
“I’m not going to hide my excitement, it’s awesome to see him lead the offense. Lead the team, being there with his teammates, asking really good questions, getting held accountable in front of everyone and taking it on the chin just like everybody does, I love that about him,” Gannon told reporters.
“It’s because he’s competitive as all get out, I coach him – he gets coached just like the rookie receiver getting coached making a mistake. He likes that. He welcomes that. He wants that. It’s been really cool to see. I’ve told you guys – it’s going to be an interesting year for him. It really is, I’m excited for him.”
While it’s clear the rest of the league doesn’t follow that line of thought, the Cardinals sure hope to surprise plenty of people once games start to count here shortly.
