Kyler Murray gave opposing defenses fits with his legs in the 2020 NFL season, especially in the red zone, but his style of play became a bit predictable.
And sure, head coach Kliff Kingsbury is somewhat to blame as well for the playcalling, but Murray had a habit of scrambling or taking off running after his primary read was taken away. Defenses began to spy on him with a linebacker, and they also, at times, used a “mush rush” to keep him in the pocket, rather than breaking contain and taking off running outside.
It appears he was aware of the adjustments that were made, and he’ll be looking to rely on his arm, not his legs, more this season. Murray, like Lamar Jackson, has struggled with accuracy issues throughout his career, and it’s possible that he worked on them during the offseason, because he seems to want to throw more going forward.
“Honestly, the way I see it is, my legs should be a luxury,” Murray said, via the team’s official website. “And it kind of wasn’t like that last year. It was me having to run for us in a sense. Once my shoulder was banged up and I wasn’t trying to put myself out there and take those hits, we hit a lull. Honestly, I think it was a lesson for us. We can’t be one-dimensional. We’ve got to be better in all aspects of the game.”Â
If Murray’s shoulder is fully healed, we’d love to see him trust his arm more, especially given the plethora of weapons the Cardinals have in the passing game.
