The Arizona Cardinals are 4-3 since quarterback Kyler Murray made his return to the lineup following surgery and rehab to his torn ACL suffered last season.
The team, which has played hard under first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon, is finally seeing some of the fruits of their labor offensively. That’s a direct result of having the diminutive but very dynamic Murray back under center.
In last Sunday’s (35-31) come-from-behind road win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Murray had his best game statistically. The former Heisman Trophy-winning signal-caller went 25-for-31 for 232 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Numbers aside, it was Murray’s control of the tempo, leadership and execution that was more impressive.
The threat of Murray using his legs in the zone read game opened up running lanes for running back James Conner, who had his best game of the season as well with 26 rushes for 128 yards and one touchdown, which proved to the game winner.
Gannon Wisely Calls Murray Their Franchise QB
During his weekly radio spot with KMVP 98.7, Gannon told listeners this about his QB heading into the 2024 season.
“There is no doubt, he’s our franchise quarterback.”
That’s definitely the right decision, when you consider the Cardinals currently have the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. They could take a quarterback, but why take an unproven one when you already have a proven signal-caller who’s shown he’s the best option going forward.
It’s also a way of quieting any rumors that the Cardinals may be looking to draft a new QB. This way, they can focus on other areas of need on the roster, because luckily for them QB isn’t one of them.
Gannon Never Fretted As It Pertains To Murray
In his Wednesday media session, Gannon reiterated that he’s always believed that Murray would be the QB going forward.
“I’ve been convinced since I got here. What the guy’s done for us, the player that he is, the person that he is, the competitor that he is, I kind of chuckled. That’s been my view for, since I got here.”
Gannon also mentioned how Murray has been on board with the plan since he arrived. As with any relationship, the two had to build trust with each other as Gannon also explained.
“It’s a relationship that we’ve built. He trusts me and I trust him, so it’s been great,” Gannon said.
Trust is something Murray didn’t seem to have with former head coach Kliff Kingsbury, and the way Murray showed him up at times proved that there wasn’t much respect between the two either.
Now they’ll need to make the right moves this offseason to give Murray some more weaponry offensively. If they can do that and add a little to their defense this team could be a playoff team in 2024.
