Very early in the offseason, it was reported that Arizona Cardinals were interested in drafting Kyler Murray with the first overall pick in this year’s draft. Part of this was stemming from their new HC’s love for the Oklahoma QB.
The other part may have come from the Cardinals pathetic 2018 campaign. Arizona finished 3-13, the worst in the league. This comes after the Cards drafted QB Josh Rosen with the 10th overall pick in 2018 draft. Rosen, who started the season on the bench behind Mike Glennon and Sam Bradford, would eventually be thrust into the starting role. Starting 13 games, he threw for 2,278 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. Of all QBs with at least 13 games started, Rosen had the lowest passing yards and touchdowns, as well as the fifth-most interceptions.
So, after Rosen’s poor performance in his rookie season, the rumors began to swirl. Would Arizona be willing to draft a QB in the top 10 in back-to-back seasons? It seemed that the Cardinals making Murray their next QB was a forgone conclusion. This set the rest of the NFL into a panic.
Finding the next “guy” is the hardest thing to do in the NFL. There are 32 jobs, and there have never been 32 people capable of being the “guy” for every organization. Many believe Murray could be that for their team. So, teams were ready to jump up. This also bumped up the stock of the rest of the QBs in the draft class. Guys like Drew Lock, Will Grier, and Daniel Jones went from being potential second/third round picks to being considered in the first round. Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, originally considered a late-first round pick, has moved up to a top-10 pick.
Teams like the New York Giants have acquired multiple first round picks this year. They’re a team that could be primed to move up and draft their QB of the future. That guy could be Kyler Murray. Oakland also has multiple first round picks and a question to answer at the QB position. They may be willing to move up to snag their guy.
What’s interesting now is Arizona may not be interested in using the pick on Murray at all. The major play-up of their interest in the QB could be completely fabricated, and if so, they’re brilliant. They may swindle a team into trading multiple picks to grab a QB they never wanted in the first place.
Think about it. They drafted a QB 10th overall last year. Yeah, it may not be the same HC, but it’s the same owner and GM. We’ve seen plenty of QBs who’ve struggled their rookie season improve with a coaching change (see Mitchell Trubisky/Jared Goff). There will be complications. Learning a completely new system at a young age is difficult. They may not have the expected “year two jump” just yet. But, if Kingsbury is better than Steve Wilks, I expect Rosen to improve.
Just think, if the Cards convince someone to move up and grab the top pick, they can add at least two good young pieces. They could draft one of the many talented DL, a top LB, or add some pass-catchers for Rosen. And all of that would be done partly because they made the league believe they wanted Murray.
The Cardinals may have completely fooled the rest of the NFL.