Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is a polarizing player, both among Cardinals fans and around the league. He has the creativity and arm talent to take over in key moments, but his size creates limitations that have kept him from becoming elite.
As the Cardinals continue to struggle to become relevant, some fans and analysts have claimed that Murray is a below-average quarterback who does not deserve to be Arizona’s starter.
In a recent article, Kyler Murray received the exact amount of respect that he deserves.
Kyler Murray middle of the pack according to PFF rankings
PFF recently ranked all 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL, including tier breakdowns. The list has some surprises, but it is more reasonable than most rankings posted in the middle of the offseason.
John Kosko, the PFF analyst responsible for the list, ranked Kyler Murray 15th.
Murray was just below Baker Mayfield and C.J. Stroud and just ahead of Trevor Lawrence and Dak Prescott. These players, and a few others, were included in tier 3b, titled “Solid starters, but they need more help.”
Kyler Murray’s career has been hard to pin down so far. At his best, he’s a top-ten quarterback capable of leading his team to success. The issue is that we don’t see his best week in and week out. Throughout his career, Murray has struggled to string together multiple strong performances. His quality of play has dipped at the end of most seasons. He’s even struggled to stay healthy, missing 18 games across his six seasons.
Kyler Murray had one of the best seasons of his career in 2024. He finished in the top ten in total QBR and totaled 26 touchdowns. Still, he slowed down significantly in the back half of the year.
Unfortunately, Murray’s potential may be capped by his size. At 5’10”, he struggles to consistently access the middle of the field. This issue limits the Cardinals' offense and has led to frustrations in the usage of receivers like Marvin Harrison Jr.
In 2025, Kyler Murray has a chance to prove his status as a franchise quarterback. As Kosko says, “If he can avoid the injury bug again in 2025, Murray is well-positioned to take another step forward in Year 3 under head coach Jonathan Gannon and offensive coordinator Drew Petzing.”
There are no more excuses now. Kyler Murray has to be better than he’s been so far in his career. If Murray leads this team to the playoffs this season, expect the conversation around him to shift dramatically.