After very little success in recent seasons, the Arizona Cardinals are now paying around $30 million this year for Kyler Murray to not play for them. The Minnesota Vikings took advantage by scooping him up for the veteran’s minimum, and are hoping he can improve their poor quarterback play.
Murray never found his footing with the Cardinals after going No. 1 overall in 2019, with everything from injuries, to bizarre leadership and maturity rumors. At one point, the Cardinals were even putting study clauses in his contract so that he would actually learn the playbook, instead of playing video games like Call of Duty.
But how much of those video game distractions actually affected his play? Very little, according to Cardinals tight end Trey McBride.
“It was never really a thing,” said McBride on Bussin’ with the Boys about Kyler’s video game distractions. “He never talked about playing video games, but every single week he was in the media…he never talked about gaming or anything. I think they were just finding any stat to get on him.”
Cardinals Tight End Trey McBride Downplays any Issues with Kyler Murray
Murray is hoping to rebuild his career in Minnesota in the same way that Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones did in years prior. He’s currently engaged in a battle with J.J. McCarthy for the starting role, but by all accounts has the advantage.
Leadership and maturity issues have always looked to be overblown as McBride confirms, but the Cardinal tight end said that Murray’s height and style of play do take some getting used to.
“Kyler’s not the tallest guy,” McBride said. “He’s a baseball guy, so he throws from every different arm angle. He’s scrambling around so he’s a very different quarterback than I’ve played with. It was cool, we had a lot of success together.”
At just 5-foot-10, Murray doesn’t look the part of a starting NFL quarterback. But elite arm talent and speed makes him difficult to stop. Head coach Kevin O’Connell will be tasked with finding ways to use those skills while compensating for his unusual quarterback build.
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Expectations will be high for Murray, especially for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations. Murray has always had the talent, but injuries and poor supporting casts have limited him to just one winning season. But in Minnesota, those excuses are thrown out the window. Bucky Brooks of NFL.com even thinks that an MVP award could be a possibility for the newest Minnesota Viking.
“The combination of Murray’s spectacular playmaking ability and Kevin O’Connell’s creative scheming could quickly remind the football world why this quarterback won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma and then went first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft,” Brooks wrote. “If Murray makes Minnesota a true contender in a loaded NFC North, the eighth-year pro could add another major piece of football hardware to his mantle.”
While Murray still needs to beat out McCarthy for the job, the elite receiver room coupled with a strong defense could provide Murray the foundation that he has always wanted.
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