With the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft, the Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray, the quarterback from the University of Oklahoma. This is the second consecutive year that the Cardinals took a quarterback with their first draft pick. In the 2018 NFL draft, Arizona selected Josh Rosen out of UCLA with the 10th overall selection.

There is now a lot of speculation on what the red birds are going to do with Rosen as it seems they couldn’t be happier with the addition of Murray as their number one signal caller. Their most logical option would be to trade Rosen. If they can get another highly talented player or a solid draft pick in return for Josh, I believe they will have to go that route. If not, the Cardinals have stated they may keep both of the young quarterbacks.

Arizona’s general manager, Steve Keim, had this to say…

…“Bottom line is, Josh is a really good football player,” says Keim . “We’re not going to get in the business of just letting good football players walk out of here. I think the one thing we all have to keep in mind, and we’ve certainly done our research, over the past three years 19 starting quarterbacks have missed at least three games. OK? Out of those 19 starters, 14 of those teams missed the playoffs, which to me is a direct correlation of not having backups, not having good players in terms of depth. And then when you really look at it as well, the guys who have been injured missed an average of 4.6 games due to injury.”

“I have a personal stake in it from the fact that I remember in 2014 limping into the playoffs with our third-string quarterback. You can’t have enough good depth. We’ve talked about that over and over in here. Needs constantly change. Those needs could change at that position. But we know that we got a very good player in Josh Rosen here.”

Trade Scenario:

It was rumored that the either the New York Giants or the Washington Redskins were very interested in trading for Rosen, but both of those teams selected a quarterback with their first round picks at the 2019 NFL draft. The Giants chose Daniel Jones from Duke with the number 6 overall pick, and the Skins went with Dwayne Haskins out of The Ohio State University with the fifteenth overall option. Only time will tell how they play their cards.

Kyler Murray’s College Career:

Murray first attended Texas A & M and then transferred to Oklahoma. He was quite the athlete playing both football and baseball. Kyler had the option to go pro in either sport, but he obviously chose to play in the NFL over the MLB.

2018 was a very successful year for him as Murray racked up a variety of awards and honors making him a household name. He won the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O’Brien Award, the Associated Press Player of the Year Award, the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Award, and was named to the First Team All American as well as the First Team All Big 12.

Relationship with Head Coach Kingsbury

“Cannot wait,” says Murray. “Me and him have had a relationship since I was like 15 years old. It’s something we’ve talked about for a long time. It’s a long time coming. God works in mysterious ways. For me to be playing for him now, it’s a surreal feeling.”

Kingsbury expressed that he was “obviously excited” to finally get Murray, whom he first started recruiting during Murray’s sophomore year in high school.

At the NFL scouting combine last February, Murray said this of Kingsbury: “He’s always been very fond of me, and I respect that. I’ve always never taken that for granted. He’s always someone I can go to if I ever need anything. Like I said, it’d be fun. It’d be a great deal if I was picked No. 1.”

According to ESPN, “He was first linked to Arizona shortly after the Cardinals hired Kingsbury on Jan. 8. A video resurfaced from October of Kingsbury, when he was still head coach at Texas Tech, saying if he had the first overall pick, he’d take Murray. The comment was made in the lead up to Texas Tech’s game against Oklahoma. By happenstance, Kingsbury, who was fired by Texas Tech after six seasons in November, found himself with the first overall pick.”

“I didn’t know what to think, honestly,” says Murray. “I don’t really remember when, but I was a little up in the air on what I was doing. So it all kind of worked out. Like I said, God works in mysterious ways, and me choosing to play football and Coach Kingsbury getting the job with Arizona, us having that relationship for years now, it’s crazy to think that now he is coaching me.”

NFL Predictions

I have a feeling Kyler will have a spectacular NFL career. I know he is often doubted for being short, but he reminds me a lot of Russell Wilson. Both of them are around the same height, and they are equally spectacular athletes. Wilson was a professional caliber baseball player much the same as Murray (each drafted by MLB franchises).

Their similar football skills are also apparent when watching the two of them play. If Kyler stays healthy and is provided with the right personnel in terms of his teammates, then I can see him becoming a star NFL Quarterback. It will definitely be interesting to watch his career unfold in the near future.