Kyler Murray's Injury Probably Marks The Bitter End Of The Arizona Cardinals As We Currently Know Them
I've been critical of Kyler Murray. There's a small but vocal group of Cardinals fans who will come after you when you criticize their franchise quarterback. Today really isn't the day to talk shit. This just sucks. Say whatever you want about Kyler, but he's an elite talent and one of the most electrifying players in the NFL when he's rolling. Unfortunately, he went down with what looks to be a major injury early on in Monday night's loss to the Patriots.
If there were ever a time for Arizona's ownership to hit the reset button, blow this thing up and basically start from scratch, it'd be now. The organization is in shambles. Whether or not it was a clap back at Kyler for his hardball tactics in securing a lucrative second contract, there was a stipulation in that deal to spend extra time studying film that leaked to the public. Prior to this, Kyler publicly admitted to not grinding in the film room like other elite QBs.
I don't know who's most to blame for the fact that Kyler will enter his fifth year without a playoff victory. His future is even murkier given the Cardinals' 5-9 record, how seemingly tumultuous his relationship with coach Kliff Kingsbury is and the fact that Kyler relies so much on his legs to create plays.
It's time to tear this thing down to the studs. News broke of GM Steve Keim and Kingsbury signing offseason extensions just as Murray secured his massive payday. Curiously, unless I missed something, there aren't any details as far as the structure of those new Keim and Kingsbury deals, which run through 2027. Those could've been a sort of PR stunt to present an alleged united front when Arizona's key leadership comes across as anything but that from the outside looking in.
Whomever is in charge of personnel when transactions are bottom-line decided upon, it seems like the Cardinals are just desperately acquiring as much wide receiver talent as possible and seeing what sticks. That position group has been overcrowded as hell, and the production hasn't matched.
I used to be of the mind that Kyler Murray either can't run a slightly evolved version of the Air Raid offense that Kingsbury brought with him to the pros, or he's not willing to work hard, park his ass in the film room for extended periods of time, and pick up a more sophisticated system than, more or less, the one he ran in college. My uncle Larry Fitzgerald basically spoke on that before last night's kickoff:
NOW HOLD ON. This is where I think Kyler can turn it all around. If the Cardinals have the guts to do it.
Still only 25 years old, we can presume Murray's best football is ahead of him. It's going to be grueling, lengthy rehab process, yet if he can come out the other side of that, and lives up to the work ethic his backup Colt McCoy raved about after Monday's game, there's a golden opportunity to turn the page and write a new chapter as he commences his prime.
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All that starts with firing Kingsbury. Whether it's Kyler's mercurial personality and the organization walking on eggshells or not, they've placated to him and genuflected before him at every turn. Kingsbury strikes me as a bit of a pushover and someone who's a little in over his head. That's not really a hot take, since he didn't exactly have a sparking track record as a college head coach either.
How's this for a microcosm of the state of affairs in the desert?
Arizona needs to get a no-nonsense, respected leader as a new voice in the locker room. They need to cut ties with Keim, because his roster-building abilities are, um, severely flawed to be kind. Keim's tenure stretches all the way back to 2013. He has one postseason victory to show for it. Not good enough. Personnel is something out of Kyler's control. He deserves better.
What Kyler Murray needs is structure, a coach who can actually get him to buy in to a more traditional pro-style scheme and can cleverly scheme up ways to maximize the dual-threat field general's immense potential. So far, it's just felt like Kyler bulldozing his superiors, and taking the easy way out by not evolving the offense past what he ran in college. To be clear, that's not all on him. It's a sign the Cards need to make wholesale changes. Their culture is just bad. It's trickling down and infecting everyone.
Former Cardinals ball boy and Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton is the obvious No. 1 candidate Arizona should target. I know I'm thinking way ahead, but Kingsbury has to be gone. I don't know how you sell him as your coach in 2023 based on what's gone down this year, not to mention how the team has regressed in the second half of each of his prior three seasons.
There's a fine line between being loyal and stubborn. The Cardinals are leaning more toward the latter. They're stuck with Kyler whether they like it or not. Hopefully he can rehab, come back stronger and better than ever and have a far more competent GM-coach tandem waiting for him to get the most out of the next critical phase of his career.
Twitter @MattFitz_gerald/TikTok