Kyler Murray Late-Season Disappearances: Interview w/ Cardinals Insider Kyle Odegard Pt.3
No real need for a major introduction, here. If you missed either Part 1 on Part 2, I highly recommend checking them out, as Kyle Odegard has already let us in on a wealth of knowledge regarding Kyler Murray.
This time, we’re talking about Kyler Murray’s lack of late and postseason success so far in his career. Like before, follow along and know that BB is me, JH is Jason Harmon, and KO is Kyle Odegard.
Kyler Murray Hasn’t Gone Deep Yet
BB: “The very rugged ‘oh, he’s a short, mobile quarterback that achieved nothing in Arizona’ crowd is not going to love [the signing] because they’re going to talk about playoff success. So, Kyle, from your perspective, is Kyler Murray at fault for Arizona’s lack of postseason success or is it the organization? It’s probably a mix of both, but how much how much do you think Kyler was at fault for the lack of late season and postseason success while in Arizona?
KO: “I mean, being the number one overall pick, you can have that ceiling where you completely put a team on your back and lead them to the playoffs and lead them to wins, but obviously we know it’s it’s a team game. And I think the Cardinals finished bottom five in total defense like four of his seven seasons.
In the three when they didn’t, they were like, really good in point differential. They had a winning record. They were very competitive. So, he never held them back. Maybe he didn’t completely lift them like an Aaron Rodgers did in his prime with, you know, inferior teams. But to me, a lot of it was just the the personnel, especially on defense.
The Cardinals never figured out edge rusher. They spent draft picks on inside linebackers that busted. They just didn’t have a very good all-around team around him. The one year they did 2021, they were awesome to start and then DeAndre Hopkins tore his MCL and J.J. Watt was lost for practically the entire season. Rodney Hudson, who was their All-Pro center, got hurt.
So that was the one year where they could have done something and they got hit with a lot of injuries and and fell apart. So yeah, I mean, I don’t put a lot on him. He wasn’t a top-five QB in Arizona, and probably not a top-10 QB, so he deserves some blame for not getting there. But if he was in Minnesota for those same years and you look at the defenses Minnesota’s had, he would have won playoff games in Minnesota if he played like that. He just didn’t have the the teams around him.”
JH: “Hey, I mean, at least Arizona added the casitas to the red zone, so I mean, they got that going.”
Another absolute zinger from the great Jason Harmon.
Kyler Murray’s Hypothetical Ceiling in Minnesota
Jason got us into some conversations about Kyler Murray’s ceiling in Minnesota and how he’s been trying to chase the play of his early-2020s seasons.
JH: “In regards to 2021, kind of the flip of that question because that was the first time I ever saw Kyler Murray in person. Uh, we won’t talk about how that game ended because it was traumatic.”
BB: “Oh my God, yeah.”
JH: “Brother, I almost got hit with the football!
But when it came to that season, obviously, like you said, a lot of injuries ended up dooming Arizona. But how much of that success really was Kyler Murray proving the type of quarterback he could be? And what do you think could be his ceiling in Minnesota if he’s able to, you know, obviously stay healthy, but capture that 2021 essence and play style?
KO: “Obviously, that’s what he’s been chasing ever since. But that’s what you saw when he puts it all together. And that’s why probably I’m this guy who is so supportive of him, even though, you know, the Cardinals fan base doesn’t like him anymore, especially with him gone with the struggles.
But you just see how good he was that season. And like I mentioned earlier, he’s not just a fast guy. His arm talent is really, really good. He can place the ball. He’s got enough velocity, and then you add the mobility. I always have the debate with people, when Jalen Hurts won the Super Bowl, people thought it was blasphemy to say Kyler Murray is as good as Hurts, but I think Kyler wins the Super Bowl if he was on that Eagles team, too.
So I think this is just a great year, just for the things I’ve been saying the last five years now that he’s with Minnesota, and he’s got a better team around him. We will see what it looks like. I think he can be an MVP-level player with what we’ve seen with what he’s done. It wasn’t fluky the way he was playing early and I think he twisted his ankle that 2021 season, and then the guys around him got hurt and it really fell apart.
So he does need to do it all season, that’s been a big talking point out here. He struggled in the second halves of seasons, which to me, I don’t think that’s super predictive. I don’t think a guy is just going to stop playing well after eight weeks. It’s just kind of been randomly happening to him. But I wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, if the Vikings are six and two, oh no, here comes the fade.’
I think he’s just a super talented player with that upside. Probably not MVP upside if we’re being honest, but if he ended up as a top seven quarterback this year, it wouldn’t shock me.”
Mr. Odegard, who is very familiar with the Cardinals and their inner-workings, is very confident in Kyler Murray’s abilities to succeed with the Minnesota Vikings. So, why shouldn’t we be?
