Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has already proven himself as a top quarterback in the National Football League. Where does Murray stand among other quarterbacks in his age group?
Murray came in ranked third in Pro Football Focus’ list of top QBs under 25 years old. Only Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert rank above Murray, as PFF’s Seth Galina ranked the top 15 quarterbacks under age 25 in his latest piece for ESPN.
PFF’s grades played a major role in the rankings, but they were not the determining factor.
Galina, who wrote the piece before the Cardinals lost Thursday against the Green Bay Packers, said that Murray’s performance this season is more akin to the ones that brought him college stardom.
Murray always was thought of as a running quarterback with a big arm, but that wasn’t necessarily true in 2019 and 2020. This season, he has been unstoppable outside of the offense’s structure. Murray’s 91.2 grade on plays outside of structure is the highest in the league, and it’s up from 60.1 in 2020 and 39.9 in 2019. He’s finally playing like he did at Oklahoma.
Throughout Murray’s entire career, his poise under pressure has stood out. According to Galina, Murray is viewed by PFF’s grades as the best quarterback under pressure since 2018.
Murray’s performance has improved in each of his three seasons in his young career. So far in 2021, his is one of the defining reasons for Arizona’s 7-0 start to the season.
Heading into Sunday’s games, Murray’s completion percentage of 72.7% after Thursday night’s game against Green Bay is second in the league, behind the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott’s 73.1%. It’s also a six percentage point improvement from 2020’s 67.2%.
His 17 passing touchdowns in 2021 is tied for fourth in the NFL. It’s only three less passing touchdowns than his entire rookie season.
Murray’s passes are also gaining the Cardinals a good amount of yards. His 8.9 yards gained per pass attempt is fourth in the NFL.