Could 2023 be a prove-it year for Kyler Murray? | You Pod to Win the Game
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson, Dan Wetzel and Charles McDonald are on the ground in Phoenix, Arizona for Super Bowl week as they discuss the Arizona Cardinals head coach search, which is now reportedly down to two candidates. This hire will be crucial for the future of quarterback Kyler Murray’s career, as Robinson points out that teams are no longer as hesitant to get out from under large quarterback contracts if they don’t think the arrow is pointing up on that player’s career. Much of Murray’s struggles early in his career could be blamed on former head coach Kliff Kingsbury (and multiple injuries), but if Murray can’t take the next step under new leadership, the blame could fall on him.
Video transcript
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CHARLES ROBINSON: We're in Arizona. Let's-- let's talk about Arizona right now. So that search for Arizona is now down between Mike Kafka, who's the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants, and then, obviously, Bengals defensive coordinator-- excuse me-- Lou Anarumo.
This is a quarterback job. I mean, I don't-- I don't know how you-- I guess because it's the Cardinals they could screw this up, but I-- and no offense to Lou, but you hire the offensive guy because you got to fix the quarterback, and you go and you get the guy who's touched Mahomes. Like, he's been with, you know, Patrick Mahomes. He's been with Brian Daboll. If you don't go hire that guy, and then there's no commitment really I think to fixing Kyler Murray. I don't know what other path there is to this.
CHARLES MCDONALD: Yeah. Someone asked Andy Reid about Mike Kafka today during his media availability at the Chiefs team hotel, and he spoke pretty glowingly of him in terms of his ability to kind of come in immediately, and learn, and be a teacher, and be able to pass on that knowledge to other guys. I kind of think that's the direction you have to go.
Because it's not like Kyler is this unsalvageable prospect that can't get back to being a productive football player. We've seen him play at a pretty high level, but it is starting to get to be crunch time. Like, that money in the contract is about to start kicking in, and if he plays up to his potential, then you don't really care about how much money that you paid him.
But if he plays like he did last year again, then it starts becoming a big issue. So that's the most important thing for this Cardinals franchise and where they are right now, so I think you have to go after the guy who has a track record in developing these quarterbacks.
DAN WETZEL: Yeah. I mean, they tend to go off-- like, if an offensive guy doesn't work, then they go defense. It's kind of like the-- it's in the DNA of-- so, you know, Kingsbury was the quarterback whisperer. He was the Mahomes guy. And now he's in Thailand.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Kingsbury, in retrospect, shouldn't have been hired, OK? We can say whatever we want about the limited amount of success that he had there, but people caught on, it changed, he was never able to-- he looked like the college coach who had losing records. And we're like, oh, geez. It didn't work out, and big surprise here. And he and Kyler, Kyler's yelling at him.
I don't-- I don't think the either or here applies, because they've got to make a decision on Murray. We're at a Super Bowl here. It's the second year in a row where we've run into a team that's going into the Super Bowl. If the Eagles win it, it'll be two Super Bowl champs in a row who looked at a quarterback that they signed to a deal, that was the right deal at the time, and then they said a year later, like, you know what? We're not going to stick on this.
And you had owners in Stan Kroenke and Jeffrey Lurie, who I talked to last night. Lurie was like, look, you-- you've got to make the decision. You can't just sit there. Like, the arrow was not up on Carson. He had to make that decision. The Cardinals could be looking at this kind of a decision probably not after 2023, but after 2024, they're going to look at it. It's going to be a cat pit. It's going to be horrible, but still, I think you look at the last two Super Bowls.
Teams are starting-- they-- I think they got to come around to not being paralyzed by a bad quarterback deal or a quarterback deal that you did. Maybe that was the right deal at the time that went bad later. I don't think you do that by hiring a defensive head coach. You hire an offensive head coach and see if he can turn him around. If he can't, then that's now two straight offensive head coaches who have failed with this quarterback.
Well, now, maybe the quarterback starts to be the problem. I agree with you, by the way though, that it's not like Kyler's irredeemable as a player. I mean, there's a big skill set there. But start first by staying healthy for an entire season. [LAUGHS]
CHARLES MCDONALD: Yeah, yeah.
DAN WETZEL: So you think next year is the, like-- the put up or cart your-- you know, show or you're Carson Wentz?
CHARLES ROBINSON: I think-- I think if 2023 does not go well, then 2024 becomes a referendum on it.
CHARLES MCDONALD: Mhm.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I think it's--
CHARLES MCDONALD: It's two years.
CHARLES ROBINSON: I think it's just like Russ, Russell Wilson. Like, yeah the deal's horrible, but if he has a horrible 2023, then 2024 is the referendum. And then you're deciding, OK, we're going to take the kill shot on the contract.
CHARLES MCDONALD: He's special. I mean, we've seen when he has gotten started and has weapons and a clear vision around him, like, put up stretches of play that are as good as any quarterback in the league, but it just-- last year was objectively bad for him and Kliff, and it caused Kliff his job. And like you said, if they can't figure out a way to tap back into Kyler Murray, like, the MVP candidate talent, then that contract's going to sink that team.
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