Gauging the confidence levels of 6 new starting quarterbacks

#1 Kyler Murray – High

Murray’s talent to sling the ball all over the field and make fast guys look slow once he takes off was apparent, he actually broke a lot of the records Baker Mayfield put up as a Heisman Trophy winner and brought a second straight trophy back to Oklahoma

While I disagreed with the selection first overall of a quarterback, after investing a top ten pick in the position just a year ago, Murray was my number one prospect at the position and a perfect fit with Kliff Kingsbury.

I just thought taking an elite talent like Quinnen Williams and sticking with Josh Rosen, who was never close to being set up for success behind a workshop O-line and with a lack of weapons or gameplan around him, would be the right choice.

However, Murray’s talent to sling the ball all over the field and make fast guys look slow once he takes off was apparent, he actually broke a lot of the records Baker Mayfield put up as a Heisman Trophy winner and brought a second straight trophy back to Oklahoma.

In his first NFL start against Detroit, Murray could not get anything going for through the first three quarters, but led his team from down 15 points to an eventual tie in overtime. He made some pinpoint throws to defeat tight coverage and rallied his troops before dueling it with Lamar Jackson in Baltimore until the final few moments.

As bad as an 18-point loss to a Panthers team without Cam Newton may look like, watching the tape didn’t leave me thinking Murray struggled in that game. After his defense just gave up a 76-yard touchdown run to Christian McCaffrey, the Cardinals were down 28-20 with less than two minutes left in the third quarter and that’s when the game got a little out of hand.

Kyler’s two picks, however, came on two freakish plays by Donte Jackson. On the first one the Panthers were in cover-three and the Arizona ran a comeback on the outside combined with kind of a Sluggo by Larry Fitzgerald.

The ball was placed a little too far outside, but you rarely see a guy jump that kind of a route when he is responsible for somebody on the sideline. And on the second one, Carolina was in cover-two and there was space to hit that honey hole with the outside fade, but Jackson leapt about ten feet into the air for his second pick. In the fourth quarter, Murray also had a rusher in his face in less than two seconds every time he dropped back and had to find a crease to run through

He was also the victim of several drops against the Panthers, including a perfect deep ball to Christian Kirk down the seam, which travelled about 45 yards through the air, right into the hands of his receiver.

There was another one later to Trent Sherfield, where Murray made the corner give up his deep third responsibility to come up for an out-route and got the ball behind him for what should have been a walk-in touchdown.

The pass was a little high since he tried to almost no-look it, but it hit both his hands and should have resulted in a 25-yard gain at the very least. Until that point, I thought Murray was outstanding at avoiding pressure despite shaky protection and it wasn’t until Sunday that I thought he got happy feet inside the pocket and his feet got stuck a couple of times, leading to some inaccurate throws.

He was just automatic on those hook and stick routes underneath, where the ball seems to hit his man right in the belly to protect him for any hits every single time, leading up to his 12th quarter as a starter.

What he showed in this last game really for the first time is his ability to improvise and how quickly he accelerates once he leaves the pocket. Defensive coordinators watching him run past corners and gain ten to fifteen yards in a heartbeat will force them to gameplan for that aspect of his game and allow more opportunities in the passing game. I still believe in this offence and Kyler as a dual-threat nightmare.