Cardinals take Murray with first pick in NFL draft
Bill Barnwell explains why No. 1 overall draft pick Kyler Murray has a good chance to succeed with Kilff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals. (2:20)
TEMPE, Ariz. — Kliff Kingsbury got his guy.
The Arizona Cardinals drafted Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the first overall pick on Thursday, uniting Murray with Kingsbury, who unsuccessfully recruited the reigning Heisman Trophy winner to Texas Tech while he was offensive coordinator there.
The Cardinals’ next order of business is to decide what to do with Josh Rosen, their first-round pick and starting quarterback in 2018. They did not trade him before drafting Murray, adding fuel to the speculation that they could keep both on the roster through OTAs, minicamp and, potentially, training camp.
However, Murray is considered the Cardinals’ starter of the future.
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“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid. All the hard work. Everyone [who] has been in my corner pushed me to get here — can’t thank them enough,” Murray said of being selected No. 1. “I thank God, and just, I mean, this is surreal.”
Murray has known Kingsbury since his sophomore year at Allen High School in Texas, when Kingsbury began recruiting him to Texas A&M. Kingsbury took the head-coaching job at Texas Tech the next year and continued to recruit Murray, but to no avail. However, their relationship remained strong.
“I feel we can be very dangerous. He’s one of the best in the world at calling plays and offensive mind, so for me, I can’t wait to get up there with him. It’s been a long time coming, and I hope he feels the same,” Murray said.
The move to draft Murray No. 1 was expected for months. He was first linked to Arizona shortly after the Cardinals hired Kingsbury on Jan. 8. A video of Kingsbury resurfaced from October, when he was still head coach at Texas Tech. In it, he says that if he had the first overall pick, he’d take Murray. The comment was made in the lead-up to Texas Tech’s game against Oklahoma.
By happenstance, Kingsbury, who was fired by Texas Tech in November after six seasons, found himself with the first overall pick.
Bill Barnwell explains why No. 1 overall draft pick Kyler Murray has a good chance to succeed with Kilff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals.
After deciding to play football instead of baseball — Murray was a first-round pick of the Athletics in 2018 — Murray signed with Kingsbury’s agent, Erik Burkhardt of Select Sports.
Talk of Murray to the Cardinals heated up at the combine. Murray met with the Cardinals there and then had a top-30 visit to Arizona on April 10.
Last season, while leading the Sooners to the College Football Playoff semifinals, Murray accounted for 5,362 yards from scrimmage. He completed 69 percent of his passes for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also ran for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Murray is the 22nd Heisman Trophy winner to go first overall and second in as many seasons, after fellow Sooners QB Baker Mayfield went to Cleveland in 2018.
The 5-foot-10 Murray will run Kingsbury’s version of the Air Raid, a scheme he gained experience operating at Oklahoma.
At the combine, Murray said he’d be “very comfortable” running Kingsbury’s offense because of their history and relationship. Murray also said that being paired with Kingsbury “would be nice.”
The past three months, however, the Cardinals have vocalized their support of Rosen as their quarterback. In early February, Kingsbury said Rosen is “our guy.” At the combine, general manager Steve Keim said Rosen is the Cardinals’ quarterback “right now, for sure.” And at the owners meetings in late March, Kingsbury said Rosen “no question” fits his Air Raid offense and added that a lot of “misconceptions” have been said regarding Rosen and the Cardinals.
Thursday’s move to draft Murray puts all of that into question.