What Kyler Murray Needs to Show in Arizona Cardinals Training Camp

The Arizona Cardinals aren't far away from the start of the regular season and perhaps the biggest year Kyler Murray has faced thus far. The team is facing playoff expectations after last season's collapse down the stretch... which can be attributed to Murray's downright bad play.

Now, Murray will be asked to prove his worth as the face of the franchise and take the team back to late-January football.

But before we get that far, we have training camp and preseason play not long after that. In that time, I need to see three things from Murray to gauge my confidence in him entering his seventh pro season.

1. Actual preseason snaps

Admittedly, this one isn't on Murray's shoulders entirely, as this is a coaching decision more often than not. However, he does need to advocate for himself to find the field in August.

We are around two years removed from his ACL recovery and we need to see him completely comfortable and confident this year. We don't need Murray to necessarily play a set amount of quarters or drives, but he needs to get on the field and avoid a slow start to the regular season.

2. A new-found connection with WR1

It was a struggle to find Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. consistently on-the-same-page last season. It was a clear adjustment for the fourth overall pick, while Murray was settling in completely off his first first healthy offseason in a couple of years. It showed throughout the year, but we saw glimpses of brilliance.

The offense dragged when the two couldn't get going, as James Conner and Trey McBride aren't the field stretching, big-play weapons that Harrison is. The Cardinals are missing out on a big portion of the offense, so we need the Murray-to-Harrison connection to be much better in 2025.

Although this likely requires Harrison to also find the field in the preseason, we simply need to see progress.

3. Run, Kyler, run!

Talk is cheap, so enough with the annual "I want to run more" this year bologna we are fed every offseason. No one is disagreeing that Murray shouldn't run more, but at what point do we actually commit to that change?

Murray is among the most dynamic athletes in the league and one of the potentially five best running quarterbacks, but he doesn't consistently maintain those claims and it feels largely in part to his own decisions. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing must get better at using Murray's talents, but it's far time the former number one overall pick figures it out.

Everyone wants to see it, so just do it already.