Kurt Warner Details Where Kyler Murray Has to Improve
Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner knows a thing or two about displaying talents as a signal-caller, while also being in control of a locker room.
Warner is a two-time MVP and also has a Super Bowl 34 MVP trophy on his resume. He also made the Cardinals franchise relevant, getting the organization to the Super Bowl in 2008 for the first time in their history.
The Cardinals signed quarterback Kyler Murray to a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension last week. Murray has made the Pro Bowl the last two seasons after winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019.
Recently, in an appearance on 98.7 Arizona Sports' Big Red Rage, Warner was asked about where the two-time Pro Bowler needs to improve.
"I think it would just be playing in the pocket and (challenging) him to, you know, learn to trust his eyes more than his legs," Warner said. "You know, it's easy for me to say because I had no legs. When you have legs like Kyler, I understand how it's easy to just go . . . For him to take that next step, he's got to be willing to trust his eyes and make decisions inside the pocket and allow his arm and his mind to beat people, not his legs."
Murray's rushing attempts dropped from 8.3 per game in 2020 to 6.3 in 2021. But Murray had a career-high 13 fumbles last season. As Murray gets older, using his arm more than his speed can help in the long run.
No matter what, Warner believes Murray has all the talent in the world.
Warner said, "I think if you put all the skill sets of every quarterback in the NFL together, from athleticism to throwing ability —put it all together — he may be the most talented quarterback we have in the National Football League. He is such a gifted thrower of the football and it doesn't mean just a big arm. He understands how to make different throws. He understands how to throw with touch and allows his players to get to the football and make it easier on his players. And so it's a rare combination of his athleticism, as well as his throwing ability.
"Now, if he can piece together getting better every year inside the pocket, and making those layups game in and game out. You know, it's already scary . . . But if he could develop more inside the pocket along with everything else he has, it would (be) really nasty for every NFL defense."
A long-term contract for Murray creates an enormous amount of responsibility and there have been questions about Murray's leadership.
Murray now has a long-term contract. But what does Warner think the young quarterback can bring even more to the team?
"I would say the biggest thing is you have to get guys in your locker room to believe," Warner said. "When I came to Arizona, the biggest thing was (that) I don't think anybody ever believed that we were going to win. Nobody believed what we were capable of, what the possibilities were based on the past and the history and the guys that had been there, and had never won."
The Cardinals believe in Murray. But even after the contract was announced, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport tweeted out an unusual clause in Murray's new contract that showed an addendum requiring four hours of independent study each game week. Three days later, Rapoport reported the Cardinals had removed the addendum because of the widespread reaction.
Nonetheless, Warner thinks Murray can prove to his teammates that he can "take that next step."
He concluded, "I think a lot of people are going to believe, at least to a degree, that Kyler has the ability to lead them and win games with them. We've seen that he's going to have to convince them that he can take that next step and be good enough to win in the playoffs and to get to Super Bowls. But the second part is to make sure that when they step in, the guys in that locker room believe."
