Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray to Renew Acquaintances Again on Sunday

The two QBs come from Oklahoma and saw each other prior to Hurts' debut for the Sooners, when Murray was in the NFL and about to embark on a Rookie of the Year season

Week Two of the Jalen Hurts experience heads to Arizona, where Kyler Murray awaits.

Murray won the Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma the season before Hurts arrived after three years on the campus of the University of Alabama. Last year, Murray had enough success to win the NFC Rookie of the Year, though the Cardinals limped to a 5-10-1 record.

This year, Murray has Arizona in the playoff hunt at 7-6.

Hurts and the Eagles will try to throw a roadblock in that postseason quest.

“I tell you, Kyler is a great player, an OU legend,” said Hurts. “He paved the way for a guy like me to come in there and have an opportunity to put myself in the same air as his.”

Hurts came close to making it three straight Heisman winners from Oklahoma, with Baker Mayfield winning it in 2018. Hurts was the runner-up to Joe Burrow last year for college’s football’s most prestigious prize, despite a stellar season that saw him throw for 3,851 yards and 32 touchdowns while running for 1,298 yards and 20 more TDs.

Murray showed up for Oklahoma’s season opener last year, for Hurts’ debut, and told Hurts to just go play his game, let it come to him, and not force anything.

Hurts must’ve listened because he was spectacular in that game against the University of Houston, completing 20 of 23 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns while running 16 times for 176 yards and another three scores.

“I met him when he got to OU,” Murray said on the Cardinals’ website. "That was the first time I ever met him. I didn't really get to spend a lot of time with him, just because that was a quick time period for me, getting drafted as well as trying to make him as comfortable as possible in his transition from Alabama to OU. I didn't really get to spend much time with him, but I obviously watched him play at OU.”

Arizona coach Kliff Kingsbury knows Hurts very well. He tried to recruit him to Texas Tech when Hurts was a high school star.

“We weren’t going to beat Alabama on him,” said Kingsbury on a conference call Wednesday evening with Philadelphia media. "The thing that jumped out to me was the maturity of that young man, even in high school. You could tell he was going to be wildly successful and he’s taken advantage of every opportunity.”

His recollections of Hurts then haven't changed much to the Hurts now.

“I’ve known Jalen since he was in high school there in Texas, I know his dad, and always been a big fan of him, his character, his work ethic,” said Kingsbury. “He has all those things in spades so to watch the career he had at Alabama and the job he did at Oklahoma, now getting this opportunity and taking advantage of it has been a lot of fun to see. Tremendous athlete.

“Obviously, coach (Doug) Pederson did a great job of tailoring the offense to him last week and doing things that he was comfortable with and could operate at a high level. I was really impressed with what they did last Sunday.”

While there isn’t much game film on Hurts, the Cardinals may not need it. 

Murray, after all, has the same skill set that Hurts showed in last week's first NFL start with 106 yards rushing and 1267 passion in an upset over the New Orleans Saints.

Murray has thrown for 3,231 yards and 23 touchdowns to 10 interceptions while running for 712 yards and 10 scores. Those numbers are on par with what Hurts did at Oklahoma last year.

Asked if that will help his defense as it prep for Hurts, Kingsbury said, “No doubt. I think it definitely can’t hurt. We go against each other all week full speed with some good reps. To be able to have a guy that can move definitely helps simulate that look.

“We play against (Seattle Seahawks QB Russell) Wilson twice a year (in the NFC West). You get some of that in that game as well. But Jalen is a physical runner, big, strong, tough, faster than I think people realize. He made a bunch of plays with his feet the other day against a really good Saints defense.”

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