Arizona Cardinals: Kyler Murray can ignite quarterback revolution

The Arizona Cardinals chose Kyler Murray over the prototypical quarterbacks as the first overall selection in the draft. There is a revolution coming.

Kyler Murray was the Arizona Cardinals choice to be the face of their franchise. Arizona chose Murray in spite of his size and conventional wisdom for the quarterback position. There is a revolution coming to change those perceptions.

Conventional wisdom says that quarterbacks must stand at least 6-3 to be successful. They must weigh over 210 pounds to withstand the hits from defensive players. After all, the quarterback has to stand in the pocket to run an NFL offense.

New Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury is bringing a new style of offense to Arizona. Murray ran a similar offense at Oklahoma. Together, Murray and Kingsbury are going to change how teams pick their quarterback in the future.

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Historically, quarterbacks have not been taken first overall in the NFL Draft, even if there has been a trend more recently. 33 quarterbacks have been taken first since Angelo Bertelli in 1944. Since 2001, however, 14 quarterbacks have been taken as the top pick.

The NFL is becoming more of a quarterback-driven game. For instance, from 1944-69, only eight quarterbacks were selected at No. 1. In 1970, Terry Bradshaw was picked first overall by Pittsburgh and the modern passing game was launched.

The birth of the west coast offense was brought in during the 1980s. Don Coryell gave the Cardinals and San Diego his own brand of offense, Air Coryell. Now, its Kingsbury’s turn to reshape the NFL passing game.

Murray stands 5-10, weighing 207 pounds according to the current Arizona roster. He does not fit the prototypical description but has the intangibles. Kyle Odegard of AZCardinals.com says the following of the new quarterback

"But when it comes to pure skill, Murray is unique because it’s hard to identify a weakness in his game, according to Pro Football Focus… he scored at the top of the charts in all 10 of their categories: passing grade, rushing grade, short passes, intermediate passes, deep passes, against the blitz, against pressure, big-time throws, avoiding turnover-worthy plays and adjusted completion percentage."

If those skills translate into turning the Cardinals into serious playoff contenders, he will usher in a new wave of quarterbacks. There will be more consideration given towards short, mobile signal callers. Long gone will be the tall, heavy pocket passer.

Let’s hope that Murray’s type of quarterback play becomes the rule not the exception. NFL offenses are becoming more passing oriented. Murray is the right player to lead the quarterback revolution.