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Just a little over two years since he was taken No. 1 overall in the 2019 NFL draft, former Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray has quickly become one of the most dynamic young players in the league and the face of the Arizona Cardinals franchise.
As such, Murray believes he should and does have influence over what Arizona will be doing in this weeks draft as they look to continue to add to a team that is trending toward becoming a contender in the third year with Murray and head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
NFL.com’s Kevin Patra wrote about Murray’s comments on the matter on the NFL Network on Tuesday morning:
Joining NFL Network’s Good Morning Football on Tuesday, Murray was asked whether he has any input on selections and whether GM Steve Keim considers the QB’s opinion when making choices.
“I do believe I think I have an influence in it,” Murray responded. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t. If you’ve got a guy at quarterback, you trust him and you want him to be the face of the franchise for a lot of years, I think he should have an influence. Everything is technically built around the quarterback. I think I have that relationship with Steve and Kliff (Kingsbury). I’m excited to see what we do on Thursday.”
Murray noted he’s just as likely to voice his opinion about drafting a defensive player as he is a wide receiver. Arizona selects at No. 16 in the draft. With needs at corner and along the defensive line, the Cards have been projected to upgrade their defense on Thursday night.
Also smartly noted by Patra, this all comes on the heels of the Seattle Seahawks having a bit of a spat with their star quarterback in Russell Wilson after he felt he didn’t have enough pull in that franchise. This is the era of player empowerment in all sports, so the Cardinals may be wise to give Murray at least some level of input to avoid future issues down the road like what Seattle dealt with this offseason.
Now we’ll see what happens in this week’s draft and if Murray is pleased with whatever route Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim elect to go with their high selections. The draft begins Thursday night in Cleveland.