Aside from recent talk of old criticism of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, this offseason has been all positive. He has called it his best offseason. Players laud how locked in he is. He is healthy. He has more weapons.
For this reason, NFL.com’s Judt Battista includes him in her recent story listing some dark horse MVP candidates for the 2024 season.
Included are Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love as a bonus.
Why Murray?
He’s healthy and thinks he’s had one of the best offseasons of his career, and he’s building off a very strong finish to 2023. Murray returned from his 2022 ACL injury in Week 10 last season, but he and the Cardinals offense really took off in the final four games of the campaign — he completed 70.3 percent of his passes for 935 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. In that span, the Cardinals led the league in total offense, with 414.3 yards per game. And now rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — who has earned raves in the offseason — is added to the mix. When Murray is healthy, he’s one of the most thrilling players in football. The Cardinals will have to win a lot more games for Murray to catch voters’ eyes, but if Murray can pick up where he left off last year, and if Harrison explodes in his rookie season, Murray could at least position himself for future MVP consideration.
We have seen Murray play at an MVP level before. He had a five-game stretch in 2020 when he started getting MVP talk. He was the favorite to win it through the first half of the 2021 season.
He is healthy. He has had a full offseason in his second year in Drew Petzing’s offense. We saw what could be as the Cardinals were in the top 10 of offensive efficiency after he came back from his ACL tear and they led the league in yards over the last four games, and they did that with only James Conner and Trey McBride. Now they have added Harrison and Zay Jones, and the defense should be improved at least a little, giving the offense more opportunities.
Now, if the Cardinals are a seven-win team, he won’t win it. But the potential for the volume numbers and impact is possible.
That is why his +5000 (50/1) odds to win the MVP this year make for a very nice bet in terms of value.
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