Harry
ASFN Consultant and Senior Writer
Okay, I feel compelled to make it clear how I feel about Murray. It’s absolutely true he would not have been my choice. I’m more conservative and would have stayed with Rosen. I would have prioritized defense with the first pick. That said, that’s history. I still have concerns because from Andre Ware forward I’ve watched spread offenses come and die. The fun & gun, the K-gun and others died a slow death taking QBs with them. Part of the failure was due to the resistance to the idea that colleges could teach the NFL anything. Chip Kelly’s meteoric rise and fall further enhanced this view.
Things began to change as more teams began calling RPO plays. College QBs like Tim Tebow changed the college game by nearly perfecting variations of this play. In fact that Tebow was never given a true opportunity to run an NFL offense centered around RPO plays is yet another sign of prejudice. Then there’s Patrick Mahomes. He is the epitome of a mobile QB. The NFL has always been a copycat league. Now that he’s proven it can win, many teams want their own Mahomes’ style offense. The Cards are one of that group. It’s not surprising there’s skepticism considering Kingsbury was not a winning college coach. So the Cards built him an independent defense and hired a coach to handle it. Now it’s up to Kingsbury to prove his offense can score more points than the defense allows.
That’s where Murray comes in. There is little question he excelled in a similar offense. So the Cards grabbed him to give Kingsbury’s offense it’s best chance of success. There is no question Murray is a great athlete. There is also no question that last year he had one of the best years in NCAA history. So the question is simple, can he carry this success into the NFL? His odds are good. The Cards built a potentially great set of receivers. They secured some reinforcements for the O-line and already had a great RB. I don’t think they’re a playoff team. I do think they will likely be exciting to watch.
I don’t want to speculate beyond that until I’ve seen Murray play a game, so no more threads by me. However, I’m as excited as most of you are to see this offense come to fruition. I just wanted to make clear I’m not rooting against Murray. I just thought there was a better way forward.
Things began to change as more teams began calling RPO plays. College QBs like Tim Tebow changed the college game by nearly perfecting variations of this play. In fact that Tebow was never given a true opportunity to run an NFL offense centered around RPO plays is yet another sign of prejudice. Then there’s Patrick Mahomes. He is the epitome of a mobile QB. The NFL has always been a copycat league. Now that he’s proven it can win, many teams want their own Mahomes’ style offense. The Cards are one of that group. It’s not surprising there’s skepticism considering Kingsbury was not a winning college coach. So the Cards built him an independent defense and hired a coach to handle it. Now it’s up to Kingsbury to prove his offense can score more points than the defense allows.
That’s where Murray comes in. There is little question he excelled in a similar offense. So the Cards grabbed him to give Kingsbury’s offense it’s best chance of success. There is no question Murray is a great athlete. There is also no question that last year he had one of the best years in NCAA history. So the question is simple, can he carry this success into the NFL? His odds are good. The Cards built a potentially great set of receivers. They secured some reinforcements for the O-line and already had a great RB. I don’t think they’re a playoff team. I do think they will likely be exciting to watch.
I don’t want to speculate beyond that until I’ve seen Murray play a game, so no more threads by me. However, I’m as excited as most of you are to see this offense come to fruition. I just wanted to make clear I’m not rooting against Murray. I just thought there was a better way forward.
