2022 Arizona Cardinals Position Outlook: Kyler Murray will be paid as their franchise quarterback

In each of the last three seasons since hiring Kliff Kingsbury as their head coach, the Arizona Cardinals have taken steps in the right direction. And this new era of football for them really started after the selection Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

From a historically horrendous 32nd-ranked offense led by Sam Bradford and Josh Rosen in 2018 to a top-10 offense led by Kyler Murray over the last two seasons is, night and day, a significant jump in improvement. It cannot be understated the impact Murray has had on this Cardinals football team and as we all should know; Quarterback is the most important position in sports.

Over the next week, there will be breakdowns of each position group on the Arizona Cardinals with training camp just around the corner. Training camp opens on July 26 at State Farm Stadium as NFL’s annual “Back Together Saturday” practice begins on July 30. Check out more information here.

To begin the positional outlooks, let’s start things off with the quarterback room:

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#1 Kyler Murray

Last season, Kyler Murray was on pace to set career highs in passing yards and touchdowns but suffered an ankle injury in Week 8 that forced him to miss three games. He still went on to throw for 3,787 passing yards and 24 touchdowns while completing a career-high 69.2 percent of his passes.

The Arizona Cardinals went 9-5 with Murray in the lineup as he led them to a playoff berth for the first time since 2015 but his first playoff appearance in his young three-year career. The constant topic this offseason when talking about Kyler Murray is his eventual contract extension and when asked about it, Kliff Kingsbury was not shy to say “I’m praying before training camp.” It is not a matter of “if” but “when” an extension will be agreed upon.

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#12 Colt McCoy

Colt McCoy re-signed with the Cardinals on a two-year $7.5 million contract after winning two of his three starts last seasons. He finished the 2021 year with 740 passing yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. The Cardinals made a strong effort in retaining many of their top players with the return of James Conner and Zach Ertz on multi-year contracts and the same goes for McCoy. The 12-year veteran will continue to serve as the Cardinals No. 2 quarterback on the roster while providing Arizona a safety net if Kyler Murray sustains any injuries.

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#19 Trace McSorley

McSorley was signed off the Baltimore Ravens’ practice in late November as the Cardinals replaced former No. 3 quarterback Chris Streveler on the roster. The former sixth-round pick out of Penn State in the 2019 NFL Draft played in three games over two years in Baltimore. In that time, he completed 3-of-10 passes for 90 yards and a touchdown. He fits the profile for the kind of quarterbacks Kliff Kingsbury wants on his team as a mobile passer. This is his second team he has played for while backing up dynamic dual-threat starting quarterback from Lamar Jackson and now to Kyler Murray.

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#16 Jarrett Guarantano

There is a steep uphill battle for Jarrett Guarantano to make the 53-man roster as it seems he is auditioning for a spot on an NFL practice squad to start his pro football career than anything else. Guarantano was a four-star recruit out of Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, New Jersey in 2016 and was ranked the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the nation in the 247Sports composite. He started 32 games in four years for the Tennessee Volunteers before losing his starting in 2020 which lead to his eventual transfer to Washington State. He completed 527-of-857 passes (61.5 percent) for 6,478 passing yards, 39 passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns, and 20 interceptions in his five-year college football career.