How the Arizona Cardinals have unlocked the best version of Kyler Murray yet

of arizona cardinals Leading by one game, 6-4 san francisco 49ers In the victory column. That's a big improvement for a team that went 4-13 last year and had a similar record two seasons ago, going 4-13.

There are several reasons for the turnaround in the desert, including the defense under head coach Jonathan Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Larris finding creative ways to slow down opposing offenses. . However, the football team's improvement in attack is also the main reason for this season's success.

This includes a strong start from quarterback Kyler Murray.

Through 10 games, Murray is playing perhaps the best football of his NFL career. Adjusted net yards per attempt was 7.13. (which would be his career-high mark), QBR 75.7 (which would also be a career-high), and quarterback rating of 100.8 (which would also be a career-high mark, if you get the theme here).

See Quarterback Efficiency – A metric consisting of expected points added per play and completion percentage above expected. calculated by RBSDM — Murray is one of the league leaders. His EPA + CPOE composite of 0.139 is tied for eighth in the league with Jared Goff.

If you watch Murray on film, you can see some growth in his game. While he still has the raw athleticism to play outside of the pocket and outside of structure, we've seen a lot of things that are still important at the quarterback position, such as Murray winning from the pocket and using his eyes to make an impact. I have also witnessed him doing small things like that. Study the defender and his progress in depth and read the concepts given.

For example, consider these four vertical concepts from the empty formation that won 31-6 in last week's game. new york jets:

Murray uses his eyes perfectly to influence the linebackers down the middle of the field to stay in position on the football, creating plenty of space for tight end Trey McBride. Murray then turned to his left and made a quick throw to McBride, who was emerging as the core of Arizona's passing game, for an 18-yard gain.

The play also exemplifies another aspect of the Cardinals' offense: bringing in bigger personnel. Studying Arizona's passing game this season, I see the Cardinals finding big plays among 12 or even 13 players and creating offensive packages with two or three tight ends on the field. I'm finding it. On this play, Arizona had 13 players in the game, including three tight ends (McBride, Elijah Higgins and rookie Tip Lyman). On this play in particular, running back Trey Benson, another rookie, starts next to Murray in the backfield. But then he shifts outside and lines up with the numbers, and with the cornerback across from him, Murray knows the Jets are in zone coverage.

Giving up a larger talent group also gives the Cardinals an advantage when using play-action. As shown in this graph, Arizona has one of the most efficient run games in the league. RBSDM:

As seen above, their run game is well above league average in terms of EPA per rushing attempt and among the best in the league in EPA per passing attempt. Combining an efficient running game with large numbers of personnel will give the defense sinking runs when you break the huddle with those groups.

Plays like this come from Arizona's win. chicago bears Possible 2 weeks in advance:

The Cardinals line up with 13 players for second-and-six situations: three tight ends, one running back, and one wide receiver. Murray executed the run fake perfectly, even giving the running back a delayed look after the fake handoff before deploying to his right. I then noticed that Higgins was moving from left to right on the crossing route for solid gains.

Here's another example of Arizona's 13-man pairing action, which the Cardinals won 28-27. miami dolphins. The concept used in this play is one of everyone's favorites, as McBride leaks throughout the formation and takes away from the flow of the play.

Murray executed another run fake, rolling to his right and throwing it back toward the left sideline to McBride, who missed the flow of the play. This play is recorded as a 37-yard gain.

The benefit to the offense of releasing bigger personnel is that it often influences the defense to respond with larger personnel. For example, in the game against the Dolphins, Miami fielded three personnel instead of four, with only four defensive backs participating in the game. In the Bears example, Chicago went 4-3 with their own front and only had four defensive backs in this game.

Don't forget, Arizona took advantage of a poor preseason performance to draft wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. in the top of the first round last spring. In many of these formations, Harrison is either the only WR on the field or one of two WRs in the game. This also created an opportunity for him.

For example, take this completion early in Arizona's win over the Jets. The Cardinals used 13 players and took action to create space for Harrison on the crossing route.

Even some of Harrison's touchdowns this year came from Arizona releasing bigger personnel. This touchdown pass on a deep crossing route against the Dolphins came when Arizona combined play-action with 12 players (two tight ends, one running back, two wide receivers).

And if you think back to Harrison's breakout performance in Week 2, he caught four passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Los Angeles Ramsboth touchdowns came with Arizona using 12 or 13 personnel. Here's the first one, with Harrison running a post route against Cover 4 and Arizona working with 13 offensive personnel.

Second touchdown? This has 13 people in the game and, yes, another play-action design from Arizona. While Murray gives time to develop this route, Harrison simply runs away from coverage.

The Cardinals are 6-4 and have the best version of Kyler Murray ever under center.

Combining an efficient running game with the concepts they use in the passing game when releasing bigger personnel will free up a version of Murray and give the Cardinals a real shot at winning their first division title since 2015. I got my chance.