Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is one of the more interesting players who will have fantasy managers questioning the level of investment to make in him for 2023. Not only is he coming of a torn ACL suffered on Dec. 12, 2022, the Cardinals stunned the football world in May by releasing DeAndre Hopkins – receiving no compensation in the form of players or draft picks and swallowing a huge dead-cap hit that will limit what the team can do in an attempt to bring in veteran playmakers to make up for the loss.
It’s hard to dismiss the value Murray brought as a dual passing-rushing threat in his 57 career NFL starts, but there have been red flags along the way that should have some wary of having him on their fantasy rosters.
The clearest sign of trouble came when the Cardinals decided to make a franchise-shifting investment in Murray – signing him to a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension with $160 million in guarantees. It was one of the clauses in the deal that raised eyebrows – a contractual requirement for Murray to be at the facility doing off-field study with the coaching staff. The clear implication was that Murray has never been a “first guy in the building, last guy out” type of player. While Arizona ultimately removed the clause, one has to wonder about his willingness to put in the extra effort to relentlessly rehab to get back on the field when that hasn’t been his M.O.
Even before the injury, Murray had a tendency to start strong in terms of fantasy scoring and team success, only to fade as the season came to a close – when his value to a fantasy team is needed most. In 2021, the Cardinals started out 7-0 and looked primed to be the No. 1 seed in the NFC with Murray as an MVP frontrunner, only to lose five of their last seven games and make a quick playoff exit.
Currently, it’s believed that Murray won’t be ready for the start of the season and may not return until midseason. The question that needs to be asked is what type of investment do you make in a player who is guaranteed to miss some time when there are other available options without that baggage?
Fantasy football outlook
I was leery of Murray prior to his ACL injury. The running that made him a star early in his career seemed to be more tempered over the last two seasons, and dropping production as a rusher made his points-per-game decline even more pronounced.
At this point, I would struggle to even have Murray at the end of the QB2 rankings, because you bring him to your roster with many more questions than answers. When there are healthy young quarterbacks with upside potential, like Anthony Richardson, Kenny Pickett and Bryce Young, in the same ranking tier, roll the dice on one of them rather than take Murray due to not knowing when he will be back and how he will fare after losing the top weapons that made him a star (Hopkins and Christian Kirk) over the last two years. Let someone else take the risk of having a dead roster spot for half a season or more in conventional 2023 leagues, though he could be worthy of a No. 3 spot in best-ball settings.
