When the face of your franchise is asking for help or lobbying for a player to be drafted, that usually holds some weight. However, in the case of Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals, it has not. Murray has previously lobbied for the organization to draft an offensive lineman with their first-round pick in years past but to no avail.
Perhaps there is a new regime at the helm in Arizona that could change. According to NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo, the word in the Cardinals’ building is that Murray likes Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson, Jr. a lot. As the 2023 NFL Draft inches closer, Johnson to the Cardinals has begun to pick up some steam.
And the Cardinals may want to listen to their quarterback. In the past, according to Warren Sharp, Murray has lobbied the Cardinals to draft an offensive lineman as recently as 2021. Rather than select Creed Humphrey — a Pro Bowler and Second-Team All-Pro in 2022 — the Cardinals opted to draft linebacker Zaven Collins and wide receiver, Rondale Moore.
In 2020, Murray reportedly lobbied for the Cardinals to draft an offensive lineman. The Cardinals passed on the opportunity to draft one of Tristan Wirfs (Murray’s preferred choice), Mehki Becton or Jedrick Wills, Jr., instead opting to take Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
Kyler Murray is lobbying the Cardinals to draft OL Paris Johnson
in 2021 Kyler Murray lobbied the Cardinals to draft an OL (Creed Humphrey)
they did not
instead, they drafted a linebacker
in 2020 Kyler Murray lobbied the Cardinals to draft an OL (Tristan Wirfs)
they did not…
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) April 25, 2023
The Cardinals have had 10 picks in the first four rounds in the last three years and have selected one offensive lineman: Josh Jones. The team’s decision to prioritize defensive selections over the development of Murray has shown in the results on the field, as laid out by Sharp.
“The last two years combined their defense has ranked 28th in success rate & 29th in first down rate,” wrote Sharp. “Meanwhile, over that same span, their offensive line had the #1 most false starts (51) and #3 most offensive holding penalties (49) of any team in the NFL.”
Those numbers are horrifyingly bad and the reactions to the horrible Cardinals news on social media were even worse.
Cardinals got Kyler out here begging for help https://t.co/inqVViLFrp
— The Girl Outta Philly (@ToniInMyCitie) April 26, 2023
WOOF. https://t.co/Q1K7MZ5saw
— Claude Thompson (@Th3Claude) April 26, 2023
Kyler has a future in scouting OL prospects! https://t.co/YerZaw6WbJ
— H (@DynastyBuffs) April 26, 2023
This post has convinced me that:
-Cards management is going to turn Kyler into Andrew Luck and that ain’t a compliment
-Kyler’s not the problem AZ paints him out to be and he’s got a legitimate reason to gripe
-AZ desperately needs to go OL https://t.co/X4BkKiANWC— 🏈🚀🦾 (@BBart4Prez) April 26, 2023
Keim would still have his job if he let Kyler do the drafting https://t.co/m9q9S7ysWz
— Kyle Odegard (@Kyle_Odegard) April 26, 2023