The Arizona Cardinals selected Kyler Murray with the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. In pretty unsurprising news, Dan Graziano of ESPN predicts that the quarterback will win Rookie of the Year.
If we're being honest, this is about as obvious as they come. When a quarterback is drafted number one overall and is the clear starter on the team, someone's doing something wrong if you don't think he's winning Rookie of the Year that season.
Either that team made a pick absolutely no one agrees with or the analyst is going for the shock pick.
That being said, just because he's the preseason favorite doesn't mean he has the award in the bag. Murray still has to produce.
He's actually on a pretty solid roster to do just that. Yes, the Cardinals were absolutely miserable last year and could use some help on the offensive line. Things are looking up though. They've re-tooled at receiver and David Johnson now has a full year under his belt since returning from injury.
There's no reason to believe this offense won't be vastly improved over the year prior.
That puts Kyler Murray in a position to succeed. He has enough targets to spread the ball around and with David Johnson at running back has someone that can take tons of pressure off the passing game.
Murray also has a rare upper hand. He's the only quarterback in the 2019 NFL Draft that's expected to start all year. At the same time, he's one of just a handful of offensive players not on the line that were drafted.
The list goes: Murray (1), Daniel Jones (6), T.J. Hockenson (9), Dwayne Haskins (15), Noah Fant (20), Josh Jacobs (24), Marquise Brown (25), and N'Keal Harry (32).
That's two other quarterbacks (who aren't starting the year), two tight ends, one running back, and two wide receivers. The first-round talent is sparse. Yes, someone in a later round could win, but they'll never enter a year as the favorite.
With that in mind, there's only one answer. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray is set to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Now comes the hard part though, living up to the hype.
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