I'll be honest: when the Arizona Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray first overall back in April, I was skeptical. Then again, I was skeptical of Baker Mayfield, too, so what do I know?
But Murray has certainly gotten my attention with his performance over the first couple of weeks of the season.
The rookie has thrown for 657 yards, a pair of touchdowns and one interception while completing 57.4 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 81.7 thus far, going 0-1-1 in the process.
To me, the biggest takeaway from Murray's first two games is that he leads the NFL with 94 pass attempts and has only run the ball six times.
I'm not sure if Murray is intentionally staying in the pocket to try and develop into a pocket passer or if it's Kliff Kingsbury's gameplan or what, but this is not what I expected.
This is a kid who racked up 1,001 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns during his final season at Oklahoma, so I thought we would see a whole lot more of Murray scrambling and making plays with his legs.
Instead, the Cardinals quarterback has been an almost exclusively a pocket passer, and while most of his throws have been on short, quick routes, it still speaks to how much Murray is willing to hone his skills and work on his craft that has me suddenly believing in him.
I'm still not sure he will be the best quarterback from his draft class. Dwayne Haskins is insanely talented, and Daniel Jones looked brilliant in preseason. But, he might certainly exceed the expectations of myself and many others who wondered about how his game would translate to the NFL.
The thing is, we know Murray can run. That is always something that will be in his back pocket. It seems to me like he knows that and is trying to develop other aspects of his game to turn himself into a deadly dual threat, much like how Lamar Jackson has this year.
Murray's first couple of outings with the Cardinals demonstrates a willingness to learn and get better immediately rather than try and just get by on his athletic gifts in his rookie campaign.
Not only that, but Murray hasn't looked half-bad playing this way.
Taking all of that into consideration, I'm giving Murray an A-minus for his performance thus far.
Keep in mind that this kid is just a rookie, so for him to be playing this well this fast with limited talent around him is very eye-opening.
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