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Being a No. 1 pick comes with pressure. Being a quarterback adds to that and going to a team that got a coach that fits their game style and traded their first-round quarterback from the year before makes it overwhelming. That is what Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray should be feeling entering his rookie year.
But he's not.
As Murray told ESPN's Josh Weinfuss after Thursday's training camp,
I don't feel pressure. I got to go out and play well. And if I don't, then people are gonna be mad, I'm gonna be mad, everybody's gonna be mad. So, my focus is play well.
Sometimes the lights can be too bright for a rookie quarterback, but Murray has been in the spotlight for some time now. A Texas A&M Aggie turned Oklahoma Sooner transfer, Murray became the No. 9 overall pick in the MLB draft, then proceeded to win the Heisman Trophy the same year. After receiving lower grades, he entered the NFL Draft and became the No. 1 pick.
The whole story makes for headlines that have dominated the sports realm for the better part of 2019. But, again, he's not pressured by it. He shouldn't be, because, in Arizona, he may have found his perfect NFL home. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury's Air Raid is eerily similar to what Lincoln Reilly ran at Oklahoma for Murray. And, their skill position group is revamped in the most significant way, with about as much speed as the Kansas City Chiefs.
Murray has stayed calm in the spotlight and hasn't been phased yet. We'll see if he feels that pressure come his first NFL snap, though.
