How Did the Cards End Up Here?

[WeBlitz]

Actually, Murray was drafted into an ideal situation and had everything catered to him. Kingsbury ran Murray's high school offense and was the guy the HC wanted.
Haskins was a mess but was drafted because the owner wanted him over the wishes of the HC and the HC was forced to play him. Haskins had plenty of his own demons, but you can't compare the situations they were drafted into.

Murray got drafted to an historically atrocious franchise coming off the worst record in the league with basically no talent….on top of a known toxic GM.

Hilarious you just claimed that as an ideal situation.

 

[WisconsinCard]

77 seasons and you point to two seasons to indict the current QB.

Please take a seat.

I'm sure if we gave K1 7 more years, it would be 84 years. So 14 years and ...

There is a seat available for you as well.

 

[slanidrac16]

It started with drafting Murray. It’s hard to fault them too badly as almost every scout had him number one. So I know some will hate it, but this was not a horrible mistake.

It was quickly apparent that Murray was a great athlete, but not a polished QB. Also the Cards made dumb mistakes, like they didn’t need an Oline because Murray could just dodge the rush. He quickly became gun shy and likely never recovered. In a previous post I labeled it NFL PTSD. They also never tried tough love that might have turned him around when he was a rookie.

In 2021 the Cards started 9-1 before limping into the playoffs and losing ignominiously. Still the Cards began to fear Murray would get better and be hard to re-sign, so they signed him to a huge contract. In 2022 Murray rewarded the Cards with a 4-8 start before tearing his ACL and missing a year. During this period the Cards correctly decided Kingsbury’s regime was a failure and he was fired.

The Cards selected Gannon from their candidates. I wrote at the time I felt he had no choice but to endorse Murray. I don’t see Bidwill picking a guy who said $100 million+ was wasted. So I think Gannon felt he had no choice but to go with Murray. There just aren’t many of these HC jobs out there. The cap made trading or cutting Murray functionally impossible.

So I think they eventually decided to focus more on building the defense as Murray couldn’t be counted on to win enough games to make the Cards an annual playoff contender.

In the end Gannon was struck with a QB who really hasn’t improved since his ACL tear. I apologize if you’re bored with my review of Murray because you’ve heard much of it before, but here goes. It starts with the fact I firmly believe he thinks he is a much better QB than the record indicates he is. He could be the premier running QB in the league, but his durability makes that unrealistic. Instead I think he’s become contact averse. The scouts did warn about that. The truly sad part about this is it’s too easy to list these Murray problems. A seven year QB should be much harder to fault.

So where does Murray stand now. One of the continuing concerns is leadership. I watched the Eagles/Rams game last Sunday and even though the Eagles’ offense was struggling, Hurts was addressing the defensive line. My guess was he told them the offense would get it together and contribute. They did. The defense rose up, blocked a kick and scored a winning TD. That’s leadership. Murray too often is sullen and isolates himself. That’s not leadership. I know it’s not his standard personality, but that’s part of the problem. He’s fine when he’s on a roll, but when hard times come too often he seems to be aloof.

Murray also struggles to read defenses well and determine how to exploit them. Thursday night using an audible to switch to Carter on fourth and short was a terrible decision. I often wonder if he reads defenses at all. I know his pockets aren’t often good, but I can’t recall him moving a safety with his eyes. I rarely see him using progressions. He locks on his primary and flees the pocket if he’s not seeing him open, sometimes almost immediately. If he read defenses well he’d know that primary was the wrong target. Also breaking out this fast makes it very hard for Olinemen to know where to redirect rushers.

Murray doesn’t even seem to understand a pocket, seldom needing them in college. He rarely steps up to let his blockers push the rushers behind him. He doesn’t slide to the side to avoid a rusher or create a clear throwing lane. He doesn’t seem to understand about lofting a throw over a rusher instead he just throws on a straight line killing drives when the ball is knocked down. BTW one of the things that’s not insurmountable is his height. Several shorter QBs have succeeded. Certainly height is an asset that makes things easier, but with Murray’s athletic ability and agility, this issue could be handled.

Another concern is ball placement. Murray rarely throws a receiver open. He seldom even accurately leads a receiver, which means limited YAC. In fact I think he’s often afraid to give his receivers a chance to make a play even when single covered. People on the board complain receivers aren’t open, but most top QBs let their receivers try to make a play. He’s so afraid of making a mistake and giving up an interception, he’s become ultra conservative. Most of his interceptions come from overthrows. One of the reasons for many of these overthrows is Murray continues to throw off his back foot.

Another thing that’s become an issue is arm strength. Of course throwing off your back foot robs one of some of that. I can’t swear to it, but I think Murray used to be more accurate on deep throws and throwing on the run. In fact the latter was a strength I previously touted.

As to the concerns about Harrison, the issues are obvious and real. Changing QBs at this stage won’t magically fix him. However, I do think he’s far more fixable than Murray and Harrison is clearly worth the effort.

I could go on, but surely this is more than enough to know it’s time to move on. For a long time I’ve hung with the “give him more time” group. I’m just convinced this process is at a standstill. His contract will be tolerable for trade after this season. Yes, there will be teams that want him. He might even be reasonably successful in the right system with the right surrounding cast. He just won’t succeed here. I’ll post something more on this part later and about the coaching issues. They are real too. I don’t write this with glee. At 77 I think the odds are against my seeing the Cards in another Super Bowl. Playoffs would at least be nice. Thanks for reading this I know it’s a small book.

Nice post Harry. I’d like to add the failure of both Monti and Gannon.
I get that they had to buy in to Murray but apparently they did not plan on “ what if “ they were wrong.
They also assured him there was nothing he could do to lose his job. I also think they were afraid of mentally damaging Kyler with any real competition. I think signing Brissett was a poor man’s decision for “ what if”. I think he will be our starting qb next year.
I know hindsight is 20/20 but we are seeing the results of a rookie GM and an entire college coaching staff trying to learn on the job.
We are relegated supporting a team that will continue to flounder.

 

[slanidrac16]

You h

All true. The offense line has been horrible this year and it’s showing all of these faults. An nfl QB needs to navigate this. He doesn’t show the poise of any QB’s in our division.

We will win enough to not give us a shot at drafting one next year. Hopefully there is a vet out there.

We have that vet. Brissett will be our starting qb.

 

[kerouac9]

You have that vet. Brissett will be our starting qb.

This would essentially ensure another three-year rebuild. Brissett is probably a good dude, but he isn’t a starting caliber QB.

 

[slanidrac16]

Exactly!

People acting like our problems will be cured once we get rid of K1 are in for a very rude awakening.

So sick of you sucking Murrays teet. Tell me, how much worse would we be?

 

[slanidrac16]

This would essentially ensure another three-year rebuild. Brissett is probably a good dude, but he isn’t a starting caliber QB.

Neither is Kyler. So here we are. Brissett is exactly what this franchise does. To expect anything more is simply foolish.

 

[602 Native]

So sick of you sucking Murrays teet. Tell me, how much worse would we be?

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[BooksOrangePlanet]

Neither is Kyler. So here we are. Brissett is exactly what this franchise does. To expect anything more is simply foolish.

i had a girlfriend once - she was good looking but not a super model - she made good money but not great money - she'd make dinner which i appreciated then she wouldn't do the dishes

but i never broke up with her to date her ugly broke sister

 

[kerouac9]

Neither is Kyler. So here we are. Brissett is exactly what this franchise does. To expect anything more is simply foolish.

Kyler is a starting caliber QB; he’s just not a QB who gives you a seat at the table as a Super Bowl aspirant.

It’s very possible Kyler has already realized this and that’s why he’s so surly.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Kyler is a starting caliber QB; he’s just not a QB who gives you a seat at the table as a Super Bowl aspirant.

It’s very possible Kyler has already realized this and that’s why he’s so surly.

Just make it to that next contract baby

 

[BooksOrangePlanet]

Kyler is a starting caliber QB; he’s just not a QB who gives you a seat at the table as a Super Bowl aspirant.

It’s very possible Kyler has already realized this and that’s why he’s so surly.

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[Crimson Warrior]

I'm sure if we gave K1 7 more years, it would be 84 years. So 14 years and ...

There is a seat available for you as well.

Could we put just a skootch more talent around him WisconsinCard?

Just a teeny tiny bit?

Maybe a WR1 that doesn't lateral his passes to the defense?

Or is that the most outrageous request that's ever been made on a message board?

 

[some dumb guy]

What journey?

We have been lost at sea since they moved here.

shouldn't that be "been through the desert with a horse named Murray" LOL

 

[602 Native]

Could we put just a skootch more talent around him WisconsinCard?

Just a teeny tiny bit?

Maybe a WR1 that doesn't lateral his passes to the defense?

Or is that the most outrageous request that's ever been made on a message board?

We have a great offense.
Tip Reaiman will lead this team in catches. We don’t need any WRs.

Can’t believe we went into this season with pretty much no changes on offense and now we are facing injuries.

 

[Stout]

Only one step in a journey

Exactly. I'd like to know which yahoos think all our problems are solved when we finally get rid of KM.

 

[kerouac9]

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MedioKyler?

 

[Stout]

Neither is Kyler. So here we are. Brissett is exactly what this franchise does. To expect anything more is simply foolish.

Uh, he is a starting caliber NFL QB. Just not a top 2/3 caliber starting NFL QB.

 

[DVontel]

Exactly. I'd like to know which yahoos think all our problems are solved when we finally get rid of KM.

I know 1 in mind…

 

[602 Native]

Exactly. I'd like to know which yahoos think all our problems are solved when we finally get rid of KM.

Oh please, we have 200+ page thread with plenty of those people.

 

[Stout]

Oh please, we have 200+ page thread with plenty of those people.

For the simple minded out there, realizing the QB is a problem does not equal thinking the QB is the problem.

 

[AsUpRoDiGy]

Oh please, we have 200+ page thread with plenty of those people.

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[602 Native]

For the simple minded out there, realizing the QB is a problem does not equal thinking the QB is the problem.

We are on the same page but that doesn’t negate there are plenty here that think K1 is the problem.

 

[602 Native]

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[oaken1]

i had a girlfriend once - she was good looking but not a super model - she made good money but not great money - she'd make dinner which i appreciated then she wouldn't do the dishes

but i never broke up with her to date her ugly broke sister

That's just because you didn't know about that "thing" her ugly sister does