Many raised their eyebrows at comments made by both Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim and coach Kliff Kingsbury about No. 1 pick Kyler Murray and whether or not he will be the starting quarterback.
Keim, appearing on the Rich Eisen show, said unequivocally Murray would be the team’s Week 1 starter against the Detroit Lions. He said they didn’t draft him first overall to sit on the bench.
Kingsbury, speaking to Jim Rome, had different thoughts. He said he would have to see, saying he is excited about Brett Hundley, whom they signed as a free agent.
Then Kingsbury appeared on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Sports Radio channel and adjusted a bit what he said.
“We’re going to work through that over the next couple weeks but you don’t take him, in our situation, at number one to sit him on the bench,” he said.
Some have spoken about how the two are not on the same page and how that looks bad.
The fact is they are both right to say what they did.
There is nothing about the situation to suggest Murray won’t be the starter. Keim should expect Murray to be the starter. That’s why they drafted him. Kingsbury has talked about building the offense around Murray. That doesn’t sound like a coach who intends on benching the No. 1 pick.
At the same time, coaches aren’t usually in the business of just handing out jobs. They respect the competitive process and the players competing for open jobs.
There is no disconnect. Barring a disaster, Murray will be the Week 1 starter. But Kingsbury is going to allow the door to be open for Hundley. After all, Hundley signed with the Cardinals to compete.
Murray can be both expected to be the starter and not be given the job just a week after he is drafted.
There really isn’t any big story here.
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