Ranking the NFL Starting Quarterbacks
#17 Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals)
Many seem to have forgotten about Kyler Murray after he missed 15 games across the last two seasons as a result of a serious knee injury. But in his 8 games during the 2023 season, he showed that he is ready to pick up right where he left off pre-injury.
So where is that exactly? What type of quarterback is Murray as he enters his 6th NFL season?
First and foremost, he’s a human highlight machine who has the ability to make big plays with his arm and his legs:
Murray has a natural throwing motion (that’s the baseball player in him), which helps make him an accurate passer. He’s also a dynamic runner who is the fastest player on the field most Sundays. In fact, he’s rushed for the 4th-most yards per game among quarterbacks since entering the league in 2019.
The issue for Murray, as it is for many quarterbacks in the 11-20 range of my rankings, is consistency between the highs. He hasn’t been able to put it all together for a full season.
There have been stretches of his career where he’s looked close to breaking through. The first 8 games of 2020 come to mind. Murray completed 68.1% of his passes, averaged 266.3 passing yards per game, rushed for an additional 543 yards, and racked up 24 total touchdowns (16 passing, 8 rushing).
The Cardinals’ 7-0 start a year later is another great example. During that run, Murray appeared to be mastering his passing skillset, completing 73.5% of his passes for nearly 9 yards per attempt. He also had a 17-5 TD-INT ratio and a 116.8 passer rating. Murray added another 3 TDs on the ground during that stretch, but the majority of his success was coming from playing in the pocket.
Murray hasn’t been able to sustain that level of play for longer periods of time, however. In both 2020 and 2021, the Cardinals fell off during the back half of the schedule, with Murray’s performance doing the same. Injuries played a role, but the inability to execute consistently from the pocket is probably the biggest reason for his uneven performance.
Murray’s height is absolutely an issue as well. Not only do his passes get knocked down at the line (3rd-highest frequency in the NFL since 2019), but he also can’t always see the field from the pocket. That’s what leads to the scrambles and the run-around nature to his game.
And that’s what leads to inconsistency.
That said, Murray is still dynamic enough as a runner, talented enough as a passer, and effective enough as a quarterback to land at #17 on this list.
Check out the rest of the rankings here:
#32 Bo Nix (Denver Broncos)
#31 Drake Maye (New England Patriots)
#30 J.J. McCarthy (Minnesota Vikings)
#29 Gardner Minshew (Las Vegas Raiders)
#28 Will Levis (Tennessee Titans)
#27 Deshaun Watson (Cleveland Browns)
#26 Anthony Richardson (Indianapolis Colts)
#25 Bryce Young (Carolina Panthers)
#24 Daniel Jones (New York Giants)
#23 Jayden Daniels (Washington Commanders)
#22 Caleb Williams (Chicago Bears)
#21 Geno Smith (Seattle Seahawks)
#20 Russell Wilson (Pittsburgh Steelers)
#19 Derek Carr (New Orleans Saints)
#18 Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
#17 Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals)
#16 Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)
#15 Jared Goff (Detroit Lions)
#14 Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins)
#13 Kirk Cousins (Atlanta Falcons)
#12 Jalen Hurts (Philadelphia Eagles)
#11 Brock Purdy (San Francisco 49ers)
#10 Jordan Love (Green Bay Packers)
#9 Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys)
#8 C.J. Stroud (Houston Texans)
#7 Justin Herbert (Los Angeles Chargers)
#6 Aaron Rodgers (New York Jets)
#5 Matthew Stafford (Los Angeles Rams)
#4 Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
#3 Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengals)
#2 Josh Allen (Buffalo Bills)
#1 Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)