With four wins to show for a 2023 season that has but one week remaining, the Arizona Cardinals are most certainly a franchise in flux.
As an unsure future awaits the Cards in the offseason, first-year head coach Jonathan Gannon did his best to nip one storyline in the bud by putting his full support behind Kyler Murray as the franchise's quarterback of the future.
Asked Tuesday during his weekly appearance if there was any doubt Murray was his starting QB going forward, Gannon actually choked at the notion Murray would not be.
"No, there's not [any doubt]," Gannon said, laughing. "I love this guy, man."
He repeated the sentiment through more chuckling.
"No, there's no doubt," Gannon said, still laughing, when asked to confirm who he loves. "'No. 1' our franchise quarterback, that's who I love."
The 4-12 Cardinals are currently slotted for the No. 4 overall pick in the 2024 ąú˛úÍâÁ÷ÍřDraft, which is prognosticated to be quarterback-rich.
With Gannon and Monti Ossenfort finishing up their first seasons on the job in Arizona, it's not unthinkable that a rebuilding franchise would start over with a fresh face at QB.
The 26-year-old Murray is coming off an ACL tear that ended his 2022 campaign and delayed the start of his 2023 season. He's under contract through 2028, having agreed to a blockbuster extension in July of last year. When healthy, Murray has been dynamic on the field, having gone to two Pro Bowls and built a reputation as one of the league's finest dual-threat QBs. However, the Cardinals have had just one winning season, one playoff appearance, and no postseason wins in his four-plus seasons.
Nonetheless, Gannon is sold after coaching Murray for seven games this season.
"You know I'm a Kyler guy now," the coach said.
When Gannon took over this past offseason, Murray had just begun rehabbing his knee injury.
It wasn't until Week 10 that Murray made his debut, which was a 25-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Murray is 3-4 as a starter with 12 total touchdowns (nine passing, three rushing) and is averaging 219 yards per game.
"Being here for a year with him now, I'm more convicted than when I got here," Gannon said.
Gannon's endorsement is also coming on the heels of Murray's best performance this season, as he quarterbacked the Cardinals to a 35-31 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles. Murray tallied 232 passing yards and a season-high three TD passes.
"I always think he's gonna play good, and he has," Gannon said of Murray's performance. "There's no doubt he was a huge part to why we won that game. I thought he lit it up, I thought he was lights out. At the end of the game, that was kind of, my expectation for him, is if you've got the ball in your hands, the team knows we have a chance to win the game. And that's what he did."
