The Cardinals are heading in a new direction after hiring head coach Jonathan Gannon and General Manager Monti Ossenfort since the end of the 2022 season and one of the questions that the franchise will have to answer is if their reboot will extend to the quarterback spot at some point in the near future.
Decisions to draft and extend Kyler Murray were made by people no longer in the organization and Murray’s play ahead of last year’s torn ACL didn’t do much to convince the world that he’s a sure thing as the face of the franchise.
Tackle Kelvin Beachum is set for free agency after helping to protect Murray the last three seasons and he shared his thoughts about the quarterback during an appearance on Arizona Sports on Wednesday. Beachum said quarterbacks “have to be able to lead an entire organization, you’ve got to lead a team” and that Murray is still going through the process of becoming that kind of a leader.
“It’s not a completed process,” Beachum said. “I didn’t say he lacks leadership, I just think he needs to grow up a little bit. I think if he has the ability and willingness to grow up, he’s going to be just fine. They paid him for a reason, they paid him because of his talent. He has the ability to lead. When you’re in that position, we need you to lead more. You’re the face of the franchise . . . you have to lead in every single capacity.”
Murray’s progress may be impacted by the need to focus on recovering from his torn ACL during an offseason that will also require him to learn a new offense, but the Cardinals will need him to show it if they’re going to continue on the same track after switching gears elsewhere.