In the 2020 season, the Cardinals’ quarterback, Kyler Murray, played in all 16 games and it marked the team’s highest number of snaps under center while Kliff Kingsbury was the coach, with a total of 173 snaps according to profootballreference.com.
Under the guidance of OC Drew Petzing this season, Murray only participated in nine games for the Cardinals. However, he still had a respectable 130 snaps under center, with a significant increase in the last two games where he totaled 55 snaps alone.
Murray expressed his satisfaction and enthusiasm for the implementation of a particular strategy before the season’s last game. He acknowledged that this was something he had previously requested, believing that it would bring a fresh dimension to the team’s offense. Moreover, he believed that it would pose a challenge for the opposing defense, making it difficult for them to track the ball during play fakes and play action. Ultimately, Murray declared his enjoyment of this strategy due to its impact on the game.
The Cardinals had a total of 307 plays with their three different quarterbacks taking snaps under center. This was a slower start for Murray in his first few games. However, in the Kingsbury era, the number of plays with the quarterback under center has been significantly lower, with the following numbers: 2022: 163, 2021: 149, 2020: 173, and 2019: 169. According to Greg Olsen, not putting your quarterback under center on early downs in the NFL can make their life extremely difficult.
From 2020 to 2022, Murray spent the majority of his time in the shotgun formation, second only to Jalen Hurts of the Eagles, while lining up under center the least out of all quarterbacks. However, under the guidance of Petzing, these numbers shifted. Once Murray returned, the Cardinals started lining up under center more frequently, moving away from the shotgun formation. Additionally, they came close to entering the top 10 in play-action percentage, reaching nearly 25 percent.
According to coach Jonathan Gannon, in today’s era, it is important to apply pressure on the defense by utilizing the skills of your team. Having various offensive strategies, whether it’s from under center or in the gun, can greatly stress out the defense. Having a quarterback like Kyler who can execute different play types from both positions provides us with multiple advantages. Additionally, Kyler’s ability to observe and react to the defense when playing from under center offers us a unique advantage, which will be a key aspect of our identity going forward.
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