Before Kyler Murray landed with the Minnesota Vikings earlier this offseason, the first seven years of his NFL career were spent with the Arizona Cardinals, where, let's just say, he didn't really get a ton of help.
Murray's lack of support from other parts of the Cardinals' roster during his tenure with the franchise was brought to light recently when The Athletic's Mike Sando shared an incredibly eyebrow-raising stat.
"Murray is one of 29 quarterbacks to start at least 25 games over the past three seasons. He ranks 17th among them in quarterback EPA per start, about the same as Sam Darnold, who ranks 16th.
Darnold has a league-best 28-7 (.800) starting record among those 29 quarterbacks over this three-year span. Murray’s record is only 13-17 (.433).
The difference: Darnold’s Vikings and Seahawks averaged +7.5 combined EPA on defense and special teams in his starts, which ranked No. 1 in the 29-quarterback sample. Murray’s Cardinals averaged -2.5 combined EPA on defense/special teams, worst in the sample.
This all points to Murray’s record improving significantly in Minnesota, unless the defense falls off.
If the Minnesota Vikings have a good defense in 2026, the sky's the limit for Kyler Murray
In Minnesota's three years with Brian Flores as the team's defensive coordinator, they've ranked 18th, fourth, and fourth in points allowed per opposing offensive drive in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.
During that same three-season span of time and in that same category, Arizona ranked 31st (2023), 21st (2024), and 29th (2025) in the NFL. It's not a coincidence that the most success the Cardinals had with Murray in the last three years was in 2024, when the defense was almost average.
In fact, in Murray's entire pro career, he's never been a member of a team that had a defense that even ranked inside the top-10 in points allowed per opposing offensive drive.
He could literally be heading into uncharted territory next season.
If the Vikings' defense continues to rank among the league's best under Flores in 2026, and there's really no reason to think it won't, then it could potentially unlock a level of success for Murray that he's truly never experienced in his NFL career.
Next Sam Darnold? No, Murray's 2026 season in Minnesota has a chance to blow Darnold's one-year tenure with the Vikings out of the water.