Cardinals 2020 player grades: Quarterbacks
The Arizona Cardinals went through many ups and downs last season, and at their peak looked like one of the most formidable teams in the league. To get to where they were this season just two years removed from having the worst record in the NFL, they had to go through a lot of roster turnover.
We begin a series of posts looking back at each player who recorded a snap for Arizona this season and grade their performance, starting with the quarterbacks. Since Brett Hundley was inactive all 16 games, he will not get a grade.
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
2020 Grade : A
The 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year came into this season with high expectations, and he delivered. He increased his total combined rushing and passing yardage by over 500 (4,266 in 2019 to 4,790 in 2020) and his combined passing and rushing touchdowns by 13 (24 in 2019 to 37 in 2020) en route to improving the Cardinals win total by three game, while maintaining a spot in the MVP conversation for the majority of the season. There were parts of his game that you hope he will improve, but Murray still has a lot of room to improve. He is the fourth-youngest starting QB in the league at 23 years, 171 days, behind Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovaiola and L.A. Chargers QB Justin Herbert, and his development has shown no signs of slowing down. The disappearance of the Cardinals' offense when he left the Week 17 matchup against the Rams only further proves how important of a player Murray is.
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2020 Grade : C-
Streveler was signed by Arizona in the offseason expected to be a Taysom Hill-type gadget player but ended up beating out Brett Hundley in camp for the role as backup quarterback. He was rarely used. He was really only used in the gadget role for the first two games of the season. He played that role well, picking up a few key conversions in wins against San Francisco and Washington, but wasn’t used again until Week 17 when Murray went down. Although he was put in an admittedly tough situation with limited practice time, facing arguably the No. 1-ranked Los Angeles Rams defense, and with a barely altered gameplan, Streveler did not play well at all. He took a safety, threw a pick-6 right before halftime and would only account for 89 total yards in 42 minutes, 53 seconds in a win-or-go-home game. His future with the team remains to be seen. Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify. Latest show:
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