Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray has been predicted as a fantasy football breakout candidate for the 2025 NFL season by SportsLine.
SportsLine accurately predicted James Cook’s monster 2024 season and was spot on in projecting CJ Stroud would take a step back last season. The platform, which runs 10,000 simulations of the NFL season, has a proven track record of nailing sleeper picks, including Davante Adams in 2017, Christian McCaffrey in 2018, and A.J. Brown in 2020.
After winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2019 and being named to the Pro Bowl in the following two seasons, injuries and instability within the organization led to Murray enduring down years in 2022 and 2023.
The 2024 season was the first time he played every game in a regular season since 2020, which saw him finish as the 10th-most productive fantasy quarterback.
Murray’s 2024 Progress
The 2024 season contained 21 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns for the former first overall pick. Arizona finished 8-9 but had the 12th-most points per game. Their offense benefits from consistency with almost an identical group coming back for 2025.
Murray and Marvin Harrison Jr. could be the NFL’s most fearsome quarterback-wide receiver pairing. Trey McBride had the second-most points among tight ends last season.
There’s reason to be optimistic about the Cardinals offense heading into the 2025 season, even though the defense was the front office’s main focus during the draft.
Murray was protected better in 2024 than he has been at any other point in his career (his 16.3% pressure rate was lower than any other season in the pros.) He took fewer hits as a result and had the sixth-highest on target percentage.
Fantasy Outlook
At the time of writing, Murray’s ADP is 82.5, making him QB9. He’s 30 places behind Patrick Mahomes, 23 behind Baker Mayfield, and 14 behind Bo Nix. SportsLine projects Murray will be more valuable than Mahomes in the 2025 season, while Nix is at risk of suffering a sophomore slump.
Mayfield has a talented receiving corps at his disposal and just enjoyed a career year. Murray’s injury history means he’s got more downside than Mayfield, but his rushing ability and the upward trajectory of this Cardinals offense make Murray an appealing sleeper candidate.
Thus far, drafters have placed more faith in Harrison (WR18 by ADP) than Murray, but these SportsLine projections could change how people value Murray. It might not be long before he’s climbing quarterback rankings, particularly with the Redbirds having one of the easiest schedules in the NFL this season.
Published: Jul 7, 2025 01:00 pm