Arizona Cardinals Kyler Murray OUT FOR YEAR, Many Others to Miss Sunday Against Los Angeles Rams

Arizona Cardinals Kyler Murray OUT FOR YEAR, Many Others to Miss Sunday Against Los Angeles Rams

Kyler Murray’s done for the season. That should spell the end to him as an Arizona Cardinal. But that’s not the biggest story come this weekend. It’s everybody else that’s out. Let’s discuss. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily Arizona Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Lockdown Cardinals, Alex Clancy here. Thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen free wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube part of the number one sports podcast platform on the planet in Lockdown. Man, this season has not gone like we’d expected. There’s so many things to discuss today. Had a great crossover Thursday yesterday with Travis Rogers from Lockdown Rams. Check that out. Um Kyler Murray is out for the year. That should spell the end. Um, but that’s not a conversation to be had now because we’re talking about the players who are active and also who are inactive just for this week. And there is a laundry list. I’ll get into it. So, you’re going to get more Michael Wilson, more Trey McBride, even more than you did when Marvel was out the first time like he is this week because Greg Dorch is also out and the keys to victory per usual. Um, please go to the YouTube channel, search locked in Arizona Cardinals, hit that subscribe button, man. You know the drill. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. So, Kyler Marriott for the year. I don’t think this is a surprise. I don’t think this is something that comes as a shock. Whatever other adjective you want to use for surprise or synonym you want to use for a surprise. Here it is. Um, I don’t say this flippantly. I don’t say this with any sort of animosity. I don’t say this with any sort of for forgetfulness over what the last, you know, six and a half seasons have been like. He probably won’t be on the Arizona Cardinals next year. Hashtaganalysis. He’ll probably find a good home and he’ll probably be pretty good wherever he goes. This was never an anti- Kyler Murray um character arc ever. For those that have watched this show for more than the last two months, I have been king champion of the Kyler Murray fan club. For better or for worse, I think he’s a top three, definitely top five quarterback the Arizona Cardinals have ever had in their existence. And they’ve they’re the longest tenur football team in history of sport. So top five pretty good. Um wasn’t given a full deck to work with during a large portion of the time he’s been quarterback. And this isn’t one where there is going to be again any sort of animosity. It’s like you get divorced due to irreconcilable differences. A lot of that could be just like we just don’t really like each other anymore. Not in the sense that we don’t like each other as people, but it just doesn’t work. That whatever it is just doesn’t work and it’s time to go our separate ways. Let’s high-five and go. And I think that’s what this is going to be. Everybody loves Kyle. I think I do. I think he’s great. Okay. When he got hurt, the offense took an uptick. He never got healthy again. So, it doesn’t really matter if he would have played when he came back. He’s not healthy, they say. And there you go. I don’t know what this means. I don’t know the the the severity of him being injured still. I don’t know if this is again not the soft close now. This is the full hard close and Kyler Murray not being an Arizona Cardinal again. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. I’m not inside the locker room. I don’t I’m not privy to those conversations. But we do know that he is not going to play this year. and all conventional wisdom and rational thought would lend you to think that they’re going to find a new home for him come 2026. Is it right? I don’t know. I think Kyler, although the the valleys were more pronounced than the peaks, the peaks were extraordinary. The peaks were extraordinary. So, let’s not be so quick to forget all the great things that he’s done as an Arizona Cardinal. And I know that the win loss record didn’t show it except for that one year. I know the playoff game that everybody still, you know, goes back to, which was what, five years ago now. But you get two minutes, he’s not playing again this year. We need to talk about the players who might be playing again this year. Marvin Harrison Jr.’s out. Drian Taylor’s out. Max Melton’s out. Walter Nolan’s out. Greg Dorch is out. And Trey Benson will not make his return. Did I say Trey Benson already? So, a large contingent of the young talent the Cardinals have will again not play on Sunday. I don’t know what the conversation needs to pivot to where it’s like how is everybody hurt all of a sudden? Like, is this a let’s take the foot off the break if it’s 50/50? if they were in contention that maybe these guys would push, but because they’re not, they aren’t. I don’t know. That’s a very tricky speculative, you know, uh, angle to take. Oh, these guys aren’t hurt. It’s just the end of the year and they want to lose games. I will never take that angle. I will never take that angle. But with all of that said, you still got Garrett Williams, you’ve still got Will Johnson, you still got Buddha Baker, you still got Jaylen Thompson, and you’re going up against the best one two wide receiver punch in football. I know that people would say uh T. Higgins and Jamar Chase, Pukanuku and Devonte Adams are so wildly different in this stage of their career with their skill sets and how they’re utilized that is going to be a whirling dervish washing machine experience for the secondary for the Cardinals, especially with Shawn McVey calling the shots. So, that’s what I’m most excited about watching. I talked about this during the crossover yesterday. I’m most excited to see Garrett Williams plus Will Johnson v Devonte Adams and Pukin and Kawa. They’re all they’re not going to always line up alongside each other or opposed each other opposite of each other. Not there. But that’s going to be the most fascinating thing for me to watch on Sunday. And with Max Melton out and with Drian Dailyy Timmerson out, you’re going to see some Denzel Burke. And he’s played he’s had his ups and downs this year. He had a he had a very good game against Dallas. He’s a fifth round rookie out of Ohio State. We’ll see. You’re going to get Cody Simon again, the green dot with M. Wilson on IR. The interior is going to be Darius Robinson. It’s going to be Clay. is going to be Don Thomasson. But for me, like as a fan of football and as a fan of watching rookies, second year, third year guys, especially for the team that I’ve covered in, you know, been in this space for, you know, 15 years is like I want to see Walter Nolan play every second. I want to see Drien Taylor playing that demon lineup with the other two safeties and then Will Johnson and and and Garrett Williams playing on the outside with Jaylen Thompson in the slot. I want to see that. We’ve barely seen it this year. So, when it’s a throwaway season, quote unquote, that’s been marred and riddled by injuries, you’re just missing out, you’re vacating the fun part of watching young guys play football together for the first time. It’s like the promise and future of this team talent-wise with their young talent, especially on defense, because that’s kind of the the mystery. Not in the mystery of can it happen, the mystery of what’s it going to look like when it does happen and is it going to reach that elite level that you’d hope. You’re not going to get to see it. So, I’m holding on to Will Johnson. I’m holding on to Garrett Williams and we’re going to watch them go head up with the best one-two punch wide receivers in football. Everybody’s out, but two of the key important dudes for the future of this team are not. And that’s going to be them two and Buddha Baker and Jaylen Thompson verse the world and Shawn McVey. And I am here for it with Marvout, with Greg Dorchout. It’s going to be a lot more Michael Wilson and even more Trey McBride than we’ve seen up until this point. What’s that going to look like? And are they going to be able to execute it against one of the better defenses they’re going to play the rest of the year? Discuss it next. Locked on Cardinals in your team every day. This episode of Lock on Carlles is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast, man. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. And that’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. And with FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting’s best when the game, you know, starts to shift, a receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up, or the momentum flips dur after a turnover, and FanDuel lets you jump in on the action. Live spreads and money lines adjust instantly. Player props update as guys heat up. So like sympathetically speaking, you know, Puket Naku’s overunder skyrockets because he has a 30 yard chunk gain in the first quarter. You can put some cheese on it. You can bet next touchdown scores, drive results, totals, and more. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, and every possibility. So if you want to be in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL live bet all season long. FanDuel, the game move fast. The game moves fast and so can you. Please go to the YouTube channel, search locked in Arizona Cardinal, hit that subscribe button, man. Season 9 was supposed to be the most exciting. It was for a while and now it’s just sad, right? It’s just sad. We expect it. We We deserve more. It just sucks. It sucks that injuries have just derailed on top of the one-sore games alto together. The fact you haven’t had James Connor in months. The fact that Trey Benson hasn’t been there in months. The fact that Marva has been in and out the majority of the season. The fact that Walter Nolan missed the first couple months. Like everybody’s been hurt. Max Melton, M. Wilson, all of the Impact guys outside of a couple have been hurt. Kyler Murray, it’s just like not this way, not this way. And this is why, and this is just, we’ve talked about this a little bit. I’ve alluded to it multiple times. I think Jonathan Gan will be back. I don’t think they’re going to extend him. I think he’ll be back for a year. Hopefully, everybody stays healthy and then you can find out. I know it’s year three. I know it’ll be year four. I don’t know how you can coach at a level when you’ve got the majority at times your impact players hurt. I don’t know. It’s not an excuse, but it is a reason to bring somebody back. Michael Wilson and Trey McBride are going to get 30 targets on Sunday. They’re going to get 30 targets on Sunday and it’s going to be and listen, it’s going to be awesome and fun to watch. It’s not going to be any sort of real replicate of what’s going to happen next year. You’d expect um it kind of reminds me of the Joe Flacco and Amari Cooper/David and Jooku year two years ago. I think it was two years ago where they became fantasy darlings and I think it was after Deshun Watson got hurt and Joe Flacco just threw them the ball every single snap. It was one of the two of them and they made the playoffs and they ended up losing to uh Houston I believe. Um it’s going to be like that. So it’s gonna be a little fool’s goldie, but I do believe that showing the proof of concept with Michael Wilson has no downside. It has no downside. Two games without Marv, two allworld performances. And this is a tougher defense. They’re going to get a lot of pressure on Jacobe Brassette, you’d expect, but you’re going to see even without Greg Dorch and Z Jones obviously with the Achilles, like you’ll have Xavier Weaver and I mean Trey and Michael. They could quite literally get 30 targets combined. Quite literally. And it could be, you know, 10 or 12 catches each for over 100 yards and a touchdown each or whatever it is. It really is, you know, a lot of it’s predicated upon the run game and if Ben can get any push and if the rights out of the offensive line can hold up, if Evan Brown can hold up, um, this is it’s rinse and repeat every week. And it’s going to be rinse and repeat every week because they play difficult defenses for the rest of the year outside of Cincinnati in week 17. Atlanta’s got a good defense. Atlanta’s got a good defense. So with Marv out, with Greg Dorch out, it’s going to be the same. It’s going to be the same. And Trey McBride is just going to shatter. Like I wonder if he’ll shatter alltime single season tight end records now that Joey Brasset is officially going to be the quarterback for the rest of the year. You know, barring any sort of unforeseen events. That’s going to be like the the diamond in the rough for this last part of the season is how many numbers can trade stack? Yeah, they’re going to be garbage time numbers. Season garbage time numbers, but how many numbers can he stack? Can he have a top five tight end season ever? Be fun to watch. I mean, those are the kind of little things. We talked about that earlier in the week. Like the positives Trey’s there, Michael Wilson’s like the ex receiver has produced when it’s just been one of them. And that’s just when M when Michael Wilson produces two out of the last three weeks. So, we’ll see if they can do it again with a defense that has been leaky in the secondary. A defense that gave up a lot of points to Carolina last week. Two were on wild chunk gains. I think one was a one was a swing pass to Chuba Hubard for 40 to the house and then one was where T McMillan got got over the safety and just housed it. It was either over the safety or over over a corner. I can’t remember. Um, so big plays can be had, but you got to be able to protect Jacob Brassette and that’s, you know, jumping into keys to victory next. That’s going to be one of them as it is every week. I am fascinated to see if the Cardinals are going to be able to run the ball. I know it sounds boring and I know it sounds like, well, obviously they’re not going to be able to because they haven’t up until this point. And the defensive front for the the Rams is no joke. You got to kind of see what you got now with Bam Knight. Is he going to be RB2 when Trey Benson comes back in 2026? Are they going to go and sign a guy? Are they going to draft a guy? Can Bam Knight show enough for the rest of the season be like, “Hey, you know what? He’s good enough to be RB2 and you’ve got him in house because he’s had flashes. He had, you know, a a huge touchdown run called back by kind of a phantom uh holding call against the 49ers a couple weeks ago. He’s shown some scoop, but I think it’s it’s chicken of the egg again. Is it the offensive line or lack of production by the running back? Like, would James Connor be able to produce more than Bam Knight is now? I think the obvious answer is yes. But the real question is, would Trey Benson be able to produce more than Bam Knight is now? And I think the answer is still yes. But under a microscope for the rest of the year, you got to see what you have with the running backs. Just you got to see what you have with Michael Wilson. If he’s able to continue to do this with Marvout, is does he get a two-year contract extension at the end of the year? You’re obviously watching Jacobe Brassette. Is he a guy that you can start next season? These are the same conversations we’re going to have going into every game day for the rest of the year. This one is a little bit more impactful because the Cardinals are in the crosshairs of a team that lost to a team they should have beat who have number one overall seed in the NFC aspirations in the Rams. And not only are they fighting against Philly, Detroit, and others, they’re fighting against the Seahawks in division. So, every division matchup is massive for these teams down the stretch. So, the Cardinals are of all of the of all of the weeks to play the Rams up until this week, this is the worst time because Shawn McVey will have blood in his No. Oh, got it. Shawn McVey will see blood in the water and does and a get-right game could very well be what we witness with the Rams putting up a 40 burger against this undermanded hurt defense. But we’ll see. I mean, listen, if you told me that the Cardinals lost by 10 or less, be like, “Yeah, that’s exactly what’s happened for the majority of this season outside of the Seattle and and and 49ers game.” Well, the Rams are in division and you know, they’ve been running rough shots. So, yes, you could see that, too. But the Cardinals have competed every week, man. The Seattle game was tough. Two scooping scores. That’s tough. That’s tough to circumvent. And 49ers going up seven right when the game starts. It’s tough to circumvent. Obviously, it’s not an original story, the latter, but I mean, if the Cardinals are able to turn over Matt Stafford, who had two two picks, I think one was a pick six last week, sh you know, breaking his 28 touchdown passes in a row without an interception streak. Like, that’s that’s the the most difficult part about this season. Well, one of them is the Cardinals have been in almost every game and had a chance to win almost every game. And it’s not like, oh, they were down 20 and then they came back and scored, you know, 17 points with, you know, with 10 seconds left and you have to get an onside kick and a Hail Mary to win. Like, they were these were back and forth games, the majority of them all season. So, if you tell me that the Rams game is going to be the same, be like, “Yeah, okay.” That’s all we’ve seen outside of the Seattle game and and the 49ers game where they were spotted 21 points collectively in those two weeks with two scoop and scores and that 90 or kickoff return that resulted in a Christian McCaffrey walk-in touchdown before everybody knew the game even started. Now, do I think that the Rams are gonna dominate and have their way? I would have a proclivity to choose that as opposed to this being a tight game down the stretch. But to say that the Cardinals do not have that in their DNA just isn’t true because we’ve seen it all year outside of you know a couple weeks in the last month. Lockdown Cardinals your team every day. What are the keys to victory? Yes, say it. Turnover battle is number one. But I got to talk about it a different way now. We’ll discuss it next. It’s difficult to say the turnover battle is the most important thing because the Cardinals turned Jacksonville over four times and still lost. Four times, bro. Damn, I don’t pull bro out on the show a lot. Take a little sip of my coffee here. The Cardinals need to turn Matthew Stafford over and can’t turn the ball over. That’s like a must. They need extra possessions. They need short fields. Maybe it’s an interception in the end zone. Like that’s one. But it’s to me the number one most important thing always is protect the quarterback. Okay? If you don’t protect the quarterback, none of this is going to work. I’ve been saying that since 20, you know, whatever, 13. And it’s not, you know, I’m not the first person to say that. I know that. But with the Cardinals for me on Sunday, protecting Jakob sets one, Will Johnson, Garrett Williams versus two wide outs. That’s gonna that’s everything for me on Sunday. That’s going to be something for the rest of the year that I’m going to be most excited to watch. hoping hoping they stay healthy down the stretch against Nico Collins and then you know Drake London if he’s healthy and Kyle Pittz and and and Darnold Mooney they’ve got a bunch of dudes there and then obviously T. Higgins and Jamar Chase and then you get these two guys again in week 18. That’s the biggest one for me. Key to victory keep Dvonte Adams and Pukanaku under 150 combined yards. If they can do that they can win. If they can do that, they can win. And then a little ancillary part to that, which has been a cheat code, is inside the five yard line, Matthew Stafford throwing the ball, Devonte Adams, is always a touchdown. It seems always a touchdown. If they get in there, it’s always a touchdown. Two of my three fantasy leagues are very happy about that, but it’s always a touchdown. So, keeping them under 150 yards, field goals instead of touchdowns, that’s it. That’s how they stay in games. But if you’re giving up a 60 yard chunk touchdown catch to Puka Nakua or a big sweeping crossing route for 35 to the house for Devonte Adams, the Cardinals have no shot. The the dark horse here though outside of those two and I talked about on the crossover yesterday, you can check that out is Terren Ferguson. It’s Terren Ferguson. It’s a rookie tight end because they run him up the seam that he runs wide receiver routes and the Cardinals forever have been bad against a tight end by and large. So that’s kind of the wrench thrown into well just stop Puka and Devonte and you’ll be fine. Like they’ve got so many more weapons. You got Kyron Williams. Blake Cororm has been running rough shot. He’s kind of one in one A with Kron Williams now. Their offensive line’s been pretty good. This is going to be just such a massive test for the defense for the secondary. And without Walter Nolan, without M. Wilson, without Rabbit, Garrett Williams, and Will Johnson will be under that microscope. And I am so excited. I’m so ready to watch them play. I’m so excited to see what they can do. It’s going to be a nice barometer check. It’s going to be a nice litmus test. It really will be. But then you go to the offensive line, see if the right side can hold up, see if Paris Johnson Jr. continue to get better and better. They’ve got a three-headed monster and Jared vers, Byron Young, and Braden Fisk. I know they play different positions on the line. Um, they use him in very different ways. And that’s not the only guys that they have. Those aren’t the only guys that they have, but those are the three that, you know, wreak the most havoc. And when you’re not looking at Kyler Murray and you’re looking at Jacobe Brass who’s going to stand in the pocket and take hits and deliver ball deliver the ball, when you have a target like that instead of a guy who runs around like a, you know, it’s it’s easier to pin your ears back. So the Cardinals need to win the turnover battle. That’s the easy one. Okay, you need to not the easy one. That’s the like the obvious one, but you know, again, they took the ball away four times against Jacksonville and still lost. Keeping Pukanaku and Devonte Adams under 150 yards and out of the end zone gives the Cardinals a real chance to win. Truly, I know that’s the highest tall task, but that’s kind of the check there. Under 150, no touchdowns. Cardinals can win. Cardinals can win. Protecting Jacob Brouset naturally. And really the great equalizer in all of this is if the Cardinals can run the ball, control the clock, you can win the game. It’s an outside chance. Okay. The Cardinals are under manned. And I’ll tell you what, if there’s any guy, even though he’s an offensive guy, if there’s any guy in this league who could take Michael Wilson away and snub Trey McBride a little bit down from his from his pedestal and Shawn McVey and his guys, it will be a huge testament to Michael Wilson and Trey McBride’s talent if they can produce against Shawn McVeyy’s team. Even though Carolina did it last week and you know there’s been garbage on bunch of points San Francisco scored, but Shawn McVey knows the Cardinals better than Carolina and all the other out of division teams. He’s had their number forever outside of week two last year. So this would be a huge proof of concept game not only for Tram Barney and Michael Wilson but also Garrett Williams and Will Johnson if they can keep Devonte Adamuka Nukua at bay in some capacity. Lockdown Cardinals your team every day. Remember, without you, there is no me. After the game, 15 minutes of me, then the Cardinal squad show immediately after. I’ll talk to you.

This episode is a wide-open look at the Arizona Cardinals’ most pressing storylines entering the weekend. Alex Clancy reacts to the season-ending news on Kyler Murray and analyzes what Murray’s likely departure means for the future of the franchise. But the quarterback isn’t the only headline—the Cardinals will be missing a laundry list of young, exciting players due to injuries, including Marvin Harrison Jr., Rabbit Taylor-Demerson, Max Melton, Walter Nolen, and Greg Dortch.

With so many impact rookies and second-year talents sidelined, Alex Clancy digs into the opportunity for players like Michael Wilson and Trey McBride, who are set to shoulder a massive offensive load. The episode deeply explores the challenge facing Arizona’s depleted secondary as they get ready for the Rams’ dynamic receiving duo, with a specific spotlight on how Will Johnson and Garrett Williams stack up against Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.

Alex Clancy also breaks down the team’s injury-plagued season, discusses the coaching situation, and weighs in on what Cardinals fans can realistically hope to see over the final stretch—including which young players could become long-term building blocks. The show wraps up with detailed “keys to victory,” highlighting the importance of protecting Jacoby Brissett, dominating the turnover battle, and stopping the Rams’ top playmakers. Plus, there’s some insight on how the offense and running game might look, why Trey McBride could be headed for a record-breaking finish, and what fans should watch for as the team faces adversity.

It’s a candid, honest reflection on a season clouded by “what could have been,” but also an optimistic preview of the remaining games—packed with strategic analysis, player breakdowns, and plenty of heartfelt commentary for Cardinals fans. Let’s discuss.

The Best Daily Arizona Cardinals Podcast. Host Alex Clancy (@ClancysCorner) take an unbiased approach covering the biggest Cards stories.

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