Kyler Murray Favored to Win NFL Offensive Rookie of Year Award

During the last year, Arizona Cardinals rookie quarterback Kyler Murray has grabbed the football headlines with his stunning performances while with the Oklahoma Sooners. Additionally, decision to give up playing professional baseball to become an NFL quarterback caught the imagination. It all resulted in his No. 1 selection overall in the 2019 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.

Sportsbooks have Kyler Murray as the favorite to win the NFL Offensive Player of the Year to add to his list of recent achievements.

Murray tops the futures board for Offensive ROY at +160. He’s followed by Darrell Henderson at +700, Josh Jacobs +700, Dwayne Haskins +800 and David Montgomery +1200.

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Rounding out the top 10 best odds are Mecole Hardman +1800, Deebo Samuel +2000 and Miles Sanders +2000. Additionally,  Parris Campbell is +2000 and D.K. Metcalf +2500.

It’s no surprise to see Murray leading the pack by a big margin at this point. The Cardinals signal caller is expected to start in Week 1. As well as that, he’ll play in an offense that is tailored to him by head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

Murray has been given free rein to use his talents of passing or running the ball. Barring any long term injury, odds makers are confident Murray will win the Offensive ROY award.

Another rookie with a solid shot at winning the award is Oakland’s Josh Jacobs, who at this point has the third best odds to win. The past three running backs to win Offensive ROY have all been not only excellent rushers but sure-handed receivers out of the backfield. Jacobs fits that list as well.

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Jacobs was selected with the No. 24 pick overall by the Raiders and is expected to be used early and often by coach Jon Gruden both on the ground and on the receiving end of passes from Derek Carr.

Gruden is well known for his use of rookie running backs. In 2005 and 2006, the first two seasons Gruden coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cadillac Williams had 310 and 256 touches.