Kyler Murray entered the NFL with a mountain of expectation tied to him, and not simply because he was the first overall pick. It was also because the Arizona Cardinals decided to make room for him by trading away Josh Rosen, a quarterback they used the 10th-overall pick on only one year prior. But with the hiring of Kliff Kingsbury in 2019 came the want of Murray, and so the Cardinals' new head coach lobbied until he got his wish, and it's paid off thus far -- needless to say. 

Murray battled through a debut full of growing pains but never wavered in how he approached the game, en route to being named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team and landing NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. The former Heisman Trophy winner is continuing his award-winning ways at the NFL level and while the Cardinals as a whole finished with a 5-10 record and last in the NFC West, Murray and Co. showed flashes of a potentially bright future.

And Kingsbury can already feel a heightened level of belief in the 22-year-old. 

"I try to talk to [Murray] at least once a week if not more," Kingsbury said, via ArizonaSports.com. "He's doing great. When you watch the installs with him, when you watch plays from last year, you notice how far he's come since training camp on. There's definitely a different level of confidence, a different level of command of the offense and he feels it. Even though we haven't been able to get out on the grass, he definitely feels a lot more comfortable heading into year two."

Murray finished his rookie season with 3,722 yards passing and an accuracy rate of 64.4 percent, helping to lead the rebuilding Cardinals to a three-game win streak that showed a ton of grit after having started the season 0-3, the latter having easily been a reason for him to begin doubting himself. Instead, he pushed through, but the Cardinals offense lacked the deep threat wideout that could take pressure off of Larry Fitzgerald and Murray, which led to Murray having only 20 passing touchdowns; but he added another 544 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns to his stat line -- doing all he can to keep the Cardinals competitive.

With the addition of DeAndre Hopkins in a blockbuster trade that shook the very ground beneath the NFL, and with Fitzgerald returning, things should look precipitously more promising for Murray and the Cardinals in 2020. Hopkins is a proven, perennial All-Pro and Fitzgerald a hands-down first-ballot Hall of Famer who still plays at a high level. The team lacked hasn't had a 1,000-yard receiver since Fitzgerald passed the mark in 2017, but Hopkins enters the fold having seven such seasons in his illustrious nine-year career.

When factoring in the potential for Christian Kirk as a third target, it's rather clear Arizona wasn't ailing for a wide receiver going into the 2020 NFL Draft. That's why, despite it being heralded as one of the deepest WR classes in history, Kingsbury decided to pass on grabbing one.

"We liked a lot of receivers in the draft [but] we also like the guys we took last year," Kingsbury said. "We like how they progressed. It was tough getting on the field because we had some guys playing really well [in front of them], but we're excited to see how they take that next step in year two. I would say that definitely had a lot to do with how the draft went."

With the aforementioned weapons around him and the retention of Kenyan Drake, a more-confident Murray could help the Cardinals make a push for the crown in the NFC West. It won't be an easy task, but he's never been known to back down from a challenge.