NFL Rookie Watch: Kyler Murray & Daniel Jones on divergent paths

Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones were taken just five spots apart in the 2019 NFL Draft, but they are heading on divergent paths as rookies.

Week 7 of the NFL season saw the top two rookie quarterbacks from the 2019 draft square off, and the Arizona Cardinals’ win over the New York Giants showed they are two players headed down very different paths.

First overall pick Kyler Murray and sixth overall pick Daniel Jones have each enjoyed highs in their first year. However, while Murray’s rise continued on Sunday, the Giants’ defeat was clear evidence of a slump for Jones, whose early success in replacing Eli Manning is looking more and more like a mirage.

Murray was tasked with doing very little in the Cardinals’ 27-21 victory, as he was able to rely heavily on a running game that saw Chase Edmonds finish with 126 yards and three touchdowns.

While Murray was not drafted to be a game manager, the way in which he kept the Cardinals in control by playing mistake-free football was impressive for a player of his inexperience. Murray finished 14 of 21 for 104 yards and did flash some of his explosiveness as a runner, putting up 28 yards on the ground.

Jones, meanwhile, played the antithesis of mistake-free football. He struggled to sense pressure and held the ball too long, fumbling three times and losing two of them as the Cardinals decimated the Giants’ offensive line and racked up eight sacks.

His lone interception came as a result of Jones failing to spot lurking linebacker Jordan Hicks as he attempted to force the ball into Golden Tate, the pick his fifth in the last three games.

After a concerning second half against the Washington Redskins, Jones has produced three successive poor performances against the Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots and Cardinals.

He may have initially silenced the critics, but doubts over the Giants’ decision to select Jones sixth are resurfacing as they lurch towards another lost season.

Arizona, however, looks vindicated in their gamble on Murray, who will be severely tested by the ferocious defenses of the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers in the next two games.

The Cardinals will be underdogs in each of those matchups but, regardless of results, Murray’s star will continue to rise if he produces respectable displays.

Recent evidence suggests Jones is unlikely to excel in his coming meetings with the defenses of the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys and Giants general manager Dave Gettleman can expect to field plenty more questions about his draft-day shocker should his top pick continue down the opposite path to the improving Murray.