The first time Kyler Murray met Jayden Daniels, it was a random run-in at a local mall.

Murray didn't even know who Daniels, then a quarterback at ASU, was. All he saw was "this baby-faced tall kid."

Since then, however, the Cardinals quarterback has followed Daniels from his transfer from ASU to LSU, his ascension to a Heisman-winning QB, and then into the NFL – where Daniels and his Washington Commanders play the Cardinals on Sunday.

The two are connected by more than their Heismans or their professions. Murray has also watched Daniels become Kyler version 2.0 in terms of having Kliff Kingsbury as his playcaller.

Daniels may be having a homecoming of sorts with ASU, but it will also be Kingsbury's first return to Arizona for a game since he was let go as Cardinals head coach in January of 2023 after four seasons. He and Murray were supposed to be the perfect marriage when both arrived with the Cardinals in 2019; Murray did win the Offensive Rookie of the Year and the two got the Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021.

Then, for a multitude of reasons, the situation withered. It has turned out that a fresh start apart seems to have benefitted each.

Daniels has led a Commanders offense that has not punted or turned the ball over in either of the last two games as he makes his bid to be the top rookie QB in his class – which is why Kingsbury was hired by Washington coach Dan Quinn in the first place.

Murray, meanwhile, is off to a good start – as good as Daniels was against the Bengals on Monday night, Murray's game against the Rams the week before was equally as good.

Murray answered with a blunt "no" when asked if he might be able to give the Cardinals' defense any insight on Kingsbury's offense. He noted that Sunday won't even be the first time they will have seen each other since the end of the 2022 season.

"I've seen him out and about," Murray said.

"To be honest, I've done it before," Murray added. "I've competed against him before and many other coaches that I've been coached by. It doesn't really affect me. My goal is to go out and win the game."

Kingsbury and the Commanders are already in Arizona, choosing to spend the week practicing here before the game. Kingsbury doesn't meet the media until Friday, but he said in June his intent was to make his work in Washington different than what he did with the Cardinals.

"The one major thing I try to do is make sure this was Year One of the Commanders' offense, not Year Five of the Arizona Cardinals," Kingsbury said. "We did things (in Arizona) that we felt (Murray) could be really successful at and then tried to build and let (Murray) grow and us grow together. We wanted to make sure I didn't start at some point that would overwhelm anybody."

The Commanders haven't overwhelmed Daniels, who has made the right decisions in Washington's 2-1 start. And it isn't like Kingsbury is Washington's head coach either, muting some the storyline as Jonathan Gannon is well into his second year of his restructuring.

"I like Kliff," guard Will Hernandez said. "He gave me an opportunity and for that I'm thankful. Bu it won't be the first time I see a coach I used to work with. That's how the league works. It'll be great to see him."

Murray declined to get into the details of how the offense of Kingsbury and the offense of current OC Drew Petzing differ, other than to acknowledge they do. Hernandez said the same, because different was what the Cardinals wanted.

"They changed coaches for a reason," Hernandez said.

Since arriving, Gannon and Petzing have talked about their constant communication with Murray (even when Murray was coming back from his knee injury) and belief in the quarterback to reach a needed level.

Long before Murray got on the field, the staff knew what he liked and what he didn't.

"We knew we wanted to play with a certain scheme, but good coaches tailor fit their scheme to the quarterback and the people that you have," Gannon said. "I think Drew's done a good job of it."

For his part, long past his time with his former coach, Murray said he is comfortable in the offense, even after a bumpy game against the Lions last week.

"I think through the first three games, I'm really encouraged where we're at," Murray said. "Obviously, we need to be better. We will get better."