Blake Shelton Says He Forced Arizona Cardinals GM To Draft Kyler Murray

Is Blake Shelton the reason Kyler Murray is quarterbacking the Arizona Cardinals?!?

The country star sure made it seem that way when we got him out in L.A. this week ... 'cause he told us he straight-up forced the Cards' GM to take the Oklahoma QB!!!

"I told Steve Keim that we wouldn't be friends anymore if he didn't take [Kyler] No. 1 in the draft," Blake says.

FYI, Blake is a diehard Cards fan -- he says he's backed the team for more than 20 years -- and says he's got a hell of a relationship with A LOT of high-ranking execs on the team.

So, he really might've swayed Steve!!!

Of course, the pick seems like a no-brainer now (Kyler's KLLIN' it this season) ... but at one point, a lot of people had their doubts about the Heisman Trophy winner.

In fact, Joe Theismann told us way back in April he thought Kyler was making a HUGE mistake by picking football over baseball!!!

But, Shelton says he was always super confident that Murray would be a star for his favorite squad ... telling us, "I love Kyler Murray. I love him."

As for what he thinks Kyler is going to accomplish for the Cards this year ... Shelton gave us a big, fat guarantee -- saying Arizona will make the playoffs!!!