Getty Quarterback Kyler Murray Oklahoma Sooners.
The hype surrounding Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray’s NFL future has picked up steam. Obviously, winning a Heisman Trophy only adds to that, but it seems the chatter around Murray opting to head to the league has ramped up even more just recently. So much so, that it’s quickly looking more and more like a very real potential outcome.
On the Stick To Football Podcast with Matt Miller, the draft analyst revealed details of the situation, citing that talks of the Sooners star going to the NFL have been “heating up.”
“Over the last week I would say, it has been heating up, phone calls, texts, conversations, that Kyler Murray’s going to play football, and he’s not goinig to do it at Oklahoma. He’s goinig to try and enter the NFL draft.”” Milller stated.
Miller went on to offer a fairly strong opinion on Murray’s value, stating that he doesn’t believe he should go to the NFL.
“I have my own personal opinions on that, I think it’s a mistake, I think he should go play baseball. And that’s not me being a Texas fan, as a draft analyst, I’m able to separate that. I don’t think Kyler Murray should play football, if he wants to, though, we’re going to have to look at him as a prospect. And I said to you last night if Lamar Jackson could go first round with the skill set that he has, I don’t really know what it takes anymore to go in the first round, because it’s supply and demand.
This is pretty eye-opening, especially considering Murray was set to play just one year at Oklahoma before going to play baseball. He was a first-round pick by the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB Draft back in June.
Kyler Murray’s Interest in Playing Both Football & Baseball
Back in December, Murray spoke about his future at Heisman Trophy media day and although he admitted to being unsure if it was possible, said he’d love to play both sports professionally. The comments were revealed by The Athletic’s Julian McWilliams, and essentially put the chatter of Murray’s NFL future on the center stage.
The idea of Murray playing in both the NFL and MLB is pretty much impossible, largely due to the day-to-day grind involved with professional sports. But even beyond that, it’s tough to envision that a franchise in either league would openly allow a player to do something like this.
Kyler Murray’s NFL Draft Case
While Murray stands just 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds, there’s no question he’s put aside at least some of the concerns over his size. During his junior season as a starter with the Sooners, the quarterback racked up 4,361 passing yards, 1,001 rushing yards and 54 combined touchdowns (42 passing). Equally as impressive is the fact that he threw just seven interceptions over 14 games.
Murray completed 69 percent of his passes on the year and threw for 300-plus yards in 10 games while failing to account for two or more touchdowns just one time all season. His 432-yard, seven touchdown performance against the Baylor Bears early on in the year helped to really boost the NFL hype, and it hasn’t calmed down since.
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