Getty Oklahoma's Kyler Murray is favored to be the No. 1 pick.
Former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray is one of the most intriguing prospects to enter the NFL in recent years. After being selected with the No. 9 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, he was expected to play one year of college football before heading to play baseball. Instead, Murray opted to flip to football after a Heisman Trophy-winning season at Oklahoma.
While the electrifying signal-caller impressed in a number of ways, one area where he grabbed attention was his ability to make plays with his legs. After seeing limited playing time over two seasons in 2015 (with Texas A&M) and 2017 (Oklahoma), he scored 54 total touchdowns while racking up 5,352 combined passing and rushing yards in 2018.
Murray’s speed was a talking point, as he rushed 140 times for 1,001 yards and 12 scores during his final collegiate season. This led to the question of just how fast the Sooners former quarterback is.
The answer isn’t exactly cut-and-dry unless you believe the 40-yard dash time the quarterback said he previously ran, which is really all we can go off.
Kyler Murray’s 40-Yard Dash Time
Prior to the 2019 NFL Draft, fans, analysts, scouts and everyone in between was interested in seeing Murray take part in pre-draft activities. Unfortunately, the former Oklahoma signal-caller opted not to run the 40-yard dash at both the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine and at his school’s pro day.
But Murray did reveal his time the last time he was clocked, as Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News revealed.
Asked about the last time he ran the 40, Murray said: “I haven’t run a 40 in like two, three years. I ran a 4.3.”
So is Murray faster now? “I think so,” he said.
To be clear, a 4.3-second 40-yard dash is a mark only hit by 11 players in history at the scouting combine, which Carlton pointed out. But even beyond that, it would make him the fastest quarterback to enter the NFL among those clocked at the combine.
It is worth noting that SB Nation’s David Fucillo pointed out that Murray reportedly ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash during the spring of 2017. It’s unclear if the quarterback was stating that he posted a time of 4.3 flat or if that was rounded down. Regardless, either of those times would place him among the fastest in combine history for quarterbacks.
Per Fucillo, Michael Vick holds the record at 4.25 seconds, but his official time back in 2001 was clocked at 4.33 seconds, while Texas A&M’s Reggie McNeal posted a 4.35. He also cites Robert Griffin III’s time of 4.41, and his original unofficial mark for the 40-yard dash at the 2012 NFL Scouting Combine came in at 4.38.
If Vick’s time of 4.33 is what stands, it means Murray would hold the mark for fastest quarterback 40-yard dash ever, assuming he meant a 4.3 and not 4.38. Even if the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback’s 4.25-second time gets the nod, the former Sooners quarterback would still potentially hold the No. 2 spot, according to his comments.
Kyler Murray’s Rumored 40-Yard Dash Time vs. Fastest NFL Players
For comparison’s sake, the 2019 combine which Murray was expected to be a part of featured just two players run a 4.3-second 40-yard dash or better, per NFL.com. This included safety Zedrick Woods from Mississippi (4.29) and Auburn defensive back Jamel Dean (4.3). Eight other players ran between a 4.31 or 4.37.
As far as the quarterbacks from the 2019 draft class go, Penn State’s Trace McSorley ran a 4.57 and Buffalo’s Tyree Jackson posted a 4.59, neither of which are even close to Murray’s reported time.
In terms of the fastest NFL players at the combine, wide receiver John Ross clocked in at 4.22 seconds while Chris Johnson posted a 4.24 time. Behind them, former Kent State running back Dri Archer (4.26) and Hampton wide receiver Jerome Mathis (4.26) are the next two fastest times, according to the NFL.
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