He’s only a 5’11 player Quarterback out of Austin, Texas, and saying that he is 5’11 is a bit of a stretch. Kyler Murray was destined for stardom since his days at Allen High School as a two way sports star in both football and baseball. In his time at Allen High School, Murray showed skills on both the football and baseball field that we have not seen since probably Bo Jackson. On the gridiron Murray absolutely destroyed other Texas High School competition. In Murrays Junior season playing Quarterback, Murray put up astounding numbers in one of the most competitive high school football regions in the nation. In his Junior season Murray threw for a ridiculous 3669 yards, with a total of 46 passing touchdowns and 9 ints while also rushing for 1328 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground. While leading his Allen High school team to a state championship and a undefeated 16-0 season which had Allen ranked #2 nationally in the final high school national rankings, he has now caught the attention of every college scout in the nation. While he put up those crazy numbers as a junior, you’d think that’s the best he could have possibly done, well that was just a sample . In Murray’s senior season he threw for a blitzing 4715 yards and 54 touchdowns along with only 7 interceptions on 433 passing attempts. On the ground game Murray improved his stats as well, rushing for 1498 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground while leading his team to back-to-back state championships and another 16-0 undefeated season which saw him become Gatorade player of the year and an Under Armour All-American. Murray was also no slouch as a baseball player as he was also a top ten baseball prospect at Allen and was also an Under Armour All American in baseball.
Murray originally committed to Texas A&M where he would play under former A&M coach Kevin Sumlin. Murray seen sporadic action at A&M mainly coming in for certain packages, but his role was clearly a backup. When Murray was in we would see flashes of what we have seen from him in high school. We saw the speed and quickness when he escaped the pocket and the ability to make anyone miss in front of him, as long with his ability to throw the ball accurately down field. While we did not see much from him at A&M , when given the opportunity Murray showed he could take over games no matter who the competition was, he showed potential of greatness.
After one season at A&M Murray decided to transfer from the University. The transfer came as an surprise to many many people including myself, I seen him as being the next Johnny Manziel at A&M, but that wasn’t the case. People have their different speculations on why he transferred, I’m not into the speculation game, all i know is after one season Kyler was out of A&M.
Murray transferred to Oklahoma where he would would play in an explosive offense alongside a new and promising young coach in Lincoln Riley, but Murray had to wait his time. When Kyler Murray got their Baker Mayfield was making his name around the college football landscape as one of the best players in the nation and eventually in Baker’s senior season, he won the heisman. That had to be the best learning experience Kyler could have possibly had. For two seasons, Kyler sat behind Baker and watched him orchestrate an explosive offense and saw Baker win a heisman while doing so. Kyler Murray had to be licking his chops, as he saw what Baker did and what it takes to get into the college football playoff.
Kyler Murray in his senior season could have not played, he could have just hung up the cleats and signed with the Oakland Athletics as he was the ninth overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft, but he had bigger plans. Kyler Murray decided to pursue his senior season at Oklahoma. For two years, nobody was able to see the phenom from Texas that showed spurts of future greatness in his high school career. For two years we had to wait to see the player who in his first season at A&M showed signs of being the next Johnny Manziel when he was in the game. It took some time but when Lincoln Riley finally named Kyler as the starter, I knew this was the start of something special.
Kyler in his first season at Oklahoma surely did not disappoint us. He came out the gates swinging. He looked like the same guy we saw dismantle Texas high school football competition for two years. When Kyler was on the field last season he was the best player out there. Oklahoma offense was just explosive as it was the year before when they had Baker. Murray showed that he was able to sit in the pocket and make strong accurate throws anywhere on the field, that made defensive coordinators have nightmares defending Oklahoma offense. When the pressure got to Murray in the pocket he showed that if you gave him any crease to escape that he could take it the distance. Murray threw for over 4,000 yards and 42 touchdowns and ran for 1000 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground, sounds a lot like his high school days. With the weapons of CeeDee Lamb and Marquise Brown on the outside and Murray’s ability to both pass and run, Oklahoma offense was one of the most explosive offenses in the nation. Kyler passed up Tua in the heisman rankings to become Oklahoma’s second heisman winner in two years, and to be honest i don’t think Tua is close to Kyler Murray’s level yet.
With Kyler having impressive performances against Alabama in the orange bowl, I think it showed everyone that he can play and perform well against anyone he goes up against. Kyler Murray showed to me in the 2018 season that he could even be better than Baker Mayfield. I believe Kyler has the heart and all the athletic ability to be a force in the NFL. I don’t care how big he is because in college football those guys are just as big as the guys you will see in the league. Kyler can throw better than Lamar Jackson and run just as good as him. I believe that whatever team Kyler Murray gets drafted to is getting the best player in the draft, and a future star. Winning is in his blood, nobody has yet seemed to find away to stop him. I believe Kyler can be a better Deshaun Watson, he has just as good as an arm as Deshaun and is a lot quicker outside the pocket.
Time will tell what we see from this young star. The NFL is a tough league and I know he won’t put up those same numbers as he did in college, but in a given time we will see what he can do. I believe this kid is destined for stardom.
J.CraigSports 