Kyler Murray

/draft-prospects/kyler-murray

College: Oklahoma

Height: 5'10"

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Weight: 195 lbs

Injury History: May 2018: Left Hamstring Strain (Baseball)

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Scout: Roy Countryman

Scouting Report

Athleticism: 9.36

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Q.A.B.: 9.50

Exceptional athletic ability, both as a football, and baseball prospect. Was selected in the first round of the MLB draft, at pick number 9. Came out of high school as a 5-star consensus recruit from mulitple outlets, riding the wave of momentum of being Mr. Texas Football Player of the Year, and National Player of the Year from multiple outlets. Was the first player ever to be selected to play in the Under Armour All-American games as both a baseball and football player. Lateral agility and speed is mind-blowing. Can make defenders look silly in one on one situations. Compact, and thick build, even though he lacks great height. Arm talent and accuracy are exceptional for a player that hasn't been able to focus full time on one sport.

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Flexibility: 9.20

Exceptional open field ability, and fluidity to be able to cut, and elude defenders in space, or within the confines of the pocket. Has loose joints, and slipperiness to be able to slip would be tacklers.

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C.O.D.: 9.30

Lateral agility is exceptional, and can make as many plays horizontally as he does going vertically up field. He uses his cutting ability to cut on a dime, then explode to top speed in an instant.

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Explosiveness/Speed: 9.50

Quick twitch athlete, that has exceptional long speed to not only scramble for first downs, but take it the distance. Runs with tremendous balance throughout the process of making a cut, and will maintain his speed, which makes it hard for defenders to stay with him.

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Pocket Mobility/Avoid Pressure: 9.30

Has outstanding functional mobility within the confines of the pocket, and can climb the pocket or slide laterally to find a throwing lane, but at times will become jittery when facing a ton of pressure. At that point he snaps back to becoming an athlete in the open field, and will try and scramble away from pressure.

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Passing Skills: 8.96

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Quick Release/Mechanics: 9.00

Clean 3/4 release. Snaps throws off in an instant with very little hesitation, and can deliver passes from any platform with tremendous accuracy. Ball simply explodes out of his hand. Displayed exceptional throwing mechanics while throwing on the move, and accuracy never waned. Is a wizard on ball fakes, and at times the defense has no clue where the ball is at.

Delivery: 8.40

Delivery is quick, and efficient. Ball explodes out of his hand with tremendous velocity, and touch. Delivery will get a little elongated when he has a clean pocket, and a ton of time to go through his progressions. Almost looks like he overanalyzes what it will take to get ball to where he wants, and will wind up like you did when you were out at recess.

Short Accuracy: 9.00

Outstanding accuracy in the short windows when throwing close to the LOS. Will put the ball on the WR, to allow him the best chance of maximizing RAC. Showed an ability to loft throws up, and over RB's bleeding out as an outlet receiver.

Intermediate Accuracy: 9.20

Excels at throwing deep outs, and post patterns. Throws with exceptional anticipation, and velocity to be able to fit into small windows. Can be absolutely unstoppable when he gets into a rhythm, and throws with timing.

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Deep Accuracy: 9.50

I believe he has the best deep ball placement, and touch in the entire 2019 draft class. Continually showed the ability to drop his passes in a bucket, at distances of 40+ yards.

Big Play Ability: 9.70

An absolute highlight reel on the field. Whether it is by land or by air, he is a defensive coordinators worst nightmare. Especially dangerous with the proliferation of the RPO, because he can either hand the ball off to his RB, or he can tuck and run with his exceptional athleticism, and elusiveness. Deadly at throwing off play action of the RPO, and consistently was able to throw deep completions off of it.

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Avoid Errors/Mistakes: 8.00

Does a great job of keeping the ball out of harm's way, but at times will show a gunslinger's mentality, and trust his receivers and arm talent more than what he comprehends of the coverage scheme. At times will carry the football in arm closest to the pursuit, which could lead to fumbles.

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Arm Strength: 9.30

Exceptional arm talent, and can make every throw necessary of a franchise caliber QB. More impressive his raw arm talent is his ability to throw from multiple arm angles, and his ability to throw off platform with exceptional accuracy.

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Footwork: 8.50

Excellent grasp of what it takes to deliver the ball with accuracy from the ground up, but will need to refine his footwork at the NFL. At times will throw completely flat footed, or will not set feet in the direction of the throw, which he can get away with because of his arm talent, and baseball background. Gets good depth in his drops, maintains great balance, transfers weight, and drive ball through when he does get the opportunity to do so. Only ran plays from under center in goal line or victory formation, and will need to gain more experience in that aspect, but has the work ethic to do so.

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Competitiveness: 8.63

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Toughness: 8.20

Gritty, and tough player, that is willing to sacrifice his body if necessary on designed QB runs. Smart player though that understands how to protect himself, and preserve his health with a very distinct slide move that you can tell he has refined with years of playing on a baseball diamond.

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Intangibles/Leadership: 9.70

Coaches and players alike lauded his poise, ability to elevate the level of players around him, and leadership. Has a quiet, and laid-back personality with a cut throat sense of competitiveness. Clutch performer, who always seems to be calm when the lights shine the brightest. Showed his mettle as a leader at a young age as well, by leading his high school football teams to a 43-0 record with him at the helm, that included three straight state championships for his team out of Allan, TX.

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Poise In Pocket: 7.90

Great spatial awareness within the confines of the pocket, and has a sixth sense for pressure crashing in on him off the edge. With his mobility, he will make overaggressive defenses pay. Has an outstanding vision, and ability to keep his eyes downfield when un duress. but at times though he would chuck, and duck with blitzers coming straight at his face, and would choose self-preservation, rather than standing tall and taking a crushing blow.

Consistency / Motor: 8.50

No questioning his heart, and effort when out on the field, or in his preparation in the film room leading up to gameday. Cerebral, and tireless worker that loves the process, and what it takes to refine all the small intricacies of his craft.

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Production: 8.20

A one-year wonder when you are talking about production, but what a one year it was. He is the only player in CFB history to average over 300 yards passing, and 60 yards rushing in a season. Those statistics led him to filling up the trophy case by being named the Heisman Trophy Winner, Davey O'Brien QB of the Year, AP Player of the Year, finalist for Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Manning Award, and Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, as well as being named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, First-Team All-Big 12 QB, and was voted as the Most Outstanding Player in the Big 12 Championship game. 28 career games played in, but only has 16 games of starting experience.

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Improvisational Ability: 9.30

Is a wizard when the play breaks down. Seems to be able to either out run or slither past defenders that have an angle on him. He can be absolutely unstoppable in the open-field, but also shows the ability to evade, and elude pass rushers, and keep his eyes downfield, where he will unleash a deep pass that breaks the hearts of the defense that think they have him contained.

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Intelligence: 8.78

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Instincts: 9.10

Has the innate feel for when he needs to break the pocket, and use his legs to create big plays. Has a tremendous feel in the passing game, and will cycle through his progressions until he finds an adequate target.

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Blitz/Coverage Recognition: 8.80

Excellent pre-snap communicator, and was able to relay when he needs to audible out of play or even realign blocking assignments. Shows the rare ability as a young player to manipulate the safety on the back end, by looking them off in the opposite direction of where he knows he wants to go with the ball.

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Decision Making: 8.50

Outstanding accuracy, paired with his preparation leads him to be able to find openings in matchups to exploit. Also shows a veteran's presence by throwing ball away when he knows there is nothing open. Generally, is a very careful with the ball, but at times he will let his gunslinger mentality takeover, because of the confidence he has in those around him, and will try to force passes to his receivers.

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Learn/Retain: 8.7

Outstanding ability to absorb, and retain knowledge. Balanced his time between baseball, and football his entire life, and it is tremendously impressive that he is this refined as a QB with only committing half his time to the craft. Transferred from Texas Tech to Oklahoma, and mastered a very detailed, and varied offense to almost a mastery level.

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STRENGTHS:

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Ridiculously talented two-sport athlete, that has every ingredient you look for in a franchise caliber QB. Arm talent is off the charts, and can make any throw necessary, as well as the rare ability to throw off platform, and on the move without having his accuracy wane. Can throw from multiple arm angles, which enhances his ability to find throwing lanes with his less than ideal height. Outstanding leader out on the field, showing poise, calm in big moments, and an ability to lift the play of those around him. Is able to sit back in pocket, cycle through his progressions, and select the correct matchup to exploit. Showed the rare ability to manipulate defensive backs with his eyes to the opposite side of the field where he wants to deliver the pass. A highlight reel when he scrambles outside of the pocket, and shows off his elite lateral agility, and exceptional long speed (reported 4.38-40 time) to break off big gains.

WEAKNESSES:

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Very few flaws in his game. Height is his biggest drawback, as he only stands at 5'10." Which is not as much of a deterrent as previously thought of, because of the proliferation of NGOs and the utilization of QB's athleticism, and creative offensive coordinators can find throwing lanes for him in the NFL. Will need to continually refine his footwork. He will tend to throw passes off balanced with no weight transfer occassionally failing to point in the direction of where he is passing. Needs to be better aware of which arm is carrying the ball when he decides to scramble because he carries it in the arm closest to pursuit leading to added opportunity for turnovers. At times, he panics when pressure is up in his face, and will need to gain more confidence at being able to stand tall and deliver when he is facing a big hit. Needs to keep his gunslinging mentality in check, and throw the ball away when there is no play to be had.

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BIG PICTURE:

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Kyler Murray is a standout athlete that is a blue-chip talent in two sports: baseball and football. He was a first round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft by the Oakland A's with the 9th selection, but I believe he would be better served to enter the 2019 NFL Draft, because I see him squarely in consideration for becoming the #1 overall selection, and definitely as a first round pick due to his athleticism and passing prowess. He ha been mentored throughout his life by his father, Kevin, who was a standout QB of his own at Texas A&M in the late 1980's. His refinement is amazing for a two sport athlete. He has one of the highest upsides in this draft class and would be a true game-changing presence at the QB position for the next decade in the league. He is a hard player to find one comparison for, and the best way to describe his game is by having Russell Wilson's passing prowess, and escapability, with Michael Vick's athleticism.

Projected Round: 1

Team Fits: Jaguars, Patriots, Dolphins, Benglas, Raiders, Broncos, Buccaneers

NFL Comparison: Russell Wilson