2019 NFL Draft: Heisman winner Kyler Murray shakes up QB crop

Heisman trophy winner Kyler Murray is going to shake things up and enter the 2019 NFL Draft despite signing a contract with the Oakland A’s.

The Oakland Athletics aren’t going to be thrilled when the 2019 NFL Draft rolls around. Their prized 2018 first-round pick — Oklahoma’s Heisman winning quarterback Kyler Murray — intends to enter his name into the mix.

Whether or not you think this is a good decision by Murray, the guy proved over the course of this past year one thing is certain — he can play some football.

Murray is getting shorter by the day, listed at 5’10” 195 on Oklahoma’s official website and now being called 5’9″ 185 by many on Twitter.

That could certainly be accurate, but we’ll see how he checks in at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine, provided he goes through with his decision to enter the NFL Draft. I see no reason why he won’t.

Murray was given roughly a $5 million signing bonus by Oakland to join their farm system and develop over the next 2-3 years before he would ultimately make it to the major leagues. At the age of 21, Murray never needed to completely dismiss the idea of playing football, though the A’s would have loved for him to just forego his eligibility at Oklahoma and join their program right away.

Murray’s success this past season at Oklahoma paved the way for all of this to happen. His slow start against Alabama in the Orange Bowl led to an ultimately insurmountable 28-0 lead, but Murray led the Sooners back into the game with 417 yards of total offense and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

That kind of production against a defense full of NFL players is something NFL scouts will undoubtedly take notice of, if they hadn’t already been paying attention throughout Murray’s Heisman season.

The mistake that was made when evaluating Russell Wilson was thinking he would not be able to effectively operate an NFL offense due to a lack of height (Wilson checked in at the 2012 Scouting Combine at 5’11”) but that piece of his evaluation was always a load of garbage.

If Wilson would have been two inches taller, he would have been a top five pick? Is that what we’re meant to believe?

The thing about Wilson’s evaluation back in 2012 was this — if his height wasn’t a flaw on tape, then it shouldn’t have been considered a flaw.

Now, Wilson was three years older than Murray is currently when he came into the NFL back in 2012. He also has been able to overcome his lack of height with very solid bulk and body composition along with huge hands. Wilson’s hands measured 10 1/4 inches.

At the same time, one of the major issues with Baker Mayfield from his detractors last year was hand size, as his hands measured a full inch shorter than Wilson’s (9 1/4 inches).

How will Murray measure up? If he can add some bulk and get to that listed weight of 195, that would be an important figure for his stock. Part of the reason people are concerned about Murray’s size at the NFL level is that he’s going to take a beating his body can’t take, especially with his style of play where he moves around outside the pocket and takes off running so often.

That is a valid concern, but does it mean Murray can’t play at the NFL level?

I don’t think so. He should be given a chance to prove that he can do against NFL talent what he did all year for Oklahoma and especially against the Crimson Tide.

Are we going to look past Murray’s unique skills as a passer (he has an incredible arm) and runner (he has blazing speed) because of his size? Some NFL team won’t, and they’ll be better for it.

This kid is special.