The finer points of Murray's game are really remarkable for any QB prospect - let alone one with such little experience. I haven't seen the criticism come up as much recently, but for a while people were saying that he didn't really go through progressions. My guess is that people were making assumptions based on his athletic ability and a few highlights, but I'll address it anyway. Of the top QB's to come out in the last 5-10 years, very few have gone to their 2nd and 3rd options as often as Murray. His willingness to test the middle of the field is also a feather in his cap. Often, a QB with a big arm and plus athleticism, will work the sidelines, where there's less going on, and it's easier to read, and if that's not available, they'll take off running. Murray is very comfortable with the chaos over the middle, and this is an area where he's clearly superior to Russell Wilson - despite having less experience.
There are multiple examples of him throwing before a guy is out of his break and/or before a window has opened. He had a bad INT vs Texas Tech on his first pass of the game that illustrates, as well as anything, that he's very much an anticipatory thrower. It was just a very bad play on his part. Those happen, and it's not the kind of INT you'd see from a guy like Marcus Mariota coming out of Oregon - who was much more basic in his plan of attack and who did not throw with anticipation. It's more like a bad INT you'd see from Drew Brees or, in recent years, J. Winston. If these types of INT's happened more regularly, I'd say there'd be some cause for concern, but most of his (few) INT's were deep balls that missed their mark. Given that he's one of the best deep-ball throwers in the game (and clearly the best in the last few years), those INT's don't concern me either.
The question with Murray, and the cause of disagreement, is, What do you consider an outlier? What are the common traits in high-end QB's, and what's just noise? I've said it before, but my biggest knock on Murray is experience. It'd be ideal to have at least two years of production. His size, to me, is noise. That's not to say it doesn't matter at all - just that he's already shown that he can overcome it and play at a higher level than everyone else.
excellent post and only continues to get me more excited about the player.
For myself, hundreds of hours every year to get it right and be accurate about prospects..I’ve studied a piece that completely correlates to Kyler Murray and 100 percent confirms my philosophy in scouting these players, and very inspiring..I’m going to fuse the two properties to come to my final conclusion about Murray.
Why I believe he will be a superstar at the next level.
For lack of a better term, in a way, Kyler Murray has had to learn how to play the game with a disability, that disability totally influenced and made him change the way he played the game, he realized this limitation, and therefore, developed a style of play to defeat whoever he was up against, something only he and a few others that have ever lived understand..
Some folks are discussing structure and are worried about discipline and his lack of it, I am not, actually, I embrace his freedom and style of play, some will look at it an undisciplined, I believe that creativity is a part of what’s going to make him great..he is the antithesis of structure as a foundation of his play and how he learned the game, and what happened?? he dominated each level so far, This is why the ceiling is so very high, if the evaluator doesn’t account for some discipline at the next level and envision what the game will look like then, bad mistake on that person's part.
Kudos to his coaches thus far that have allowed him to play his style.
As someone who talks about counter athleticism a lot, it is a key component to successful evaluations imo, and I know it when I see it, I have identified it, the phrases “intuitive speed ” and “athletic reactionary quickness” are these special traits.These are the reasons why some great players reach the pinnacle, even though they are not the biggest nor the strongest..
This highly important trait is incredibly vivid when it comes to watching Kyler Play, in all phases it’s evident, including one of the biggest concerns I see here talked about, Wayne Gretzky’s father once said, my son never gets hurt because of this, “instead of forcing against a hit, he rolls with it.” now in my words he consciously prepares for the blow with intuitive quickness and absorbs in a way where the force is denied.
Counter athleticism is how quickly the player responds cognitively and athletically to a movement by the opposing player..
In a game that is played at such a fast pace, this reactionary speed and intuitiveness is crucial to reach the highest level.
Kyler Murray has a lethal combination of traits that are as rare as it gets.
1)Work ethic.. looks like an obsessive compulsive disorder type, almost robotive.
2)An ability to learn quickly, we’ve heard it from multiple sources about his cognitive abilities, “highly intelligent” “ quick learner”
3)Elite position specific agility and mechanics..
Going against such a supremely athletic human being with this much position specific talent, and this much intellect is a bad choice.