ckparrothead
Premium Member
Tons of excellent details, CK. I agree with, what I'll call, the thesis of your post: the deeper you get into Murray, the more he impresses, the more he looks like a super-elite prospect. I had a disagreement with Kevin Cole, who I like very well, on Twitter about Murray vs Mayfield as physical prospects. He said he'd take Mayfield height and weight over Murray's athleticism and arm talent. Keeping in mind that I had Mayfield as QB1 and thought the Browns made the right pick, I argued that Murray's overall physical profile is much better. He is literally the quickest QB I have ever watched. It's hard to quantify how important, not to mention impressive, that is. People credit Oklahoma's OL for his willingness to hold the ball for extended periods, but I think it has much more to do with his understanding of how easily he can elude DL. The long TD vs Alabama is a perfect example. Most QB's curl up in a ball when a free rusher comes up the middle, but he was no issue for Murray. It didn't even break his rhythm. While his long speed is outstanding and will create some big plays, his quickness is more pertinent on a play-to-play basis. He has feet like Floyd Mayweather.
The only legitimate knock that I see against Murray is the one year of experience; however, given how masterfully he played and given his greatness at every level, it's not enough to even temper my enthusiasm. I'd put him right there with any of the top QB prospects of the decade. For people doubting he ability to anticipate or go through progressions, they just need to watch his TD passes in the Big 12 Championship - vs the same Texas D that gave Fromm fits.
We are of similar mind on this with respect to Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray. I loved Baker Mayfield. I thought, as you, the Browns made the right choice. Probably as early as December/January last year I decided that Mayfield was QB1 and a cut above the other guys.
But Kyler Murray, it's very tempting to say I like Kyler Murray more.
I personally am not good at comparing my thoughts on certain players by crossing an expanse of years, or even just one year. People ask me to compare this player to what I thought of a player from years ago. I don't like doing that. I find it difficult because I don't quantify QB talent, I qualify it. I've never liked the idea of using quantifiable, numerical representations for QB grades, like you're measuring gallons of water in a bucket or something. The position is inherently comparative, descriptive, and conditional. It's complicated. The time dislocation involved in comparing what I think of a 2019 prospect to what I thought of a 2015 prospect is just too hard to deal with, invariably brings a host of cognitive biases. I can't transport my 2019 brain back in time to 2015 and then debate myself the merits of Kyler Murray versus Jameis Winston, especially since at any given moment I am the sum of my previous experiences.
Short story short I hate the idea of having to compare Kyler Murray to Baker Mayfield, even though Baker is still fresh enough in my mind that I think I can do it without being influenced by those cognitive biases. But in reality, I can't.
The best context I can give really is that yeah, in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2018...I had QB1's that I thought could/should absolutely go #1 overall and were legit franchise level players, guys that should hurt defenses, play at a high level, etc. And now, in 2019, I think the same thing.