Murray's Pro Day hype is familiar
NORMAN — Oklahoma had a quarterback with questions. A quarterback who elected not to throw at the NFL Combine. A quarterback with a chance of being the No. 1 overall pick. All of those things check boxes for Oklahoma's Pro Day on Wednesday, where Kyler Murray is expected to throw and run and subject himself once again to measurement and try to show that he's worthy of a high draft pick, perhaps even the top pick overall. But they were all also the case in 2010 when Sam Bradford hit the turf at the Everest Center and wowed NFL coaches, general managers and scouts. “I remember it being the best Pro Day that I've ever been to,” longtime Dallas Cowboys personnel man Gil Brandt said. “I don't think a ball hit the ground.”
Bradford completed all but one of the 60-plus throws he made that day, proving that his banged-up shoulder had recovered. Murray doesn't have to overcome an injury but show that his 5-foot-10 (and one-eighth) size won't be a detriment and that he's capable of being the kind of leader NFL teams want out of a franchise quarterback. Every NFL team is expected to be in attendance for the event, which begins at 9 a.m. with measurements and individual testing before the players go through on-field workouts. Murray's on-field workout is expected to begin just before 1 p.m. Kenny Mossman has been around Oklahoma's football program for a lot of pro days as the longtime sports information director and now as a senior associate athletic director at the school. Mossman said Bradford's event, which had to be pushed back once to avoid a conflict with the NFL owners meetings, set a standard. “It exceeded everything I had seen up to that point,” Mossman said, adding that ESPN's live broadcast ramped up the level of interest. There's no record of how many credentialed NFL personnel and media there were for Bradford's Pro Day, though Mossman said the number was significant. More than 100 media credentials are expected to be issued for Wednesday's Pro Day with more than 60 NFL personnel on hand, including several coaches and general managers. While Bradford got coverage from one network, Murray will have it doubled. Both ESPN and the NFL Network will be covering the event. After Bradford's Pro Day, St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Bryan Burwell followed Mossman to his office. “Sam is a no-brainer No. 1 pick,” Burwell told Mossman not long before writing his story that said this in the second paragraph — “Sam Bradford is going to be a Ram.” About a month later, Bradford was, and a lot of that was thanks to his nearflawless performance at Pro Day. Wednesday, Murray gets his opportunity. Brandt still says that had it not been for injuries, Bradford would've been a longtime NFL star. He's known Murray and his family for several years as both are from the Dallas area and expects a strong performance from him Wednesday. “In both Sam's case and in Murray's case, I have no qualms about them,” Brandt said. “I think that Bradford was really good. … (On Murray), anytime you're 45-0 in the best 6A conference there is in Texas, you're pretty good.”