Cardinals set to soar with Murray
Heisman Trophy winner the No. 1 pick in NFL draft
With apologies to Major League Baseball’s Oakland franchise, Kyler Murray earned all A’s in the NFL draft on Thursday night in rainy Nashville.
All styled out in a double-pink, pinstriped, three-piece suit inspired by The Great Gatsby, Kyler Murray became the first player bear-hugged by commissioner Roger Goodell, moments after the Arizona Cardinals made him the No. 1 overall selection.
“I can’t even put it into words. It’s a dream come true,” Murray said on stage. “As a kid growing up you always dream about being the No. 1 pick in the draft, and to be here it’s just a testament to God and all the hard work.”
It was only 2½ months ago that the 21-year-old turned his back on a pro baseball career in the Oakland A’s organization for a chance at superstardom in the NFL. By the rookie salary pay scale — collectively bargained in 2011 by the league and NFL Players Association — Murray will earn about US$35 million over the next four seasons, or $8.75 million per year. The A’s had paid him a $4.7-million signing bonus last June as the No. 9 overall pick in the MLB draft, an amount he has now forfeited. Two months ago, the A’s took another run at Murray and offered him a guaranteed $14-million contract. He declined it. Financially, a smart decision. As of now, at any rate.
The Cardinals’ overriding task seconds after Murray left the rowdy atmosphere in downtown Nashville was to figure out what to do with Josh Rosen, the quarterback from UCLA they drafted 10th overall just last year. There had been buzz for weeks that the Cards would trade Rosen before night’s end if they picked Murray at No. 1. Last year at the University of Oklahoma, Murray completed 69 per cent of his passes for 4,361 yards, 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions, plus he ran for 1,001 yards and 12 more touchdowns. He won the Heisman Trophy, emblematic of U.S. college football’s player of the year.
“I’m ready to go, no matter what the situation is,” Murray told Deion Sanders of the NFL Network. “I’m a winner. I love the game. What they’re going to get out of me is I’m going to go hard every time I touch the field.” Rosen struggled as a rookie in Arizona in a feebly talented, poorly coached offence. Rosen was constantly under duress in the pocket, completing 55 per cent of his throws for 11 TDs and 14 interceptions.
The Cardinals fired 2018 head coach Steve Wilks after one miserable 3-13 season and replaced him with former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury, mastermind of a pass-crazy offence. Kingsbury tried to recruit Murray out of Allen, Texas, and befriended him. They stayed in touch.
Last year, when Kingsbury was still in the college ranks, he predicted Murray would be the No. 1 overall pick on Thursday night. In the end, he helped make it happen. The biggest question about Murray is his height. He’s the shortest quarterback drafted so early in the draft (he’s a smidge over five foot 10) in nearly 70 years. He’s stocky, at 207 pounds, but he has the frame of a stubby running back or kick returner, rather than a traditional NFL quarterback.
At the Senior Bowl in January, longtime NFL head coach Jon Gruden probably spoke for a lot of league long-tooths when asked whether he still dislikes smaller-than-normal quarterbacks. That is, the under six-footers. “I used to think that until I saw Drew Brees twice a year in Tampa,” Gruden said. “Then I met Russell Wilson coming out of N.C. State, and now I’m watching this kid Murray at Oklahoma, and I’m putting away all the prototypes that I once had. I used to have a prototype for hand size, height, arm length, all that stuff. “We’re looking for guys that can play and do a lot of different things. And they come in all shapes and sizes nowadays.”
With the No. 2 overall pick, the San Francisco 49ers selected Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa, younger brother of Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Joey Bosa. The New York Jets made Alabama’s dominating defensive tackle Quinnen Williams the No. 3 pick of the night, then the Oakland Raiders followed with Clemson defensive end Clelin Farrell at No. 4 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers snagged LSU linebacker Devin White with the fifth pick.