Kyler Murray is one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the class of 2015.
Kyler Murray recruit scouting report: Undersized but elite dual-threat quarterback
Murray could be a big-time playmaker in a spread offense.
Murray, out of Allen (Texas) High School, stands 5’11 and weighs in at 170 pounds. As of February 2014, he’s rated as a consensus four-star prospect by the four major recruiting services, and the 247 Sports composite ratings list him as the 56th-best player in the nation. He’s ranked No. 3 at his position and No. 5 among players from the state of Texas.
Murray holds 14 scholarship offers from top schools around the country, including Texas A&M, Clemson, Florida, Ohio State, TCU, Texas Tech, Arizona State, Auburn, Notre Dame and North Carolina.
Fans can follow Murray on Twitter at @TheKylerMurray.
At 5'11, it would be easy to discount Murray as a college quarterback simply because of his size. The recent success of Russell Wilson and Johnny Manziel has made it more difficult to do that and Murray also has excellent pedigree, as his father Kevin played quarterback for Texas A&M.
Looking at Murray’s pure production over the last two seasons at the highest level of Texas High School football and then watching his film makes it impossible to discount him as a college quarterback.
In 2013, Murray scored 65 total touchdowns and gained nearly 5,000 yards from scrimmage, including 3,669 passing yards and 46 touchdowns.
So while it might still be tempting to talk about Murray’s running ability first because he looks like a high-level slot receiver prospect with his blend of short-area quickness and top-end speed, it’s his passing ability that deserves first mention.
Much more like Russell Wilson than Johnny Manziel as a passer, Murray has the polished mechanics of a pocket passer like Drew Brees, using his entire body to uncork throws that consistently have the zip of a taller player with much better leverage on the football. As a result, there are few throws that he can’t make.
The most impressive things about Murray in the pocket are his ability to feel pressure and move with ideal ball security -- both hands on the football -- while still keeping his eyes downfield and his ability to look off defenders and go through his progressions. There’s not a lot of high school quarterback film that shows that clearly, but Murray’s does.
And simply saying that Murray has good mechanics that maximize his arm strength would take away from his natural arm talent, which is good enough to create some serious pop out of his hand.
Murray can also throw effectively moving in both directions, a nice complement to his running ability, as defenders can’t commit to either the run or the pass quickly when he vacates the pocket. On one play, he even showed off a Manziel-like spin move to get out of the pocket moving left and was able to deliver an on-target pass.
Of course, then there’s also the running ability. In the last two seasons, Murray has run for 44 touchdowns and gained over 2,600 yards on the ground. He has a running back’s ability to fit through small holes along the offensive line, change-of-direction ability, lateral quickness, and impressive burst with his first several steps. If he didn’t have so much obvious talent as a quarterback, it would be easy to project him as an instant-impact slot receiver.
It’s rare for a quarterback less than six feet tall to earn a five-star rating, as Murray has from 247Sports, but it’s a testament to just how talented he is and how advanced he is as a prospect. Meanwhile, the competition level confirms that he isn’t doing all this against completely overmatched opponents.
As a result, the fact that Murray is 5’11 isn’t the most important thing about him as a prospect -- the most important thing to take away is that he’s the real deal.
