Jim Miller, Pat Kirwan skeptical about Kyler Murray as NFL player

Jim Miller believes the buzz about Kyler Murray as an NFL prospect is based too much on the offensive system he ran as a quarterback at Oklahoma and not enough on his true skills to succeed at the next level.

As Miller and Movin’ The Chains co-host Pat Kirwan pointed out, Baker Mayfield’s prowess in that same system and the Cleveland Browns subsequently making him the top overall pick of last year’s NFL Draft, has generated what they suspect might very well be unwarranted hype over Murray, considered an equally talented baseball prospect. On Monday, Murray announced he was choosing the NFL over Major League Baseball, where he became a first-round pick of the Oakland A’s last year.

‘I say no to that because there is more to it than the defenses you’re facing in college’

“Can you copy that and bring it to the NFL for the offense that Kyler Murray would be running? I say no,” Miller said. “I say no to that because there is more to it than the defenses you’re facing in college football. And that would cause me to be hesitant about him. Are the skills great? Yes. He can run, he’s got a great arm, all the things that everybody says and why he won the Heisman Trophy.

“But other things still have to be researched, like, can that offense be mimicked in the National Football League?”

‘I’m going to be stuck on the leverage that this guy has’

Kirwan sees the distinct possibility of Murray attracting interest from an NFL club inspired by Mayfield, who had a standout rookie season.

“How much of what he did at Oklahoma is exactly what he has to do to be successful wherever he is and then does it transfer?” -Pat Kirwan

“There’s no doubt that the success of Baker as a rookie has helped enhance this guy’s value,” Kirwan said. “So in a lot of ways, I think there’ll be plenty of people – it only takes one, but two’s great – that will say, ‘Baker came from that system and made the transition to the NFL, so why couldn’t this guy?’ So they’re going to use it in a positive sense. In the negative sense is … how much of what he did at Oklahoma is exactly what he has to do to be successful wherever he is and then does it transfer?

‘If he’s benched, (if) he’s not really good right away and he can’t play, will he retreat to baseball?’

“I’m going to be stuck on the leverage that this guy has and that I don’t know that I want to take the chance of having a sign-ability issue with him. Or if he’s benched, (if) he’s not really good right away and he can’t play, will he retreat to baseball?”