Month: January 2019

Why Kyler Murray is making the RIGHT Decision to Play in the NFL over the MLB!

In case you missed it, 2018 Heisman Trophy winner and former Oklahoma Quarterback Kyler Murray is entering the 2019 NFL Draft. Why’s this a big deal? Well, Murray was the 9th overall pick of the Oakland A’s in the 2018 MLB Draft. He signed a contract with Oakland which included a $4.66 million signing bonus. Noted in that contract was the fact that Murray could play football for 1 year at Oklahoma (think Billy Beane and the A’s organization is kicking themselves now for allowing this in the contract?).

By deciding to enter the NFL draft, he has made the decision that he will be playing in the NFL for years to come, instead of the MLB. He will now have to give up the $4.66 million signing bonus he was going to receive from Oakland.

As stated before, Murray was the 9th overall pick in this past year’s MLB Draft. Don’t let that diminish the talent that evaluators have always seen in him on the football field. He was a 5 star QB recruit coming out of high school and committed to Texas A&M. He would end up transferring from A&M to Oklahoma after his freshman year. The important thing to note about his transfer was that he had a concern with the football situation at Texas A&M, not the baseball situation. This should have foreshadowed the events we’ve seen unfold the last few days.

Murray had huge shoes to fill at Oklahoma coming into the 2018 season, replacing the most recent Heisman winner and #1 overall pick in the draft – Baker Mayfield. Needless to say, he didn’t disappoint since he won the Heisman, lead Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff, and finished first in several NCAA statistical categories.

As the season went on, whispers began about whether Murray should give up baseball and enter the NFL Draft instead. Anonymous scouts started texting insiders that he’d be a 2nd round pick at worst and that his combination of speed, athleticism, and arm would lead him to success as a QB at the pro-level.

I will say that the more I watched him, the more I fell in love with him as the season progressed. He’s one of the most explosive players I’ve ever seen on a college football field. As Murray lost to Alabama in the CFP Semi-Final, I remember thinking to myself “damn it’s an absolute shame we’ll never get to see him on the football field again.”

Then all the rumors started coming out that he was debating entering the NFL Draft and spurning the A’s. Finally, on Monday, those rumors became facts.

So now there are plenty of people saying, “Murray is an idiot for choosing football over baseball!” They’re citing reasons such as, “baseball is the smart move for the future of his health. Everyone knows football is more demanding and damaging on the body.”

They’re also saying he would have more success and make more money in baseball than the NFL.

Is there some validity to these points? Yes, of course, but there are plenty of pros in choosing the NFL instead.

First, Murray can immediately make more money in his first year in the NFL, than he can in the MLB if he’s drafted in the first round. Last year, Lamar Jackson was the last pick of the first round and got a $5 million signing bonus along with a 4-year contract worth $9.47 million guaranteed. If we look at someone like Derwin James, selected at 17th overall, he received a $7.1 million signing bonus and $12.39 guaranteed over 4 years.  Finally, let’s look at the 10th overall pick Josh Rosen, who received a signing bonus of about $11 million and $17.84 million guaranteed over 4 years.

The draft is still about 3 months away but based on the talk around Murray and the fact that he’s choosing the NFL, it appears that he’ll end up being a first round pick with a chance to make a lot of money.

Also, should Murray become a star in the NFL, or even show great potential, he would be rewarded handsomely with a big contract. Take for example everyone’s favorite all-time Patriot not named Tom Brady. Jimmy Garoppolo, who had started a grand total of seven games in his NFL career prior to this season got a contract worth up to $137.5 million over 5 years. The contract paid him $42.6 million this year alone!

In regards to people who argue that he should have stayed with baseball, the trip to the big leagues is an absolute grind. I’ve never watched Murray play baseball and while he’s obviously extremely talented to be a top 10 pick in last June’s draft, that by no means ensures he’ll eventually make it to the big leagues one day. Unlike the NBA and NFL, there are plenty of guys who get drafted high in the MLB and never make it to the big leagues or never see much success.

Let’s look back at the 2014 MLB Draft and the top 10 picks…

mlb draft picks

(source: MLB.com)

Of the list, 6 have played in the MLB. The #1 and #2 overall picks both have never played a game in the big leagues… earning the bust label and not looking like they’ll earn a call-up any time soon. Of the list, how many can the casual baseball fan name… I would say 3 at most and the only one who’s looked like a legit star is Aaron Nola.

Murray very well could’ve worked his way up with the A’s and become a star. But, if we ran the above exercise year in and year out, I think it’d surprise many people to learn how few top baseball picks ever make it to the big leagues.

The last argument for Murray making the right decision is the fact that baseball is America’s Favorite Past Time. These days it’s all about Sundays in the fall. Everyone is glued to their couches and TVs, watching their favorite NFL team or NFL Red Zone. We all love to eat, sleep and breathe football. If you have the passion to keep on playing America’s favorite sport, how do you give that up and not follow your dreams to get the spotlight as a starting QB in the NFL. Watching Murray throughout the season and seeing this whole situation come to light the last few days, you could tell his heart belongs more to the gridiron than the diamond.

The NFL is where he belongs and I couldn’t be more excited to watch him on Sundays. Who couldn’t be, after the amazing season he just had with Oklahoma…

 

P.S. Can the Patriots please find a way to draft him?

 

 

 

 

 

For Jets and Patriots Fans, their Futures could come down to… Kliff Kingsbury?

Will the Jets lose out on another coach to the Patriots and be haunted by it for years?

For those of you who don’t know who Kliff Kingsbury is, let me introduce you to him. Kingsbury, 39 years of age, was most recently the head coach at Texas Tech finishing with a record of 35-40 and winning 1 bowl game during the last 5 years at the helm. His tenure with Tech was a mediocre stint at best. Before coaching at Texas Tech, Kingsbury had spent time as an offensive coordinator for Texas A&M and an offensive assistant for Houston.

While his numbers as a head coach may not impress, he’s always been known to be what some people consider “a QB whisperer.” It began in his time at Houston when he was given large responsibility for the success of Case Keenum. Keenum finished his career with multiple NCAA records and would go on to be drafted and start in the NFL.

In his time as OC at Texas A&M, Kingsbury would go on to coach up the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner and Browns first round pick, Johnny Manziel. Kingsbury won the College Football award for best OC in the country that year.

He then became the first coach in NCAA history at a BCS school, to start a true freshman walk-on QB. The name of that quarterback at Texas Tech… Baker Mayfield. Baker would go on to win Big 12 Freshman Offensive Player of the Year in 2013. He would then transfer due to miscommunication with the coaching staff after the season ended. Shortly after, Mayfield would go on to win the Heisman and become a #1 overall draft pick in the NFL.

Kingsbury had his next QB lined up for the Raiders of Texas Tech, this time a fella named Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes would play 3 seasons under Kingsbury and win College QB of the year after his junior season. Mahomes is now an MVP candidate with the Chiefs and was the 10th overall pick back in 2017.

Kingsbury was not retained by Texas Tech after this past season and recently accepted an OC position with USC. So why could the future of the Jets and Pats come down to Kingsbury? Both teams are interested in hiring him for a coaching position. The Jets are trying to get him in for an interview for their vacant head coach position. The Patriots are rumored to be interested in his services as a replacement for Josh McDaniels, since McDaniels may finally leave New England for a head coach opportunity.

Now I’m not saying I think Kingsbury will or won’t have success as an NFL coach, but there’s no denying the success he’s had in developing great QBs over the last several years. He’s also young and innovative on offense, which seems to be the new flavor in hiring coaches around the league (see Sean McVay and Matt Nagy). Finally, he’s been in the NFL before, as he was drafted by the Patriots back in 2003. The Patriots won their second Super Bowl that year.

It’s easy to see why the Jets could have interest in him considering they have a young team with a young promising QB in Sam Darnold. The thought of Darnold developing under the young innovative Kingsbury, similar to Jared Goff under McVay and Mitch Tribusky under Matt Nagy, has to be compelling.

On the other hand, Kingsbury was largely considered a disappointment at Texas Tech with his 35-40 record and a losing record in the Big 12. Now you’re telling me the Jets are interested in hiring him as their head coach when he’s never coached in the NFL… that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

The bigger picture is that he’s now being linked to the Patriots and it’s already starting to get into Jets fans heads. Long time Jets reporter Manish Mehta sent out a tweet last night that many Jets fans probably can’t get out of their minds, as rumors about Kliff swirl…

As NFL Insider, Mike Florio reported on Sunday, the NFL is “hot” for Kingsbury. It’s clear that if he leaves USC, he’s going to get a job as an HC or OC in the NFL. Should he leave and get the chance to be the head coach of the Jets, he could be the next young guru in the league, while turning Sam Darnold into an elite QB. But he could also prove to be “out of his league” and simply a poor coaching choice for a desperate team.

However, he could get a chance to work with Tom Brady for a few years, if he were to become the Pats OC. He’d also have the opportunity to develop Brady’s replacement, which I won’t lie, gets me a little excited as a fan of the team.

Kingsbury is a very interesting name to keep an eye on during the next few weeks, as he has a chance to be a major factor in the Pats and Jets future. Jets fans have already seen the misery Bill Belichick has caused them over the past 20 years. We all know the story there by now. Will the Jets organization get too aggressive, to be sure they don’t lose Kingsbury to the Pats? I’ll be keeping tabs on this situation very closely the next few weeks…and maybe few years.