When Tony Dungy sees Kyler Murray, something feels familiar. A Heisman-caliber player, selected in the first round of a professional sports league other than\u2026<\/b>
\nWhen Tony Dungy sees Kyler Murray, something feels familiar.
A Heisman-caliber player, selected in the first round of a professional sports league other than football, leading his team on a college football title run?
Dungy thinks back 25 years.
He was Vikings defensive coordinator, scouting draft prospects. Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward was lighting opponents up for 3,032 yards and 27 touchdowns to land Florida State\u2019s first-ever national title. Dungy told then-Vikings coach Dennis Green to pursue Ward.
\u201cAs a defensive coach at the time,\u201d Dungy told USA TODAY Sports, \u201cI\u2019m thinking, \u2018Man. I would not want to play against this guy and all the headaches he would provide.\u2019\u201d
But would Ward, who instead became a first-round NBA pick with a 12-year career, sign if the Vikings risked the selection?
\u201cIt was really a conundrum,\u201d Dungy said.
It\u2019s a conundrum Murray has revived.
Clearly, he has proved elite in two sports.
The Oakland A\u2019s drafted the outfielder ninth overall and signed him to a $4.66 million guaranteed contract that allowed him to play one more year of Sooners football.
So far in that season, no one has posted more than Murray\u2019s 51 touchdowns (40 passing, 11 rushing) or his 4,945 total yards of offense. His 11.9 yards per pass attempt leads the nation; his 70.9 completion percentage second. Murray\u2019s 205.72 passing efficiency rating is the best the NCAA has ever seen.
Those numbers are one reason he is favored to win the Heisman (at least according to a USA TODAY Network survey of voters and Vegas) over Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and Ohio State\u2019s Dwayne Haskins Saturday in New York.
But do they make Murray a potential NFL franchise quarterback?
Let\u2019s define that.
A franchise quarterback is the person an NFL team will build around for 10-12 years, longtime quarterback agent Leigh Steinberg says. He\u2019s someone a team wins because of rather than simply with. And when he\u2019s thrown multiple interceptions in a hostile road environment, a franchise quarterback compartmentalizes failures, adopts a quiet mind and elevates his play to secure a victory.
Murray has shown teams can win because of him. Oklahoma\u2019s 12-1 record came despite a defense allowing 32.4 points a game (96th best in the FBS) and 448.1 total yards (108th).
Adversity? Take Oklahoma\u2019s lone loss, when Murray entered the fourth quarter down 45-24 vs. rival Texas. Murray threw a 19-yard touchdown, ran 67 yards for a second, and completed a 35-yard pass on a third drive to set-up a running back for a game-tying score. The Sooners lost 48-45 on a field goal as time expired.
That leaves longevity, perhaps the biggest question for the generously listed 5-10,195-pound dual-threat quarterback. Is Murray durable enough to sustain big hits, committed enough to shun his baseball opportunity and go all in for football?
NFL analysts point to Big 12 quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield, Super Bowl champions Drew Brees (6-0) and Russell Wilson (5-11) as evidence Murray\u2019s stature wouldn\u2019t preclude NFL success.
\u201cThe game has evolved,\u201d Murray\u2019s father Kevin, who helped Texas A&M beat Heisman dual-sport athlete Bo Jackson in the 1986 Cotton Bowl, told USA TODAY Sports. \u201cAnd so has the quarterback position.\u201d
Murray\u2019s ability to read, process and deliver are \u201ccritically important traits\u201d teams look for, Kevin Murray says.
\u201cHe flat knows how to play,\u201d said Steinberg, whose clientele have included Mahomes and Troy Aikman. \u201cIf a team could overlook the size situation, they\u2019d have a prototypical player.\u201d
Gil Brandt agrees. Brandt, who spent 29 years as the Cowboys\u2019 vice president of personnel, calls Murray \u201cprobably as a good a runner\/passer combination as any quarterback I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d He\u2019s certain scouts are writing reports on Murray.
Draft analyst Dane Brugler projects Murray a top-50 pick, depending on which teams in the market for quarterback buy in to Murray\u2019s skill set. ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. said Wednesday that if Murray were three inches taller, \u201che\u2019d be the No. 1 pick overall hands down. Then he would have a big decision to make.\u201d
Instead, Kiper says, Murray would fall to Round 2. ESPN draft expert Todd McShay insists he\u2019d go in the first.
\u201cIt\u2019s more about quick twitch, guys that can get the ball out, move,\u201d McShay said. \u201cAnd he does that as well as anyone in the country.\u201d
But will teams risk a draft-pick on a 5-10 quarterback with a guaranteed A\u2019s contract?
MLB superagent Scott Boras, who helped Murray negotiate with the A\u2019s for another college football season, says his client was \u201cfully aware he could play in the NFL\u201d when signing.
\u201cThis man has a contract,\u201d Boras told USA TODAY Sports. \u201cHe will be in spring training with the Oakland A\u2019s. That\u2019s the commitment.\u201d
Murray\u2019s baseball contract hasn\u2019t stopped the NFL from hoping.
He told Tim Tebow on ESPN last weekend that he\u2019d discuss his future with his family after the Sooners\u2019 playoff run.
\u201cWeigh out the option of what the NFL thinks of me,\u201d Murray said. \u201cRight now, my future is already kind of planned out, but we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d
Sooners coach Lincoln Riley has told inquiring NFL minds simply that Murray \u201cloves football.\u201d
\u201cThat to me is an indication he has a chance,\u201d said Brandt, who convinced 1964 Heisman winner Roger Staubach to prioritize the pigskin over baseball.
(Staubach, a Hall of Famer with two Cowboys Super Bowls, told USA TODAY Sports Murray could thrive in either league. \u201cA heck of an athlete,\u201d Staubach said. \u201cHe\u2019s that talented.\u201d)
It\u2019s a chance Dungy didn\u2019t pull off in 1994 with Ward, who told USA TODAY Sports by phone that he\u2019d have chosen the NFL if a team committed a first-round draft pick to him.
Going the route of Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders and playing both sports would seem prohibitive. Neither were quarterbacks, which comes with time demands way beyond other positions.
Still, Dungy wonders what if.
\u201cI personally thought he would be Joe Montana,\u201d Dungy said. \u201cIf guys put the ball in the end zone in major college football, they can put the ball in the end zone in the NFL.
\u201cAnyone who\u2019s that dynamic and has produced that much offense,\u201d Dungy continued, \u201cyou\u2019re going to have to take a look at.\u201d<\/p>\n