The Combine results are in. Turns out Oklahoma didn't lie to us and Kyler Murray is, in fact, 5'10. 5'10.01 to be exact. Just tall enough to be over 5'10 and now he's considered to be a top 10 pick again. Let me just remind everyone that this was revealed less than 2 hours ago (as of writing this) and now everything has changed. Does it really matter though? If he was 5'9 versus 5'10 would it really inhibit his ability to succeed? If he ended up being like 5'4 then I'd be concerned but there is a barely an inch difference between 5'9 and 5'10 (see the math I did there?). I find it truly amazing that a one inch difference in height was the deciding factor between success and failure in the NFL. If he fails it will be because of his talent or because of the coaching system, not his height. Height is not a determining factor in success in the NFL in my opinion. Just ask John Elway. Paxton Lynch is 6'7", Brock Osweiler is 6'7", Trevor Siemian is 6'3", Case Keenum is 6'1", and Joe Flacco is 6'6". Flacco won a Superbowl but none of the other tall listed QBs have done anything of significance in the NFL. Case Keenum is the second most successful QB on this list and he is the shortest as well. Height clearly does not translate to success in the NFL.
In college, Kyler Murray completed 69% of his passes with a 42 TD to 7 interception ratio. He also threw for over 4,300 yards which puts him just outside of the top 50 all time for passing. That's kind of a lot when you think about how many people have played the position in college! Although the list ahead of him is fairly mixed with good and bad QBs including, but not limited to, Matt Ryan, Geno Smith, Luke Falk, Dwayne Haskins, and Case Keenum. One you need to remember though is that his stats also culminated in the 2nd highest passing efficiency in all of college football this year. He's also one of the most explosive players in the draft who can extend plays and make magic happen. He's even proven himself on the big stage against the best defenses. In case you didn't know, he actually had the most rushing yards by a single player against Alabama of anyone this year (109 yards). Coming in second was a runningback from Arkansas with 102 and third was Texas A&M with 98 yards.
To put it frankly, Kyler Murray is good as football. Also here's the height of his Oklahoma lineman, according to the Sooners' website: 6'8", 6'4", 6'6", 6'4", 6'5", 6'4", 6'5", 6'5", 6'4", 6'2", 6'5", 6'1". The Cardinals' linemen are as listed: 6'5", 6'5", 6'5", 6'6", 6'7", 6'3", 6'1", 6'4, 6'5". The Giants' lineman are: 6'2", 6'4", 6'5", 6'4", 6'2", 6'5", 6'3", 6'9", 6'5", 6'8", 6'7", 6'7". Raiders: 6'8", 6'8", 6'5", 6'5", 6'4", 6'2", 6'3", 6'5", 6'4". The Buccaneers: 6'9", 6'6", 6'6", 6'4", 6'4", 6'5". I highlighted the tallest and shortest offensive linemen for everyone to see. See how similar these heights are overall?? What's the difference? All NFL linemen are tall and they will continue to be tall. Guess who else was tall? The linemen at Oklahoma! Like I said, linemen are tall! Kyler Murray has thrown over tall people and tall QBs have not proven to be the end all formula for success. Talent and work ethic is a matter of success. Look at Baker Mayfield. He went number one overall last year despite being 6'1" because of his competitive effort. Kyler will succeed because of those intangibles. At the very least Kyler deserves the chance to fail at QB in the NFL. He won't be limited because of his height.
Later today his hand size comes out. Now that could change everything...
*stats recovered from team websites, CFB Reference, and ESPN stats.
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