NFL - NEWS & NOTES

What if...

Let's face it, Josh Rosen didn't have much of a chance to succeed in 2018...and he didn't...gloriously....

So, what if Kyler Murray does declare for the draft? If/when that happens, can the Cardinals turn Rosen into a trade worth making?

Think about this...If the Jaguars want a QB, a move from #7 to #1 or even #2 will be significant, probably (2) firsts and a second or even (3) firsts. What if they could get Rosen for #7 and the Cardinals 3rd in 2019 or 2nd in 2020?

The Cards can then take Murray, whom Kingsbury is obviously extremely high on AND still get a top player in this draft to help out their rebuild.

IMHO, the Cardinals trading Rosen would do more for their franchise than taking Bosa #1 overall. With Rosen, I believe they will be stuck in mediocrity for a very long time. I do believe he will improve from his rookie season, but I have absolutely no faith that he will ever become the type of player that you rely on to will your team to victory. He isn't a leader of men.

 

According to Fox Sports Radio, the Oakland A's have leaked that Murray will declare for the NFL draft... I believe the deadline to do so is tomorrow, i'll have to check.

 

Per, PFT...

The Oakland Athletics expect Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray to declare for the NFL Draft this weekend, according to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Athletics selected Murray with their first-round pick in the 2018 First-Year Player Draft and signed him to a $4.6 million deal to play baseball. Murray was expected to begin his baseball career after one more season as quarterback at Oklahoma. Murray won the Heisman Trophy this season in college football.

According to the report, Murray has an invitation to big-league camp with the Athletics this spring. The A’s position players are scheduled to report to the team’s training complex on Feb. 15. However, the NFL Combine is 11 days later in Indianapolis and would be an important event for Murray to attend if he’s strongly considering playing football instead.

Murray would have to return the signing bonus from his contract to the Athletics should he elect to play football instead. The report cites a source saying Murray is leaning toward playing football.

Murray passed for 4,361 yards with 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions this year for Oklahoma. He also rushed for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns on the ground.

 

I'm still just at the beginning of my evals, but I have a feeling that Murray is going to end up with a really solid score.

He's going to be a first round pick if he enters the draft.

 

Monday January 14th is the deadline to declare

 

I agree. Oklahoma must be the new Quarterback U.

 

I was talking with someone earlier in the week and they asked me what situations yielded a high first round pick at quarterback in back to back years.

I didn't have an answer and I forgot all about it until you posted this.

I'd have to look back to see but I can't think of any off hand. You know of any, Will?

 

I couldn't think or know of any and research it and came up empty.

 

Well, the only thing close is, in 1946 Notre Dame had two QBs drafted in the first round of the same draft, Boley Dancewicz #1 overall to Boston Yanks and Johnny Lujack #4 overall to the Chicago Bears.

The only other phenomenon for QBs is the 5 year run of every other year for Florida State
2011 - Christian Ponder (#12) 1st round
2013 - EJ Manuel (#16) 1st round
2015 - Jameis Winston #1 overall

 

All that said, even with Kingsbury saying what he said, I don't think Murray will go ahead of Haskins, let alone be the #1 overall pick.

 

Well, he did learn from the best of all time

 

There's a long stretch between now and the draft kicking into full hyperbole mode, but I agree with the basic idea of this. A GM is more likely to put his job on the line over the prototype rather than the mold changer. Dorsey broke away from that last season and took Baker #1 overall when a lot of other GMs would have hedged their bet and went with a quarterback that better fit the mold.

Is there another John Dorsey willing to break from accepted norms to go after the guy he covets in this draft?


I'm hoping to wrap up initial rankings for every position by the end of the day Saturday so I can start getting into the next round of scoring. I think this class has the potential for a major shake-up now that Murray is likely to enter the draft. The advisory board must have given him a favorable enough projection to make him rethink the idea that baseball should be his primary option.

Which I honestly believe is the right move, because Murray is an extremely rare talent at the position.

 

This would be the first time 2 QBs from the same school were drafted in the first round in back-to-back drafts, although, as Irish said, there were 2 from Notre Dame in the same draft years ago when the position was vastly different. Many situations where 1st round picks are separated by an off year in between. Makes sense, though. Also some situations where one goes high and the next year a teammate goes later, or vis versa.

 

Even breaking molds... Baker was damn near 6'1", Murray is 5'10"... Baker wasn't nearly as far from the mold as everyone made him out to be. Pre-combine, everyone was saying Baker won't hit 6'0"... Well, he did, but the cries that he is too short continued because it gave the talking heads something to talk about. Murray will not come close to 6'0", so his hyperbole will be closer to reality.

 

I was thinking more about the hyperbole that comes with all of the quarterback prospects down the stretch (expect Daniel Jones to get plugged non-stop) but I understand what you mean with Murray.

And even with Baker hitting 6'+ he still doesn't fit the prototype that GMs are notorious for coveting. He could have hit a full 6'1" and still been a couple inches under what a lot of personnel people consider desirable.

It's flawed thinking for sure, but a lot of what happens in the draft is 'flavor of the month' and recurring trends/themes.

 

I'm telling you this is exactly what happened with the Giants last season. NFL rules prohibit blocking a coach who is under contract from interviewing for a head coaching position. A QB Coach can be blocked from interviewing for an OC job if he is still under contract -- it's only a HC job they can't prevent if they decide to. This is exactly what happened with Stefanski in Minnesota last year. http://www.startribune.com/vikings-...viewing-elsewhere-is-common-in-nfl/473867483/

Teams don't always block people from interviewing because it is a complete dick move and it makes them look less desirable to future staff with options but they do have the right to do so for any coach that is under contract. Stefanski's contract expired after this season he could have interviewed anywhere he wanted. But last year when he was under contract they prevented him from interviewing to be an OC and then kept him on as a QB coach and hired a new OC from outside the organization.

 

I would trade #6 overall for Josh Rosen right now and giggle about it. You know what Rosen costs to a team that trades for him in 2019? $1.29 million... He doesn't have a salary over $3 million until you invoke the 5th year option. You get 3 years of a top prospect (who admittedly I was very high on pre-draft) for $6.25 million TOTAL. You know what that does for the rest of your roster? Plus you put a kid with that kind of ball placement in an offense with Barkley, Beckham and Engram? The line may still be, um... not great.... but he would have better weapons, better coaching and marginally better pass blocking in NY. And FA and the rest of the draft to shore up his protection.

Gettleman recently said he would take Barkley 100 out of 100 times. I would trade for Rosen 100 out of 100 times.

 

Another upside would be that you wouldn't have to give up additional draft capital to move up in order to make sure you get your desired quarterback in this class.

I highly doubt the Cardinals will even consider this an option, but I can see your logic in this move very easily.

 

i thought he was headed for baseball ? when he won the Heisman, they said he was leaning towards baseball or both like Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson.