There was some debate about whether Kyler Murray was even the top ranked quarterback in this year's draft, nevermind the top ranked prospect.  Despite the naysayers, the Arizona Cardinals were thrilled to draft him with the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.  

Here's 4 things that you should know about him:

1. Came from a very athletic family

Murray's father, Kevin Murray, was a quarterback at Texas A&M from 1983 to 1986.  His uncle, Calvin Murray, was a former professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, and Chicago Cubs.  This dovetails into the next noteworthy item....

2. Impressed MLB teams with his baseball skills  

In 2014, Kyler Murray was the the first athlete to ever be selected for both the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game and the Under Armour All-America Football Game.  He continued to play both Division 1 college baseball, and Division 1 college football after graduating high school.

MLB baseball teams noticed his talent, and the Oakland A's drafted him 9th overall in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft. 

3. Played only one season as a starting quarterback in college

The Oklahoma Sooners football team already had a talented starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield, leading their team from 2015 to 2017.  In fact, the dominance of Mayfield's final season at Oklahoma resulted in him winning the Heisman Trophy as the top college football player that year. 

Because he was slotted behind Mayfield, the 2018-19 season was Kyler Murray's first, and only season as a starting quarterback for the Sooners.  Despite winning the Heisman Trophy himself this past season, some scouts questioned whether his strong performance should be discounted due to the small sample size of his starts.

4. Considered a risky NFL selection due to his lack of height

While most prototypical NFL quarterbacks stand over 6 feet tall, Kyler Murray was measued to be only a fraction taller than 5-foot-10.  But some NFL teams are looking at the quarterback position differently now that players such as Drew Brees and Russell Wilson have shown that smaller signal callers can also achieve success.

By drafting Murray, the Cardinals selected a quarterback with a top-10 pick for the second consecutive season.  Last year, Arizona traded up in the draft, from 15th to 10th, to take UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen.  The Cards have decided that Murray has a higher ceiling between the two quarterbacks, and have since traded Rosen to Miami.

Rosen was gracious after learning of the trade, and even congratulated Murray on being drafted.  He also showed that he has a sense of humor....

It will be exciting to watch the Cardinals build a new offense around Kyler Murrary, and to see if he can impact the game in a similar manner to Patrick Mahomes did this past season.

Cover art: Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash

If you are new to Publish0x and would like to contribute to this community by tipping or by writing, please create an account using my invite link: https://www.publish0x.com?a=N1aMjM3bWm.  Thanks for your support!