When we posted that article earlier this month about our hesitation to update our mock draft, the main reason as noted was that we just had no idea how the QB situation was going to play out on April 25th. And while there’s still a lot of sorting out to be done before we know for sure, one gets the sense listening to people around the league that teams are increasingly intrigued by the upside of Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray. Obviously, there are still questions about his size, or lack thereof, but there does appear to be a growing expectation that there are going to be teams willing to do what’s required to get Murray with this year’s #1 pick overall.
Which teams? Hard to tell at this point, but the Giants, who with the 6th pick have the shortest path to the #1 selection, certainly have to be in the mix, as would Jacksonville if the Jaguars aren’t able to acquire veteran QB Nick Foles from Philadelphia. One would also think that Miami just might be very interested. The Dolphins, who are currently sitting on the 13th pick, would have a bit of a ways to go to the first selection, but no team appears to be more in need of making a splash this year than the Dolphins. On the one hand, Miami has been chasing Belichek, Brady and the Patriots forever and safe half measures aren’t likely to get it done. Plus the Dolphins need to do something electric once they jettison incumbent starter Ryan Tannehill.
Meanwhile, the NFL rumor that just won’t go away is that Arizona will take Murray with the #1 pick themselves and then look to trade Josh Rosen, last year’s 10th pick overall who wasn’t exactly overwhelming in his rookie season this past fall, although he was hardly surrounded by much talent. The Cardinals continue to deny any interest in taking that course; new head coach Kliff Kingsbury, for example, continues to publicly support the quarterback he inherited when he took the job a month ago saying late last week that they were ‘in this together” and that he was prepared to give Rosen “the keys to the castle.” Meanwhile, Cardinals’ team president Michael Bidwell added in a separate interview that “we’re going to continue to build this team and build around the foundation that we have.”
At the same time, though, it appears that Murray might be warming to the possibility of playing in the warmth of the desert. Murray was quoted over the weekend as saying that he couldn’t “go into it (the draft) with any expectations of being taken by the Cardinals. That would be nice for sure.” Murray also rhapsodized about his relationship with Kingsbury saying that “me and him are really tight. Great relationship with him. I think that was just something, he’s always felt strongly about me as a player and as a kid off the field.” Meanwhile, the fact that Murray and Kingsbury now share the same agent is only going to add to the pot. Of course, all the Murray to the Cardinals buzz started when someone dug up an old interview with then college coach Kingsbury in which he said he’d take Murray in a heartbeat if he ever had the #1 pick in the NFL draft and despite the denials in Arizona it is just something they have to be considering after Rosen’s less that auspicious rookie campaign. You just don’t get the top pick all that often. Stay tuned!
