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Times have changed in the NFL. Even as the game puts more of an emphasis on passing the football, quarterbacks with traditional size, throwing deliveries, and playing backgrounds have still become far less of a commodity.
There will always be a place in the league for old-school signal-callers in the mold of Tom Brady, assuming they have the requisite arm talent and mental acuity to play at a high level. But the success of players like Russell Wilson, Baker Mayfield, and even 18-year veteran Drew Brees has drastically changed how evaluators assess quarterback prospects leading up to the NFL Draft.
That evolution in thinking stands to benefit Oklahoma's Kyler Murray immensely, who threw for 4,361 yards, 42 touchdowns, and seven interceptions while completing 69.0 percent of his passes as a first-year starter in 2018. He also rushed for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns. It's not like that unprecedented production was by any means hollow, either; Murray led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff, winning the Heisman Trophy in the process.
Despite his meteoric rise to the top of the college football world, there are still many hesitant about Murray's potential at the next level – and his listed size of 5-foot-10, 195 pounds is undoubtedly the biggest reason why. But as the NFL combine quickly approaches, Murray seems to be doing all he can to give quarterback-needy teams at the top of the draft less reason for concern.
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“One bit of Murray news before we move on,” NBC Sports' Peter King wrote on Monday. “The new Mike Mayock at NFL Network, Daniel Jeremiah—talk about big shoes to fill—told me over the weekend that he heard Murray has bulked up to 203 pounds from his OU playing weight of 190. And calling around over the weekend, I heard it was 206.”
Should 11 pounds really make that much of a difference?
For most prospects, probably not. But there's a sense among evaluators that Murray is slighter than other short quarterbacks who have thrived in the NFL, a trait that would be especially debilitating because it increases his risk for injury as a runner. If he's already up 10 or so pounds, though, there's ample reason to believe Murray, 22, has more room on his frame for growth than initially anticipated.
Whether or not that will be enough to make him a top-10 pick, though, we won't know until April 25th.
