Deion Sanders. Russell Wilson. Golden Tate. Brandon Weeden. These are just a few of the notable names that have been drafted in both the NFL and the MLB during their time in college.
Deion was a 2 sport stud that played outfield with 4 MLB teams and won two super bowls. Prime Time is the only player in history to be in a super bowl and a world series. Brandon Weeden chose the baseball route first as he went right out of High School. He later came back to College and was the oldest QB to start a College Football game ever (at the age of 26). These players have been down crazy paths and have had success in both sports. None of those however, were first rounders in both sports. Kyler Murray has a chance to make history by becoming the first man to do so.
Since he got drafted by the A’s, questions have been swirling around as to whether he would enter the NFL Draft or stick out for the season and play for the A’s in 2019. Murray announced on Monday that he would be playing in the NFL. A couple of months ago, a lot of people said to take the guaranteed money and go play Baseball with less risk and more reward. But in the end, the NFL is the smarter move of the two and here are three reasons why:
Guaranteed Money & Salary Argument:
Let’s compare the contract of Josh Rosen and show what Kyler Murray could be getting. So Rosen was the #10th pick in the draft (and some people are saying Arizona could trade Rosen to draft Murray at Number 1). But for the sake of argument, we’ll say Murray goes at his most likely projected spot right now (Miami at #13).
Rosen signed a 4 year, $17.5 Million dollar contract that included a $2.7 Mil signing bonus as well as a chance at a 5th year option if the team decides to give it to him. He makes $11 Million of that contract in his rookie season ALONE. If you want to compare Bakers, then he signed a 4 Year, $32 Million Dollar contract and he is getting paid $22 Million in just his first season and had a $5.4 Million dollar signing bonuses that was included in all of that.
So let’s look at Kyler Murray’s Contract he signed with the A’s back in June. Murray signed a 1 Year deal worth $4.86 Million dollars with a ridiculous signing bonus of 4.6 million. Do you want to know his base salary? $210,000. He would’ve been a Minor league player for at least 3-4 years as not even the top prospects immediately rise to the MLB right after they sign the contract.
Draft Gems like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg had to play in Rookie Ball and Double A before they got called up to the major leagues. If Murray does get picked number 1, his contract will be almost twice as more salary as he would be getting in Baseball AND he would be signed to at least a 4 (or 5, depending on team/player option) year deal, rather than the 1 year he signed with Oakland for.
Height Argument:
Now this isn’t necessarily a Baseball/Football argument, but it is a huge knack on why he might not succeed at the NFL level. When it comes to Baseball players, height isn’t ever really used as a point as to whether a player can be good or not.
Ichiro Suzuki is considered the 2nd best mariner to ever play (behind Ken Griffey Jr,) and played 18 seasons and is a part of the 3,000 hit club with the 35th most stolen bases in MLB History. Ichiro was 5’11 and and never hit more than 15 home runs in his career.
Jose Altuve Hit 20 homeruns in back to back seasons and stole a record 56 bases in 2014. Altuve is an MVP, 6x All Star and 2017 World Series winner. Jose is 5 foot 6. The point is height doesn’t matter a ton in baseball, its about talent. The NFL is starting to skew that way as well with the “under 6 Foot Quarterbacks” argument.
Russell Wilson. Drew Brees. Baker Mayfield. These 3 are all under 6 foot tall and either have had a great NFL career or have to potential to finish with one. The real only exception to the case is Johnny Manziel and he was more distracted with partying and drugs than learning the playbook and playing ball.
The NFL has turned a corner over the past 3-5 years with more QB’s in the pistol or shotgun formation. In 2006, Shotgun Formation was used on 19% of plays with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots using it the most with 44 and 34% respectively.
In 2016, The shotgun formation was used 68% of the time with the 49ers entire playbook centered around shotgun with them calling shotgun on 99% of plays. That 1% was more than likely goal line sets. 2nd by the way, was the Detroit Lions with gun slinging Matthew Stafford.
Kyler is short, yes. But if he can’t see his receivers isn’t necessarily an issue anymore because since so many QB’s are not under center anymore, they can step back and see more of the field. May his height be an issue overall? Maybe. But in the pocket, his height isn’t as bad as most people would suggest.
Ability in Both Sports:
We all know how good Kyler is at football and the ridiculous stats he put up and all the accolades that he has in his name. In Football. But what most people don’t take into account is, how good is he really in Baseball?
Kyler finished his 2nd year of Baseball with a .296 batting average, with 10 Homeruns and 34 RBI’s. For a regular baseball player, I’d say that’s really good. But are those stats really 9th overall pick worthy? He played last year and hit less than .100 and had 6 RBI’s all year long. Murray wasn’t even the best hitter on his OWN team. Steele Walker his .352 for 13 Homeruns and 53 RBI’s.
He was near the 15-20 ranges in the Big 12 in batting average, Home Runs, and RBI’s. He was also 14th in strikeouts. I don’t point all of this out to say he’s not a good baseball player at all, he’s a good talent. But if you ask a scout, I doubt any other team had him as a first round grade based on talent.
Kyler would be more of a 4th-8th round guy. But due to his name and the exposure that he already had, The Oakland Athletics decided to select him 9th, knowing it would get them headlines. And even if he didn’t come, it’s still a win win, as Oakland will be able to get their pick back soon.
Kyler is an exceptional athlete and is doing something that very rarely is done in Sports in it’s entire history of existence in the MLB and NFL. Like mentioned earlier, he could become the first player in MLB and NFL history to be selected in both leagues in the first round. The NFL is the better decision in the end from a money, success standpoint and the height issue isn’t nearly as drastic and important as some people are implying for it to be. Kyler’s success on the field remains to be seen, but the journey he has been on so far has the entire sports world (as well as myself) sitting on our hands to see what will end up happening next.
Image Credit:https://www.normantranscript.com/oklahoma/ou-baseball-kyler-murray-s-situation-a-win-win-skip/article_d214560e-594e-11e8-b3cd-f3a1e1101546.html. https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/9/1/17432194/kyler-murray-ncaa-eligible-mlb-draft
