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Murray intriguing prospect in QB group
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_4928bf1d-24a0-562b-94e1-e9b9ab604f1c.html
When it comes to the quarterback position, this draft is equal parts hype and intrigue. With that in mind, leave it to NFL draft guru Gil Brandt to point in a direction where not many are looking. Namely, Athens, Ga., and Georgia Bulldogs QB Aaron Murray.
“I’ll tell you this, I think Aaron Murray’s a real wild card in this draft,” Brandt said. “You know, the guy is smart as all get-out. His quickness in learning is off the charts. He’s a quality, quality guy. His production is off the charts.”
During his tenure at Georgia, Murray put up numbers that were anything but “old-man football,” which is how former Mizzou defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson described the Bulldogs in particular and the SEC in general prior to the Tigers’ SEC debut in 2012.
Murray closed out his college career as the Southeastern Conference career leader in completions (921), passing yards (13,166), and touchdown passes (121).
“This guy’s the first quarterback in SEC history to have four consecutive 3,000-yard plus passing seasons,” Brandt said. “Started 52 consecutive games, and that’s unheard of. Continued to play in the Kentucky game after he tore up his knee.”
Late in the 2012 season, former NFL head coach Tony Dungy said he thought Murray should be the No. 1 overall draft pick by Kansas City if he turned pro that year. We’ll never know since Murray decided to return for 2013. The knee injury, a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Game 11, undoubtedly hurt Murray’s draft stock.
He missed the Bulldogs’ regular-season finale and bowl game and couldn’t participate in the Senior Bowl or the NFL Scouting Combine. All of which kept him off radar in this season’s extended pre-draft process.
But his rehab from knee surgery has come along quickly enough that he was able to throw and participate in Georgia’s pro day April 16. The Rams, who dispatched quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti and director of player personnel Taylor Morton to Athens that day, are more than mildly interested in Murray.
Although sidelined for almost all of the pre-draft process, Murray has done everything possible to make himself available to interested NFL teams. For example, he showed up in Mobile, Ala., for Senior Bowl week to speak with NFL teams. He even sat in on meetings with the South squad which was coached by Gus Bradley and the rest of the Jacksonville staff.
Besides, as Murray points out, he has tons of throws on tape.
“I have 52 games for them to watch,” Murray said. “They have a lot of film to analyze and critique, and see what they like.”
Or don’t like. And the majority of those 52 games came in college football’s toughest conference.
“Playing in the SEC definitely helps as well, playing against top competition week-in and week-out,” Murray said.
Some say Murray didn’t win enough big games, then again, in the SEC most games are big games. This past season in particular he helped the Bulldogs win a lot of close games, some the Bulldogs looked like they had no business winning.
Murray displayed good accuracy, especially in his final two seasons when his completion percentage was nearly 65 percent. It’s hard to beat his touchdown-to-interception ratio of 121 to 41. Murray has enough arm strength, but he’s not the tallest QB around at a shade over 6 feet.
But the success of Russell Wilson recently and Drew Brees over the past decade helps Murray’s cause, and his relative lack of height didn’t seem to be a problem in college.
“I really haven’t had any trouble at all,” he said. “I think it was two or three years ago we had, on paper, the biggest offensive line in the world. We had the biggest offensive line in college and pro. We averaged like 6-4, 6-5 — like 320 pounds — and I threw for like 35 or 36 touchdowns that year.
“As a quarterback, you’re not really looking over offensive linemen, you’re looking through throwing lanes. You just have to be able to stay in the position, throw the ball accurately, and deliver the strike.”
Scheme-wise, Georgia did a little bit of everything. Spread, shotgun, dropback, I-formation, play-action. That variety and Murray’s football IQ should make him a quick study at the NFL level, no matter where he ends up.
Murray, who projects as a mid-round pick, should be one of five SEC quarterbacks drafted this year, joining Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Alabama’s A.J. McCarron, LSU’s Zach Mettenberger, and South Carolina’s Connor Shaw. It will be six if Missouri’s James Franklin is picked up in the late rounds.
Not bad for old-man football.
• By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_4928bf1d-24a0-562b-94e1-e9b9ab604f1c.html
When it comes to the quarterback position, this draft is equal parts hype and intrigue. With that in mind, leave it to NFL draft guru Gil Brandt to point in a direction where not many are looking. Namely, Athens, Ga., and Georgia Bulldogs QB Aaron Murray.
“I’ll tell you this, I think Aaron Murray’s a real wild card in this draft,” Brandt said. “You know, the guy is smart as all get-out. His quickness in learning is off the charts. He’s a quality, quality guy. His production is off the charts.”
During his tenure at Georgia, Murray put up numbers that were anything but “old-man football,” which is how former Mizzou defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson described the Bulldogs in particular and the SEC in general prior to the Tigers’ SEC debut in 2012.
Murray closed out his college career as the Southeastern Conference career leader in completions (921), passing yards (13,166), and touchdown passes (121).
“This guy’s the first quarterback in SEC history to have four consecutive 3,000-yard plus passing seasons,” Brandt said. “Started 52 consecutive games, and that’s unheard of. Continued to play in the Kentucky game after he tore up his knee.”
Late in the 2012 season, former NFL head coach Tony Dungy said he thought Murray should be the No. 1 overall draft pick by Kansas City if he turned pro that year. We’ll never know since Murray decided to return for 2013. The knee injury, a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Game 11, undoubtedly hurt Murray’s draft stock.
He missed the Bulldogs’ regular-season finale and bowl game and couldn’t participate in the Senior Bowl or the NFL Scouting Combine. All of which kept him off radar in this season’s extended pre-draft process.
But his rehab from knee surgery has come along quickly enough that he was able to throw and participate in Georgia’s pro day April 16. The Rams, who dispatched quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti and director of player personnel Taylor Morton to Athens that day, are more than mildly interested in Murray.
Although sidelined for almost all of the pre-draft process, Murray has done everything possible to make himself available to interested NFL teams. For example, he showed up in Mobile, Ala., for Senior Bowl week to speak with NFL teams. He even sat in on meetings with the South squad which was coached by Gus Bradley and the rest of the Jacksonville staff.
Besides, as Murray points out, he has tons of throws on tape.
“I have 52 games for them to watch,” Murray said. “They have a lot of film to analyze and critique, and see what they like.”
Or don’t like. And the majority of those 52 games came in college football’s toughest conference.
“Playing in the SEC definitely helps as well, playing against top competition week-in and week-out,” Murray said.
Some say Murray didn’t win enough big games, then again, in the SEC most games are big games. This past season in particular he helped the Bulldogs win a lot of close games, some the Bulldogs looked like they had no business winning.
Murray displayed good accuracy, especially in his final two seasons when his completion percentage was nearly 65 percent. It’s hard to beat his touchdown-to-interception ratio of 121 to 41. Murray has enough arm strength, but he’s not the tallest QB around at a shade over 6 feet.
But the success of Russell Wilson recently and Drew Brees over the past decade helps Murray’s cause, and his relative lack of height didn’t seem to be a problem in college.
“I really haven’t had any trouble at all,” he said. “I think it was two or three years ago we had, on paper, the biggest offensive line in the world. We had the biggest offensive line in college and pro. We averaged like 6-4, 6-5 — like 320 pounds — and I threw for like 35 or 36 touchdowns that year.
“As a quarterback, you’re not really looking over offensive linemen, you’re looking through throwing lanes. You just have to be able to stay in the position, throw the ball accurately, and deliver the strike.”
Scheme-wise, Georgia did a little bit of everything. Spread, shotgun, dropback, I-formation, play-action. That variety and Murray’s football IQ should make him a quick study at the NFL level, no matter where he ends up.
Murray, who projects as a mid-round pick, should be one of five SEC quarterbacks drafted this year, joining Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, Alabama’s A.J. McCarron, LSU’s Zach Mettenberger, and South Carolina’s Connor Shaw. It will be six if Missouri’s James Franklin is picked up in the late rounds.
Not bad for old-man football.
