Last week’s Stat of the Week covered the SIS rankings and stats for the top players available in this year’s NFL Draft. There’s another player who generated headlines this week who was not at the top of those rankings. Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray announced he would pursue a career in the NFL rather than in professional baseball.
Murray is the No. 2 ranked quarterback in The SIS Football Rookie Handbookbehind Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins. But Murray is the most impressive quarterback from a statistical perspective.
There are concerns that Murray is too small to succeed in the NFL (he’s 5'9½"). But Murray leads this year’s top quarterback prospects in all of the leaderboards listed in our book.
Kyler Murray Leads QB Prospects In …
| Category |
Value |
| Pass Yards Per Attempt |
11.6 |
| On-Target Percentage |
79.2 |
| Independent QB Rating (IQR) |
143.2 |
| Expected Points Added Per Dropback |
0.47 |
| Rushing Expected Points Added |
61.4 |
| Total Expected Points Added |
236.9 |
* Independent QB Rating (IQR) builds on the traditional Passer Rating formula by considering the value of a quarterback independent of results outside of his control such as dropped passes, dropped interceptions, throwaways, etc.
** Expected Points Added (EPA) is the change in Expected Points for the offense on a play.
In several of these categories, Murray has a sizable advantage. He leads West Virginia’s Will Grier by nearly two yards per attempt, 16 points in IQR and nearly 97 Total Expected Points Added.
Murray also mostly passes the eye test. In The SIS Football Rookie Handbook, Murray is described as "a rare playmaker at the quarterback position with the requisite mental capacity to maximize his arm talent and mobility but may need to rework his release as a pro to mitigate size concerns."