Should Kyler Murray play baseball? Stick with football? Is there a chance he could do both?
The Oakland Athletics upped the ante on the debate for the two-sport Oklahoma athlete by taking Murray with the No. 9 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. That pick comes with a slot value of $4.7 million and might be impossible to turn away from.
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Dave Tepper, managing editor for "Dave Campbell's Texas Football," saw this coming back in 2015 when Murray was being recruited as a five-star quarterback and the heir apparent to Johnny Manziel at Texas A&M.
"Everything I've read says he's going to be a high draft pick," Tepper said in an interview with Sporting News. "If Kyler Murray is going to be a professional athlete, if that is his goal, at his size, I wonder if his best avenue for being a professional athlete is baseball."
Well, Murray's path has taken a few turns, but that day is here. What should Murray do? A closer look:
Play baseball
You can run through the quick-hit points. The money, for starters. There is the notion that baseball is a safer career path – albeit one that takes a longer path to the professional ranks through the minor leagues.
Murray hit .296 with 10 homers, 10 stolen bases and 47 RBIs for the Oklahoma baseball team. The outfielder made a tremendous jump from the previous season, and the Athletics saw enough to make a bold top-10 pick with a giant contract that will eventually force Murray to make a long-term decision.
For what it's worth, Murray's uncle Calvin had 633 at-bats as a major-league outfielder from 1999-2002.
As difficult as that might be – that money could be a big reason for Murray to focus on baseball down the road. Are there any red flags? Murray did refuse to take MLB-mandated drug tests leading up to the draft while in high school, according to NewsOK.com.
That doesn't mean much now, but that future might hinge on how much he means to the Oklahoma football team in 2018. The San Francisco Chronicle reports Murray still plans on playing football this fall.
Could that plan change?
Play football
Second-year coach Lincoln Riley believes Murray will be with the football team in the fall on May 31.
"I don't really care a whole lot about what happens in the draft," Riley said via NewsOK.com. "I've had good conversations with Kyler, his family, and I fully expect him to be with us. I really don't have any worries about it."
Why is that such a big deal for the Sooners? Murray is expected to replace Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield at quarterback for a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.
Murray ranks No. 18 on Sporting News Top 25 quarterbacks for 2018, and he's in a system that will make the best of his skill-set.
In other words, he's going to put up numbers and win big games on the biggest stages in College Football. If he plays well he'll be a Heisman Trophy candidate this season.
That's not a reach, but what about this?
"He's going to break all my records," Mayfield told Bleacher Report's Matt Hayes.
If that happens, then like Mayfield he'll attract attention from the NFL, too.
What should he do?
It's easy to say, "Take the money and run to baseball," but it's not that simple.
Murray should wait and see how this season goes in 2018. Remember, this is a player who Tepper put in the "greatest high school football player in Texas history" conversation. That's reserved for players such as Earl Campbell and Vince Young. There are no guarantees with baseball considering his uncle had those 633 at-bats.
If Murray plays well enough to attract that NFL attention, then that's the quicker path to the pros. It's not a guaranteed path given how much money the Athletics put in front of him, however.
Murray made a significant jump from 2017 to 2018 in baseball with the Sooners. If he makes the same jump in football, the allure of the NFL will be very hard to pass up.
It's not like we haven't seen this before. John Elway hit in Class A in the New York Yankees farm system before choosing the NFL. We're not saying Murray has that kind of talent in football, but we'll know more after we see him as a full-time starter with Oklahoma.
In the meantime, expect a lot of experts to tell Murray what he should do when the path hasn't changed all that much, despite all the twists and turns from his high school career. Murray is good enough to play professionally in one sport and we're about to find out if he can do the same in the other.
A two-sport path seems unlikely at the next level because he plays quarterback. Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson and Brian Jordan played outfield and a skill position. This isn't the same thing.
What will happen next? Get back to us after football season. We still don't know what the best avenue is, but it will be exciting finding out.
