The Underwear Olympics NFL Scouting Combine is underway and every decimal counts. Maybe too much. No, definitely too much.
When it comes to quarterback Kyler Murray, measurables haven't been this important for years. Or maybe ever. And his official numbers set Twitter ablaze, and probably NFL front offices, too.
Murray surprised most by standing 5-foot-10 and 1/8 of inch while weighing 207 pounds on Thursday. As ESPN's Adam Schefter put it, the measurements were "electric."
The 5-foot-10.1 on Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray is actually 5-foot-10 1/8 inches.
So Kyler Murray measured in at 5-foot-10 1/8 inches.
He weighed in at 207 pounds.
His hands measured 9 4/8 inches.
And it was, if such things can be, electric measurements.— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 28, 2019
At the University of Oklahoma, Murray was listed at 5-10 and 195 pounds, though many believed he was closer to 5-9 or possibly 5-8. For context, his official height has him awfully close to Russell Wilson's 5-10 5/8 and Wilson weighed three pounds less at the combine. However, Wilson's hand size of 10 1/4" is much greater than Murray's 9 1/2".
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That doesn't Murray's hand size was disappointing. In fact, it was the opposite.
The bar for hand size in NFL circles is at least nine inches. Murray's hands were measured at half an inch better than that, and his 9 1/2" hands are slightly bigger than Baker Mayfield -- the No. 1 pick in the draft a year ago -- who measured in at 9 1/4".
As the NFL moves to closer to the college game with spread offenses, height is becoming less of a concern for teams, but there's no doubt Murray helped himself here. How much depends on which team you talk to and just how much emphasis the front office still puts on size for their QB.
[RELATED: Jon Gruden's Kyler Murray compliments could mean several things]
"We still haven't gone through a full evaluation, so it's too early to say," Cardinals GM Steve Keim, who holds the No. 1 pick, said Wednesday when asked about Murray. And when asked if Josh Rosen, who the team selected No. 10 overall last year, is still their quarterback, Keim said, "he is right now."
Murray doesn't plan to throw at the combine as of Thursday, sources told NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, but before even showing his actual football skills, the Heisman throphy winner could be moving up draft boards.
