Boston Sports Extra

Kyler, the Heisman-winning quarterback from Oklahoma, remains the biggest question of this year’s draft. His future landing spot remains completely unknown. And although Murray will certainly be picked in the first round, the question of when remains to be seen.

Untraditional Quarterback

Murray might be the hardest quarterback some scouts have ever been asked to evaluate.

His decision-making and judgement can be so blatantly wrong at times, yet he will still make a play or get a completion.

He is the farthest from traditional one could find, yet the most successful out of his class.

Kyler Murray holding the Heisman Trophy he won for his phenomenal performance this last season

The Positives of Kyler

The Oklahoma quarterback can only be described as a paradox.

Some parts of his game should make him the undisputed QB1 of the class, yet other parts defiantly scream risk. Murray’s strong suits are listed below:

Fantastic runner, potentially one of the faster QBs to ever enter the NFL
Incredible arm strength
Great touch and anticipation
Ability to extend the play with his feet, evades pass rushers with ease
Quick release
Tremendous poise
Elite physical skills
Has displayed pin-point accuracy on several occasions
Relatively good ball security
Relatively good pre-snap adjustments

The Negatives of Kyler

The issues in his game glaring, just like his strengths. His strengths and weaknesses pop right off the screen.

Kyler’s biggest struggles are listed below:

Untraditional, not sure what offense he could fit into
Sometimes looks confused or lost out on football field, seems unprepared for certain defense schemes at the college level
Only a one year starter
Sloppy mechanics
Overthrown footballs a problem at times
Sometimes relies too much on his legs and playmaking ability, struggles to understand his limits at times
Stares down receivers
Mechanics and attention to detail do not appear strong
Makes some completions that would not happen at a Pro level
High risk and big investment for a Pro team
Durability for a player of his size and potential work load might be a problem at Pro level

Most television personalities are saying that Kyler will be a top ten pick, however, I personally would not take that so seriously.

What makes him such a risk for a pro squad?

The biggest concern out of that whole list for NFL teams will be the “High risk and big investment for a Pro team” point, but not his size. The size argument on him being able to see over his line will be something that will be heard more but will not hold much of a solid argument.

One throw that Kyler consistently impressed on this year was a short shallow cross, which is a difficult throw for shorter quarterbacks.

Kyler’s height will not be the issue for pro teams, however the time, energy, and resources that a team would have to put into a boom or bust product like Kyler are incredible.

Luckily for Murray, more pro teams are starting to adopt some college concepts in their offenses, but that may not be enough.

An offense would have to fully commit to Kyler, and have the resources to build around him. The first mistake for a pro team would be plugging him into an already established offense.

Just throwing Murray into a system of such nature would fail him from the start and basically cripple an extremely bright future.

Kyler + Patriots = Potential disaster

Patriots fans might want Kyler Murray, but he just simply would not work at this time.

Murray’s career being put on hold for Brady would be bad for both the Patriots and Kyler.

The Patriots would be benching one of the faster quarterbacks to ever enter the draft. That speed would only last at that level for so long.

The potential of Murray turning to baseball if put on hold would be very high, which the last thing the Patriots would need is a John Elway-like situation.

Kyler Murray was a first round draft pick for the Oakland Athletics

The Patriots also have too many pressing needs that taking a risk like Murray would be way to dangerous and could cost jobs.

Patriots would not be able to invest in Kyler becuase of Brady’s longevity and while McDaniels could potentially make Kyler work in New England, Brady gets in the way.

Kyler can work for other squads, but not the Patriots

Kyler might slide farther than the TV personalities think due to his high risk and the big investment required.

While Kyler might be a top ten talent, many pro scouts do not know that Kyler is a trendsetter or a game changer.

The boom or bust product out of Oklahoma seems to have a lot of promise, and could potentially get over some of his negatives with the right team and supporting cast. The right team could turn Kyler into a pro bowl caliber quarterback.

Unfortunately for hopeful Patriot fans, your team will likely not be one to swoop in and take on this extremely risky and expensive project.

The more film watched on TJ Hockenson, the more it seems he will be long gone before the Patriots pick 32nd. However, one never knows these days as players get injured in practice (like Jeffery Simmons), poor combines or pro days hurt their value, and sometimes guys just slide due to demand.

Although historically the Patriots never really trade up in the draft, this Iowa tight end might be worth breaking the trend for. That is of course assuming he doesn’t miraculously fall into their hands at the end of the first round.

Here is what makes Hockenson so good:

Good jump off ball, quickly gets out of three point stance
Gets hands inside and doesn’t overextend, dominant blocking technique
Lowers pads
Keeps ball high and tight, protects the football
Nice awareness
Can outrun Big Ten linebackers and corners, making him hard to one on one with good RAC (run after catch)
Always gets lower than his man when blocking, gets good leverage on his guy
Really nice hands
Extremely athletic and agile for a man of his size
Fundamentally sound
Polished
Disciplined route runner
Physical
Good balance and control
Can adjust to the ball very nicely
Phenomenal focus and ability to get his feet down in bounds, great awareness of his surroundings

Hockenson is a future Pro Bowler. One of the easiest prospects to evaluate in this class. Good at pretty much everything. The only weaknesses I can come up with are that he doesn’t always high-point the ball and he can sometimes be too aggressive as a blocker at the 2nd level.
-Evan Lazar, CLNS Media

Hockenson just continues to demonstrate that he is the complete package in film review. His potential really is something to marvel over.

Cons:

There is very little to complain about in his game. The aggressive blocking and high-pointing, as mentioned in the quote by Evan Lazar, were somewhat of a concern, but not enough to not draft him for it. He seemed to always improvise during some minor mistakes.

Another con to mention was his hands when catching the football were sometimes spread too far apart, but like the other problems, he improvised and did not let it become an issue.

On this play versus Indiana, Hockenson high points the ball, adjusts his body and makes a leaping grab. Scoring the touchdown in the back of the endzone, with a defender draped on him, showing excellent awareness to get both feet down in bounds.

His teammate Noah Fant gets more coverage for his more flashy ability. Although, Hockenson will be a far better NFL player and it may not even be close.

TJ might just be the best tight end to come out of the NFL Draft since Hunter Henry or George Kittle.

Player Comparisons:

Hockenson has drawn comparisons to former Iowa tight end George Kittle before. Kittle just came off a phenomenal stat clinic of a season. Hockenson has also been compared to Dennis Pitta and a mini Gronk (A stretch but I have heard it). The one that suits him best would be Dennis Pitta, who when healthy was a very good tight end for Baltimore.

If the Patriots could get their hands on this guy, not only would a combo of Gronk and Hockenson be hard to stop in 2019, but Hockenson himself would be a deadly force for years to come.