NORMAN, Okla. _ Only last year, Oklahoma's quarterback led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff and won the Heisman Trophy before the Cleveland Browns made him the first pick of the draft.
Now this year's Oklahoma quarterback is performing at a rate even better than Baker Mayfield at his best, meaning further CFP buzz as a result.
And he's already been a first-round pick.
Who could have seen this coming? Not Kyler Murray.
Then again, he said, maybe he did.
"I've never not envisioned success," he said, smiling, "so to answer your question, I guess, yes."
Coming out of Allen, where he was an astounding 43-0 as a starter and won three state titles, Murray was bigger than life. Which might not sound like much, considering he's generously listed at 5-10, 195 pounds. But make no mistake, he was as big as they come. A "highly touted dude," as he put it Monday.
Only it didn't work out at Texas A&M, a recurring story line for several Aggie quarterbacks not named Johnny Manziel. Consequently, Murray transferred to Oklahoma, where he profited from a coaching philosophy and environment under Bob Stoops and then Lincoln Riley more conducive to success, you might say, than what he experienced under Kevin Sumlin.
Yet here he'd mostly sat for two years, waiting for Mayfield to realize his destiny.
By the time Murray's opportunity finally came up, it had been predetermined that he'd be one-and-done as a starter. Scott Boras put an exclamation point on it. The Oakland A's didn't pay his client $5 million to wait another year while he got football out of his system.
Murray had shown potential as a baseball player, a rare blend of elite speed and power. His father, Kevin, played briefly in the Brewers' system, and his uncle, Calvin, made the bigs.
Kyler's future in football seemed less certain. He was terrific in high school, but that seems long ago now. He's short for a quarterback at any level.
And even if the program was mostly to blame at A&M, how good could he be after all this time?
This good, apparently: Second nationally in pass efficiency at 231.0 ... first in passing yards per attempt (13.4) and passing yards per completion (19.0) ... third in passing touchdowns (17) ... fifth in total offense (349.0).
Nearly half-way through the season, he's the only player in the nation averaging at least 250 yards a game passing (293.8) and at least 50 yards rushing (55.2).
Riley has tweaked the offense to take advantage of Murray's speed. Mayfield ran the ball on designed plays twice a game. Murray gets the call a half-dozen times.
After Saturday's 66-33 walloping of Baylor, in which Murray accumulated a school-record seven touchdowns, Riley told reporters that defenses can't play his junior quarterback straight up.
"Even when you account for him," Riley said, "the odds still aren't in your favor."
Murray can run with anyone. Even Johnny Football. Everyone knows that.
But could he throw?
Cale Gundy, who filled in at Monday's news conference for Riley, who was ill, knows a little about quarterbacks. He played the position for the Sooners. And as an Oklahoma assistant since 1999, he's seen the likes of Josh Heupel, Sam Bradford, Landry Jones and Mayfield up close.
Asked if Murray could play in the NFL, Gundy didn't so much as gulp.
"Yes," he said. "No doubt in my mind.
"One hundred percent."
