Ask Farrell: Should rankings reflect rise of undersized QBs?
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Before Baker Mayfield was drafted there were incessant discussions by the intelligentsia whether a quarterback of his size could succeed in the NFL. He had a phenomenal rookie season with the Cleveland Browns.
And now Kyler Murray, who measured at 5-foot-10 at the NFL Scouting Combine, was drafted first by the Arizona Cardinals this past weekend.
A confluence of events played into it as the Cardinals hired former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, who has admired Murray’s game for a long time and he apparently believes Murray could be perfect for Arizona’s new offense.
But the executives there believed Murray was so valuable - height be damned - that they drafted him even though they took former five-star quarterback Josh Rosen in the first round last draft, when Mayfield went No. 1 overall.
So for two-straight drafts, undersized quarterbacks have gone No. 1 with the pick of Murray making a real statement because if he starts for Arizona next season he would be the shortest quarterback in the league. The only other QB under 6-foot is Seattle’s Russell Wilson. New Orleans’ Drew Brees is right at 6-foot.
Twenty-eight other starting quarterbacks in the NFL are at least 6-foot-2 or taller. Of the 11 quarterbacks drafted this past weekend, nine are taller than 6-foot.
There is definitely less concern about height when it comes to quarterbacks in the NFL.
We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell if our rankings should be more considerate of quarterbacks who are undersized since the position could be changing in that direction. Or is that narrative overblown since so many starting NFL quarterbacks, and many of those drafted this past weekend, still maintain that 6-foot-plus height threshold?
FARRELL'S TAKE
“I honestly thought we were doing this as guys like Murray and Tate Martell were given longer looks after Russell Wilson became so successful in the NFL. However, we clearly underrated Murray and now he’s the No 1 pick in the draft. However, Martell hasn’t done much at all so what do we do? I think we’ll take it on a case by case basis but I know one thing for sure — we will not ignore smaller quarterbacks like we used to. Things have changed.”