Take Two: Can Kyler Murray lead Oklahoma back to CFB Playoffs?

RIVALS ROUNDTABLE: Previewing National Signing Day

Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling a handful of issues in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.

Out of the four teams that made the College Football Playoff this season, three will return their starting quarterbacks in Alabama, Georgia and Clemson. Only Oklahoma will have to replace its starter and it’s a big one in Heisman winner Baker Mayfield.

Alabama has to figure out whether Tua Tagovailoa, who amazed in the second half of the national championship game, or Jalen Hurts is the starter next season, with Tagovailoa as the favorite. Georgia returns former five-star Jake Fromm and Clemson brings back Kelly Bryant, who will be pushed by a stable of phenomenal backups including Hunter Johnson and Trevor Lawrence.

Oklahoma is almost certainly turning to Kyler Murray, a speedy quarterback who is unproven as a passer and is undersized at 5-foot-10 and 192 pounds. But Murray has all the talent in the world and coach Lincoln Riley is a terrific offensive mind, so the belief is that the Sooners should be just fine.

But can Murray lead Oklahoma back to the College Football Playoff and keep the Sooners among the best in the country? Or was Mayfield that skilled and that important to Oklahoma’s recent success?

“It is seen as a foregone conclusion that Kyler Murray will take over for Baker Mayfield. If he does, I think you could see OU’s offense go in a much different direction. Murray has a great arm and he wants to throw the ball, but he is one of the fastest players on the entire team. We’re talking legit 4.3 speed. Lincoln Riley has already tinkered with the offense and used Murray in some special QB run packages. I expect him to continue building on that for next season. The Sooners won’t go Barry Switzer era on us, but think Lamar Jackson with more window dressing in the QB run game and more trickery in the passing game. The offense will be fine with the offensive line and Riley pulling the strings. The Sooners will be right there for the Big 12 title. It’s just going to be up to Mike Stoops to build a better defense and bring in better talent to determine if this program continues to make playoff pushes in the future.”

“Murray has the running ability; it just depends on the passing. Can he be a guy who can be dangerous with his arm? We’ve seen how dangerous he can be with his legs. We know how fast he is. High school level to college level is completely different.

“Mayfield did so much with his arm outside the pocket and improvising on the run. If Murray can do that then he’s very, very dangerous and Oklahoma can certainly be a playoff contender, if he shows he can throw the ball not only from the pocket but on the run and keep defenses honest.”