Kliff Kingsbury Once Said He'd Take Kyler Murray With the No. 1 Pick in the Draft

Back in October, Kliff Kingsbury weighed in on Kyler Murray, who was well on his way to putting together a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign at Oklahoma. The then-Texas Tech coach said, on the record, that given the opportunity, he’d take Murray first overall in the NFL draft. That was a far-off hypothetical at the time. Now, it’s a very real scenario as Kingsbury finds himself in charge of the Arizona Cardinals, owner of the No. 1 pick.

Murray’s future has appeared to move toward a more football-friendly place in recent weeks. The Oakland A’s now expect him to enter the draft and see what happens. No big-brained expert out there has Murray going first, and the Cardinals do have Josh Rosen, so it seems like a long shot that Kingsbury would press hard with GM Steve Keim follow through on his comments.

Still, he said them. That has to mean something, even if that something is it means college coaches try to blow smoke and lavish praise the week before playing an opponent.