FRISCO, Texas – It wasn’t even a question. When it comes to Oklahoma’s quarterback situation, so many people are assuming that Kyler Murray will be the starting signal-caller for the Sooners in 2018 that it doesn’t get phrased like that.
Instead, it was expressed as will the offense look any different with Murray running the show instead of Baker Mayfield? Head coach Lincoln Riley put a stop to that in a hurry Monday afternoon at Big 12 Media Days at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
“Kyler is not the quarterback yet,” Riley said. “There is good competition going on and Kyler is going to have to fight like crazy to win this job.”
It’s the same tone Riley used following the spring game in trying to evaluate the situation between Murray and redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Kendall.
The perceived notion is because of what happened with Murray in the MLB Draft, that it’s an open-and-shut case that Murray will be the quarterback.
Murray, a two-sport star for the Sooners, was chosen with the ninth pick overall in the Draft last month and inked a $4.6 million signing bonus with an agreement to stay in Norman for the 2018 football season and then join the Oakland Athletics organization.
So the first question to answer will be whether it’s Murray or Kendall. As for the original question, yes, the offense is definitely going to be tinkered with a bit as OU moves on from Mayfield.
“He's got to win that job and whoever wins it, whether it's Austin Kendall or Kyler Murray, it will be different, no question,” Riley said. “They have different skill sets than Baker, there are some things that Baker did better than these guys and things that these guys do better than Baker did. That's always the job.”
And there’s some things Kendall does better than Murray and vice versa. The key remains, simply put, finding the right guy.
“Let's make sure we get the right guy, put them through this competition and test these guys,” Riley said. “Let's really put them through it because we've got two guys that are more than capable of getting this team where we need to be.”
A team that is certainly still trying to find its leadership even beyond the quarterback position. That question had been answered emphatically the last couple of seasons with guys like Mayfield, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Orlando Brown, among others, but it’s a bit of a guessing game now for the Sooners.
Riley mentioned several guys, including the quartet (Rodney Anderson, Ben Powers, Amani Bledsoe and Kenneth Murray) in Frisco as players who can take up that leadership baton, but it remains something the Sooners will have to find out by going through the process.
“So the potential is there, kind of like our team in general, the potential is there, now what are we going to do with it and those guys are going to be key,” Riley said.
Riley also stated sophomore cornerback Tre Norwood, redshirt junior defensive tackle Neville Gallimore offensive linemen Bobby Evans, Dru Samia and Jonathan Alvarez as potential leaders for the 2018 season.
Instead, it was expressed as will the offense look any different with Murray running the show instead of Baker Mayfield? Head coach Lincoln Riley put a stop to that in a hurry Monday afternoon at Big 12 Media Days at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
“Kyler is not the quarterback yet,” Riley said. “There is good competition going on and Kyler is going to have to fight like crazy to win this job.”
It’s the same tone Riley used following the spring game in trying to evaluate the situation between Murray and redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Kendall.
The perceived notion is because of what happened with Murray in the MLB Draft, that it’s an open-and-shut case that Murray will be the quarterback.
Murray, a two-sport star for the Sooners, was chosen with the ninth pick overall in the Draft last month and inked a $4.6 million signing bonus with an agreement to stay in Norman for the 2018 football season and then join the Oakland Athletics organization.
So the first question to answer will be whether it’s Murray or Kendall. As for the original question, yes, the offense is definitely going to be tinkered with a bit as OU moves on from Mayfield.
“He's got to win that job and whoever wins it, whether it's Austin Kendall or Kyler Murray, it will be different, no question,” Riley said. “They have different skill sets than Baker, there are some things that Baker did better than these guys and things that these guys do better than Baker did. That's always the job.”
And there’s some things Kendall does better than Murray and vice versa. The key remains, simply put, finding the right guy.
“Let's make sure we get the right guy, put them through this competition and test these guys,” Riley said. “Let's really put them through it because we've got two guys that are more than capable of getting this team where we need to be.”
A team that is certainly still trying to find its leadership even beyond the quarterback position. That question had been answered emphatically the last couple of seasons with guys like Mayfield, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Orlando Brown, among others, but it’s a bit of a guessing game now for the Sooners.
Riley mentioned several guys, including the quartet (Rodney Anderson, Ben Powers, Amani Bledsoe and Kenneth Murray) in Frisco as players who can take up that leadership baton, but it remains something the Sooners will have to find out by going through the process.
“So the potential is there, kind of like our team in general, the potential is there, now what are we going to do with it and those guys are going to be key,” Riley said.
Riley also stated sophomore cornerback Tre Norwood, redshirt junior defensive tackle Neville Gallimore offensive linemen Bobby Evans, Dru Samia and Jonathan Alvarez as potential leaders for the 2018 season.
