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Texas A&M signee Kyler Murray opts out of MLB Draft

By Patrick Schmidt

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Kyler Murray is opting out of the MLB Draft and will continue his football and baseball career at Texas A&M.

A professional baseball career will have to wait as Kyler Murray decided he will opt out of this year’s MLB Draft where the talented shortstop/outfielder could have been taken in the first second rounds if not for signability concerns.

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Murray was the nation’s No. 33 overall recruit, No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and No. 5 recruit in the state of Texas, according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings. He was the crown jewel of Kevin Sumlin’s recruiting class, holding off a last-minute attempt by Texas to flip the 5-10, 180-pound quarterback.

Instead of toiling away in the low minor leagues for a few years before potentially having a shot at a professional baseball career, Murray will try to unseat rising sophomore Kyle Allen for the starting job with the Aggies this fall.

Allen took over midseason for Kenny Hill and fared well with 1,322 yards on 61.5 percent passing with 16 touchdowns to seven interceptions. He was the No. 1 pro-style quarterback in the Composite Rankings last year and will be tough to beat, but don’t discount Murray, despite being an undersized true freshman.

Murray was a high school legend at Allen high school, winning state championships and throwing for more than 10,000 career yards and 117 touchdowns while running for 4,139 yards and 69 touchdowns the last three years.

Obviously the leap from high school to college football, especially SEC football, is a massive one, but Murray will make it hard for Sumlin to put a redshirt on him. Ultimately, that decision rests with Sumlin, but you can bet he’s celebrating today knowing that he will have another five-star quarterback on the roster.

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