Lincoln Riley wasn’t ready to name Oklahoma football’s starting quarterback for the 2018 season, but should we really believe it may not be Kyler Murray?
Three years removed from his bumpy road in College Station, Kyler Murray seems more than ready to replace Heisman-winning quarterback Baker Mayfield in Norman.
The former blue-chip recruit parted ways with Texas A&M and settled on Oklahoma, sitting out the 2016 season before playing minimally behind Mayfield in 2017. He completed an astonishing 86 percent of his passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns, rushing for another 142 yards.
That seems like enough production behind the best player in college football to earn the starting job in 2018, right? Not according to head coach Lincoln Riley.
Although he’s considered the sure starter and one of the nation’s dark-horse Heisman candidates, Murray hasn’t locked up that starting job just yet, according to his head coach.
Riley was asked about a Murray-led offense at Big 12 Media Days and he admitted that his dual-sport star hasn’t secured the spot.
"“Kyler is not the quarterback yet,” coach Lincoln Riley said during his press conference at Big 12 Media Days. “There is good competition going on and Kyler is going to have to fight like crazy to win this job.”"
Are we really supposed to believe the second-year head coach?
Well, that’s what he wants us to do. He wants Murray to fight it out with Austin Kendall and not take the starting job for granted. This may be a tactic to light a fire under his star quarterback rather than a 100 percent true statement.
Is Kendall giving Murray a run for his money? Possibly, but Murray is undoubtedly the top quarterback on the roster, and Riley knows that.
Riley doesn’t want his quarterback to believe he is a shoo-in for the starting job without putting in the work. Yes, he may have a multi-million dollar contract from the Athletics waiting for him, which may be taking up most of his thoughts, but he needs to focus on the task at hand.
Next: Is Lincoln Riley worth $5 million per year?
This is a smart tactic from Riley, but no, Murray isn’t coming back to school after being a top MLB draft pick to hold a clipboard.