Los Angeles Chargers: Early first-round options in the 2019 NFL Draft

Kyler Murray is undoubtedly the most compelling story in the 2019 NFL Draft. This draft class is not full of that many stories and the teams at the top, unlike last season, don’t really need to draft a quarterback. The first overall pick is going to be Nick Bosa, that seems like a guarantee, and the rest of the draft honestly lacks storylines.

That is what makes Murray so intriguing. The Heisman Trophy winner was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 2018 MLB Draft with the ninth overall pick with the understanding that Murray could play football in his senior year.

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It always seemed as if Murray was going to choose baseball, especially after getting a pretty first-round signing bonus. However, after Murray declared for the NFL Draft, the future is cloudy and unclear for the Heisman Trophy winner.

Murray is going to make more money right away if he plays football, however, the MLB is reportedly ok with the Athletics adding Murray to the 40-man roster and thus allowing the team to pay him in the millions, instead of the measly two grand or so a month he would make in A-ball.

So would Murray rather go play minor league baseball in front of 4,000 people a night,at most, for the next two to three years or go straight into the NFL (likely as a backup) and finally get his starting nod in two to three years?

It really is unclear and I wouldn’t be surprised if Murray wants to try to do both, although the Athletics and his respective NFL team likely wouldn’t want that.

Either way, if the Los Angeles Chargers know for sure that Murray wants to play football then why not draft Murray to learn under Philip Rivers for two or three years, like Aaron Rodgers with Brett Favre, and eventually take over the starting gig?

The New England Patriots are the team tied to Murray the heaviest and are going to pick three or four spots behind the Chargers. There is a good chance that Murray is still on the board and hanging there like fruit for the Chargers.

Will it happen? Probably not. Teams don’t really do the “rest the draft pick for two years” strategy anymore: just look at Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. However, I would not be overly surprised if the Chargers did shock the NFL world and pick up Kyler Murray.