Quote:Ninja explained it very well. Murray is dr. jekyll/mr. hyde indeed. A lot of Andy Dalton in him. When things are going good he is competent and will even confuse people into thinking he is a franchise QB. Unfortunately, when he is forced to get uncomfortable he doesn't handle it well at all. His field vision completely disappears and he makes some extremely bad reads/throws that make you wonder what the heck he was thinking or seeing when he threw the ball.

 

I think he is the perfect definition of QB purgatory. If he winds up on a good team with a good supporting cast he will probably be able to not screw things up too badly and probably even be able to 'lead' that team to the playoffs. Just like Dalton, however, it is fools gold. If you will be happy with a lot of one and done's in the playoffs (and that is if you have a very good supporting cast to begin with) then Murray is your guy. 

 

To me the ideal outcome if the Jags took him would be to hope to 'develop' him and hope he shows well in limited preseason/low leverage regular season games a year or two down the road, then try to trade him for a profit before his purgatorial traits show too much. Much like what the Redskins could have done with Cousins before they exposed him too much and killed his perceived value.

 

 

Sort of but you reversed my point. Murray actually gets anxious and jittery when things are going GOOD. He's actually at his best when things are breaking down and the outlook is bleak because it usually only gives him one choice with which he can succeed and he can do that. He gets too comfortable and starts making flashy choices instead of doing the easy things consistently. Think Jay Cutler early Denver days where he would try fitting a ball to Brandon Marshall in between 3 defenders after lacing up 3 straight stunning darts to other receivers. They get too excited and wanna start taking unneeded shots. Think Allen Iverson in basketball when he would get hot and then start putting up various off balance and ill timed shots for the 76ers.

 

Good things is that you can be coached to tone it down which is all Murray needs. Cutler learned this and has turned his career up. Brett Favre had to learn this but he still had his bouts with it. Garrard never got over this and neither has Henne. Gabbert never had it to begin with and was on the opposite end of the spectrum which is why i never had hope for him. Its possible to tell a QB to tone it down but near impossible to tell them to turn it up.  

---