When Kyler Murray left the NFL combine this week, he was probably feeling pretty good about himself.
After all, no quarterback saw his stock shoot higher at the combine than Murray. Not only did his hands measure slightly larger than expected, but he also came in taller than expected with his official height. Not to mention, he was one of the few prospects who made the list of winners that was put together by CBSSports.com draft expert Ryan Wilson. (You can check out that list by clicking here).
Of course, not everyone was impressed. According to former NFL general manager Charlie Casserly, who now works for the NFL Network, Murray did struggle at one thing over the weekend: His team interviews.
"Well, he better hope [Kliff] Kingsbury takes him No. 1 because this was not good," Casserly said, via NFL.com. "This was the worst comments I ever got on a high-rated quarterback, and I've been doing this a long time."
So what was Murray's biggest issue? Apparently everything.
"Leadership -- not good. Study habits -- not good," Casserly said. "The board work -- below not good. Not good at all in any of those areas and raising major concerns about what this guy is going to do."
Casserly got of all his information from an anonymous source, which didn't sit well with Murray's agent, Erik Burkhardt. After hearing about Casserly's comments, Burkhardt came out and blasted the former Texans general manager in an interview with Pro Football Talk.
"My initial reaction was to laugh because I knew the 'old guard' would inevitably try to come up with the usual pre-draft nonsense," Burkhardt said. "But when I later watched this man say what he did, it was over-the-top and definitely felt personal, and that's when I got pissed off."
Burkhardt also called Casserly's actions 'disgusting' while adding that the comments simply weren't based in reality.
"So what do I think about an agenda-driven 'analyst' who's never once even talked to Kyler or any of his coaches or teammates?" Burkhardt said. "I think it's disgusting and embarrassing and Casserly should be ashamed of himself."
According to Burkhardt, Casserly -- and Casserly's source -- are the only people who really had anything negative to say about Murray after the combine.
"My business partners and I personally represent coaches and executives who sat in on eight of Kyler's 10 formal combine interviews," Burhardt said. "I spoke directly to each of them, as well as executives from the other two teams and many others who I don't represent but were present, and all of them were extremely positive about his entire interviews, with each citing specific examples as to why."
During an interview on the Dan Patrick Show, Murray's former college coach, Lincoln Riley, mentioned that he got the same type of positive feedback on the former Oklahoma quarterback.
"I've personally spoken with the majority of teams that he met with [at the Combine} and everyone was glowing about their conversations with Kyler," Riley said. "Basically the complete opposite of what Charley [Casserly] said."
As for Burkhardt, he ended his tirade against Casserly by taking a shot at his track record as a general manager.
"When you slander the character and work ethic of a young man who's worked his ass off his entire life and done everything right to put himself in his current position, you'd better cite your sources and come with a better record than 18-46 as a G.M. of the Texans, and whose own leadership and accountability has been questioned by his old bosses and colleagues, as well as the greatest coach on the planet (Bill Belichick)," Burkhardt said.
Casserly was the general manager of the Texans from 2002 to 2005. Before that, he was the GM for the Redskins (1989-99) and if one thing should make Murray feel good about all of this, it's that Casserly doesn't exactly have a great track record with quarterbacks in the draft.
As for Casslery's track record evaluating QBs, here's every QB he drafted during his tenure as an NFL GM: Cary Conklin, Chris Hakel, Heath Shuler (third overall), Gus Frerotte, Danny Wuerffel (expansion draft), David Carr (first overall), Dave Ragone, Drew Henson, B.J. Symons.
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) March 5, 2019
If you're wondering where Murray might go in the 2019 NFL Draft, be sure to click here to check out the multiple mock drafts we have here at CBSSports.com. Our six writers have Murray going anywhere from the first overall pick to the 15th overall pick, which gives you an idea of how crazy things could get when the first round of the draft kicks off on April 25.
