Aaron Murray's draft projection already was difficult to peg. The left knee injury he suffered Saturday muddies his situation even more.
On the plus side, the Georgia quarterback had glowing statistics throughout his career and set the SEC record for career passing yards at 13,166. He throws with accuracy and touch, has vast experience reading defenses, and his track record as a teammate and leader is unblemished. He finished the year with 3,075 passing yards in 11 games, with 26 touchdown passes and nine interceptions.
5 up, 5 down
Daniel Jeremiah says Boston College's Andre Williams is trending upward while Aaron Murray is taking a step back in his weekly stock report. **More ...**
His size (6-foot-1 208 pounds), however, was never going to help his draft cause. And now that he'll undergo surgery Tuesday morning to repair his torn ACL, he won't be able to establish his strengths against all-star competition in front of NFL scouts at the Senior Bowl.
Georgia coach Mark Richt isn't making any predictions when it comes to Murray's likely draft slot.
"I think he'll get drafted," Richt said, according to augusta.com. "It's a surgery that's quite common and a rehab that's quite common and very common for everybody to get back to full speed."
That Richt "thinks" Murray will get drafted doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement as a high pick. There is no bigger Murray fan than Richt, however, particularly after Murray gutted out 13 snaps against Kentucky Saturday after his ACL already had been torn.
"There was something wrong, and he knew it, and couldn't hide it anymore," Richt said.
NFL Media draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah profiled Murray in his "5 up, 5 down" post Monday, and indicated the third round is likely the best-case scenario for Murray's draft status.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
