Oregon State caught a quarterback after dipping its line into the transfer portal.
Maalik Murphy, a rising junior who led the Duke Blue Devils to nine football victories and threw for almost 3,000 yards this season, will be a Beaver. Prior to signing with OSU, Murphy visited Auburn and Kentucky and was ranked as the fourth-best quarterback available in the transfer portal by 247Sports.
In case you’re wondering how precisely Trent Bray was able to acquire such a talented ACC starter, let me quote a certain presidential adviser: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
You don’t have to be the Ragin Cajun James Carville to realize that college football player movement is being driven by market pressures. Money speaks.
Prior to signing with Duke, Murphy, a four-star prospect out of high school, first signed with Texas and then contemplated transferring to Oregon State last year.On3.com’s algorithm-based approach assigns him a NIL valuation of $513,000. That’s an estimate, and it’s easy to see how the Beavers would have had to go higher on a free market.
The price has gone up.
Was it truly possible for Oregon State to have wasted so much money on a quarterback? At least it is believable.
As of right moment, nobody knows the precise figure. Of course, the Beavers aren’t telling.
However, to put things in perspective, On3 values former Washington State quarterback John Mateer at $1.8 million, and some documented sources indicate that he considered offers closer to $3 million before agreeing to a contract with Oklahoma this week. It’s unclear if that includes the revenue sharing that should be in place by the upcoming season, with NIL making up the remainder, or how much of that is just NIL.
(For further background, Dillon Gabriel is valued at $2.1 million, but schools aren’t giving that small sum of money to everybody who has a tight spiral.)
Is collegiate football becoming unmanageable?
It is, of course!
However, as another wise man once said, “You pay to win the game.” I apologize; that was play. These days, however, it’s both, and they work together.
The fact that gamers used to sign up for both a degree and a meal card has angered traditionalists. There is a time and place for lamenting the system. This is not the time for Oregon State to establish itself in the academic world.
There is undoubtedly no law in the NIL racket. However, it is the current situation of the sport. And Oregon State has been falling behind in that sport.
This is not meant to cast Murphy in a negative light or to suggest that he sold out by selecting the Beavers. Actually, it’s the opposite. His surprise decision illustrates that the Beavers, whose NIL efforts have mostly been seen as lagging behind the competition, stepped up to the plate. And were able to level the playing field enough financially that their program won out.
Murphy gets more than money out of this. He s a West Coast kid. And have you seen the Beavers schedule next year?
There is an opportunity for a big season, both individually and for the Beavers. If Murphy parlays that into an even bigger deal at a larger school back in a Power Four conference, then you d have to say that s money well spent if it means the Beavers can rack up nine or 10 wins.
The takeaway from Thursday s news is that somebody is doing their job well in Corvallis.
Maybe it s a fundraiser bringing in the cash or a recruiter selling the vision. Maybe it s former basketball player Kyle Bjornstad over at the Dam Nation NIL collective. Maybe it s a donor whose frustration finally boiled over. Maybe it s all of the above.
It doesn t necessarily matter.
At the end of the day, Bray is the CEO of Oregon State football, and landing an experienced quarterback is without question the biggest win of his tenure.
He gives offensive coordinatorRyan Gundersona dynamic player to build an offense around.
Gevani McCoywas enticing.Ben Gulbransontrusty.Gabarri Johnsoncontinues to have some home run potential.
But they were all buy-low investments.
The Beavers needed a real answer at QB, both to stabilize the program and reenergize the fanbase.
It s the most important position on the field and thus the place where a single player can make the greatest difference.
That s both on the field and off, by the way. Dam Nation and Oregon State aren t just paying Murphy for his name, image and likeness. They are paying him in hopes that it will boost the Beavers name and image.
The immediate returns are encouraging.
Murphy kicked off a domino effect of signings on Thursday. By lunchtime, Bray had alsoadded BYU tight end Jackson Bowers, a former top recruit whose offers out of high school included Texas, Alabama and Oregon.
I ve been hard on the Beavers braintrust over the past 18 months because it has seemed like they ve been stuck in a business-as-usual mindset when the times call for anything but. Signing Murphy, and making the presumed investment, is a sign that they are getting with the times.
The Beavers are never going to have an Oregon-like level of support. That ship has sailed.
But Oregon State can thrive at the level it has been slotted into. It s not unreasonable to aspire to the College Football Playoff. That should be very much within reach once things settle down.
It felt like the sun came out a little bit for Oregon State football on Thursday and the waters calmed.
A perfect day for fishing.
–Bill Oramis the sports columnist at The Oregonian/OregonLive.
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