Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray has long expected to be Baker Mayfield's successor under center in Norman, but the former Allen High School star might never make it to fall camp.

Murray is starring on the baseball diamond for the Sooners this spring while competing with Austin Kendall for the starting quarterback job.

With only a few weeks left in the regular season, OU is ranked and Murray is a big part of why. As the Sooners' clean-up hitter, he's hitting .279 with five homers and 28 RBI. His average was north of .300 until a 1-for-11 series against Texas last weekend. His five home runs are second on the team behind Steele Walker's nine dingers.

But with the good news of OU baseball comes potential bad news for OU football. ESPN's Keith Law ranked Murray as the No. 36 overall prospect for the upcoming draft, slated to begin on June 4.

Wow, Keith Law has Kyler Murray as the No. 36 overall prospect for this summer’s MLB Draft 👀 https://t.co/0mtp4N5Nll — Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) April 19, 2018

There's a lot to unpack here. First off, if this is true and Murray is selected No. 36 overall, he would have to turn down a very lucrative offer to return to school and be OU's starting quarterback.

Here's a breakdown of the type of money Murray would be required to walk away form if he's picked that highly:

However, there are plenty of players every year picked after 36 who negotiate well above that $1.88M figure. Examples:



- Michael Mercando, 40th: 2.1M (2017)

- Joey Wentz, 40th: 3.05M (2016)

- Kevin Gowdy, 42nd: 3.50M (2016)

- Daz Cameron, 37th: 4.00M (2015) — Spenser Davis (@Davis_Spenser) April 19, 2018

Put all of it together, and it's easy to see why Oklahoma could have a big problem on its hands this summer.

The good news is for the Sooners that it will be resolved rather quickly. The deadline for teams to sign their draft picks is Aug. 15, but the possibility of Murray dragging things out for that long is unlikely. Oklahoma's 2018 fall semester begins on Aug. 20, but the Sooners will likely start fall camp shortly before that.

Murray will also be able to publicly tell teams if he's interested in signing with them this summer and leaving the Sooners. Clubs will be reluctant to spend a high draft pick on Murray if they think there's a good chance he will return to school.

Coach Lincoln Riley discussed the topic last weekend after OU's spring game, but he didn't seem too concerned.

"We've had some discussions on that, open and honest with each other on that and comfortable about where we're at," Riley said, per SportsDay's Chuck Carlton.

The 2018 MLB Draft is slated to begin on June 4.