The Seattle Seahawks spent their first-round pick this past season on defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, and while he didn't have a great first season from a statistics standpoint, that selection has proven to be a smart decision so far.
Murphy managed to record just 36 tackles for the Seahawks in his rookie year, but his impact went far beyond the box score playing alongside Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed.
ESPN writer Ben Solak announced his annual All-Rookie Team on Wednesday and Murphy was one of the interior defensive linemen chosen alongside Tennessee Titans second-round pick T'Vondre Sweat. Los Angeles Rams rookie Braden Fiske and Washington Commanders second-round pick Jer'Zhan Newton were on the Second Team.
"Many lists would have Fiske over Murphy for general impact, as Fiske is a splashy player who had seven TFLs and six sacks. But I saw teams go after Fiske in the running game with plenty of success. Murphy battled hamstring and back injuries this season, but when he was healthy, he was tearing up opposing offensive lines. Compare their respective win rates, too. Fiske posted a 9.5% in pass rush and 35.2% against the run; 8.1% pass and 32.4% run for Murphy. The difference between them isn't nearly what the box score stats would imply," Solak writes.
"I thought Murphy was especially impressive against the run, and with his existing polish as a quick winner in the passing game, it's not hard to see the picture of a quality three-down player. He was drinking through a fire hose in Mike Macdonald's defense and was asked to play a big variety of techniques and alignments. I thought he handled it with aplomb, and I would not be surprised if he has a Nnamdi Madubuike-esque leap in his second year in this defense."
The Madubuike comparison is an interesting one, especially since Macdonald coached him with the Baltimore Ravens. In his last season being coached by Macdonald, Madubuike had 13.5 sacks, leading him to sign a four-year, $98 million contract in the offseason.
If Murphy is on that trajectory, that should be a good sign for the Seahawks. And based on what Macdonald has said about Murphy, his coach has belief that he can get there.
"Production-wise, I know the sacks aren't there and the pass rush reps, but like every time this guy's taken a three-technique pass rush rep, that means Leonard Williams isn't on the field," Macdonald said. "And right now, I think Leonard (Williams) is probably the best interior d-lineman in the game. So, it's like what do you want to do? We have to be more creative to get him on the field, but he'll earn those opportunities and the production will be there in the long run. I'm convinced of that. This guy's a really good player."
Set to jump into his first full offseason without draft prep to worry about this time around, Murphy will look to have an even better season in Year 2 for the Seahawks.
