Byron Murphy praised by former NFL DT: 'He'll dominate, and dominate early'

Booger McFarland and Michael Lombardi praise Seahawks for drafting "dominant" DT Byron Murphy II: Seaside Joe 1920

If every player was as good as his draft position, then Anthony “Booger” McFarland should have been almost as good as former Bucs teammate Warren Sapp. But if every player was only as good as his draft position, then Sapp wouldn’t have been Warren Sapp either.

Sapp is a defensive tackle who was drafted 12th overall in 1995, a bargain for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a franchise that landed an elite defensive playmaker after running back Ki-Jana Carter went first, receiver Michael Westbrook went fourth, and the Eagles selected edge rusher Mike Mamula seventh. (The Seahawks picked Joey Galloway eighth overall.)

Valued similarly as a prospect by going 15th overall in 1999—although it’s common knowledge that Sapp fell for character concerns—“Booger” was a starter for most of his nine NFL seasons and a part of an elite Super Bowl champion defense in 2002 (however, he missed half of the season and all of the playoffs due to injury), but nobody will confuse him with Sapp.

And now joining that fraternity of mid-first round defensive tackles is Byron Murphy II, the 16th overall pick by the Seahawks and a player expected to be a cornerstone of Mike Macdonald’s revamped Seattle defense. A lot of Seahawks fans love that Seattle was able to get Murphy with the 16th pick despite him being rated by many as the best all-around defensive prospect in the entire class, but you know who else thinks that was a steal?