Seahawks draft DT BYRON MURPHY II!

Seahawks upgrade the defensive line by picking the NFL draft's top defensive prospect (probably

If I had seen a mock draft that had the first 14 picks as offense and six quarterbacks, I would have ridiculed it along with everyone else. But with 14 of the first 14 picks being either quarterbacks, tackles, or pass catchers, the Seattle Seahawks were given an unexpected opportunity to pick their highest-rated defensive prospect in the entire draft from the 16th position of the first round: Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy II!

Murphy was not the first defensive player taken, that was UCLA edge Laiatu Latu to the Colts at 15, but I would be surprised if he wasn’t the best player non Seattle’s board at the start of the draft. Perhaps the Seahawks highest-graded defensive prospect by a longer distance than Murphy’s “short” (but not troubling so) arms.

The Seahawks believe that following a free agency period that saw Chris Jones, Christian Wilkins, Justin Madubuike, and Derrick Brown get at least $24 million per season on new contracts, Seattle has picked a defensive tackle who can be as good or even better than most of those great players.

A Byron Murphy take that stood out to me just before the draft was former NFL edge rusher Chris Long saying that he was “amazing” and that his former team the L.A. Rams should trade up into the top-10 to get their Aaron Donald replacement.

That’s partly why I did not think that Murphy would be available to Seattle and was projecting him as a top-10 pick: In my final draft prediction of the year, I had the Seahawks trading down or drafting Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse because I assumed he would be the best player on that side of the ball left on the board:

I might choose Byron Murphy II, but I believe he will be a top-10 pick. If Murphy is on the board at 16, maybe he would be the choice.

I’ve long felt that the Seahawks would pick a defensive player, not Washington tackle Troy Fautanu, and the board fell like a dream for John Schneider because he could pick any player he wanted except for Latu and I didn’t think Latu’s medical history made him a realistic option given Seattle’s cautionary approach with picks lately.

Fallout from Byron Murphy pick

The Seahawks have Leonard Williams, Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins, Mike Morris, Cameron Young, Myles Adams, and Matt Gotel. Seven of those guys were expected to make the 53-man roster and now you’ve got Murphy too. Seattle would normally be expected to keep maybe 5-7 defensive linemen in a 3-4 defense.

Williams is staying. Jones is too expensive to trade probably. Reed is a bargain. Hankins just got here. Morris and Young were just drafted last year. But if Murphy is the most talented and impactful player in the room—and he could be soon, if not better than all of them except Williams should this work out perfectly for the Seahawks—then John Schneider and Mike Macdonald might explore trade options or difficult cuts in August and September.

That’s then, this is now.

Now is a good time to celebrate because the Seahawks were at pick 16 and got a player who might go top-6 in a different kind of draft class.

Here’s what The Athletic’s Dane Brugler wrote about Murphy, his top-ranked defensive tackle:

BACKGROUND: Byron Murphy II, the third of four boys, was born and raised in DeSoto. When Murphy was 5 years old, his father (Byron Sr.), who was a standout football player in high school, introduced him to football. It became Murphy’simmediate passion (along with a little bit of basketball with his brothers). He was a running back and linebacker throughout pee-wee and youth football. At Curtistene S. McCowan Middle School, he was named the Offensive Player of the Year in seventh and eighth grade. Murphy enrolled at DeSoto High School, where he was teammates with several future FBS players, including WR Laviska Shenault. After starting out on JV, he moved up to varsity as a freshman linebacker. Murphy had no intention to move to defensive line, but as the starting middle linebacker as a sophomore, the coaches introduced a blitz package in which he would creep up as an extra lineman. It was so successful that the coaches decided to make the move permanent. From his new position as a junior, Murphy posted 98 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, 8.0 sacks and four forced fumbles (one returned for a touchdown), earning All-District honors. He led DeSoto to a 10-2 finish as a senior and notched 14.0 sacks in 2020, which broke Von Miller’s single-season school record. Murphy also had 79 tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss and one forced fumble, which earned him first team All-State and All-District. Before enrolling at Texas, he also earned hisassociate degree from Dallas College (May 2021).

A four-star recruit, Murphy was the No. 49 defensive lineman in the 2021 recruiting class and the No. 54 recruit in Texas. Playing next to five-star defensive lineman Shemar Turner at DeSoto (No. 22 overall recruit in the 2021 class and a Texas A&M commit), he went slightly overlooked early in his recruitment, but his tape and performances at recruiting camps quickly changed that. At age 16, Murphy was invited to the Opening Regional in Dallas in 2019 and tested in the 98th percentile at 276 pounds. After his sophomore season, the offers started to pour in, including from Colorado, Georgia Tech, Kansas, SMU, TCU and Utah. His first major offer, from Georgia, came after his junior year. In March 2020, Murphy was offered by Baylor, and he officially committed to first-year head coach Dave Aranda. However, he flipped to Texas toward the end of his senior season. Tom Herman was fired two weeks after Murphy signed with the Longhorns, but he stayed committed with new head coach Steve Sarkisian and was the No. 6 recruit in Sarkisian’s first class in Austin. He was a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and is studying kinesiology and exercise science at Texas. After three seasons with the Longhorns, Murphy elected to skip his senior season and enter the 2024 NFL Draft. He accepted his invitation to the 2024 Senior Bowl but pulled out a few weeks before the event.

STRENGTHS: Power-packed, explosive first-step athlete ... comes off the ball low and strong with natural body flexibility ... lines up in a wide stance and uses lateral quickness and loose change of direction to access multiple gaps ... hands are both urgent and purposeful ... go-to move is a slap-club-rip combination ... skillfully grabs and shucks the wrists of blockers for easier access ... instinctive run defender and quickly finds the ball to stack and separate in the hole ... compactly built with proportionate body density in his upper and lower halves to anchor ... member of Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” for his impressive weight-room feats (455-pound front squat, 375-pound power clean) ... fourth defensive lineman in Texas history to score a touchdown on offense;scored twice in 2023 (one rushing, one receiving)... plays hard with terrific secondary effort ... Texas coaches say he found more of a leadership voice in 2023 and served as a t eam captain for four games.

WEAKNESSES: Short and sawed-off, lacking ideal length measurements regardless of scheme ... left too much production in the backfield, because of his shorter arms and overaggressive nature ... didn’t register a batted pass or forced fumble in his 39 games in college, which also reflects his lack of length ... occasionally engulfed and washed when he is a beat late to establish his positioning ... benefited from a heavy rotation (averaged only 31.3 defensive snaps per game in 2023), as well as from playing next to another future NFL starter, T’Vondre Sweat ... mediocre career production.

SUMMARY: A one-year starter at Texas, Murphy played multiple spots on the interior of defensive coordinator Jeff Choate’s scheme. Although his stats don’t jump off the page, his production improved each season, and he finished 2023 with a team-best 45 pressures and ranked No. 1 among all FBS interior defensive linemen in pass rush win percentage (19.6 percent). Murphy fires off the ball to get vertical push through gaps or establish low-man positioning, which helps him shed blocks or anchor the point of attack. He can get swallowed up at times, buthis effort and hand usage make his lack of size less of a concern than expected. Overall, Murphy doesn’t have ideal length, but his rare combination of lower-body twitch, natural leverage and power throughout his frame sets his apart. With his disruptive energy, both as a pass rusher and versus the run, he projects as an impact starter who can play shaded nose or three -technique, similar to Grady Jarrett.

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