SEATTLE, Wash. – Still early in his first season as an NFL head coach, Mike Macdonald has been elusive as Barry Sanders in his prime when it comes to praising players on the Seattle Seahawks during the first two weeks of training camp.
But while Macdonald has nearly mastered the art of staying tight-lipped and keeping his players grounded by opting not to gush about them in press conferences as former coach Pete Carroll previously did, he can’t help but light up when asked about first-round pick Byron Murphy II. Coming to town with high expectations after dropping into Seattle’s lap at No. 16 overall, even without a game on his resume yet, he has lived up to the hype on the practice field, including in Saturday’s mock scrimmage at Lumen Field.
“With Byron, I feel like I give you guys the same answer every time time you ask. He’s a guy that we thought he was,” Macdonald told reporters after the scrimmage. “Again, let’s not crown him yet, but he’s on the way. He’s a force in there. I think the guys see it. I’m pleased with his effort. The guy brings it everyday. He’s a rookie. There’s things that we want to attack, but he’s a savvy football player. He knows what he’s doing out there. He’s not lost, plays fast, plays rugged. I think the future is bright for Mr. Murphy.”
Sometimes, prospects who test well at the NFL combine and/or pro day workouts don’t have athletic traits that ultimately translate to the field. That’s not the case with Murphy, however, whose 4.87 40-yard dash time and 33-inch vertical jump at just under 300 pounds most definitely show up between the lines from a speed and explosion standpoint, creating major issues for opposing guards and centers tasked with trying to block him.
During individual drills, whether he’s shooting out of his stance to rip and club his way through blocking dummies or rocketing around a hula hoop with his ankle nearly touching the ground as he turns, Murphy simply looks like a different cat compared to the rest of the Seahawks defensive linemen. His elite burst and acceleration shows up snap after snap, demonstrating the rare type of disruptive traits the team has been desperate for in the trenches on defense for years.
In addition, once the pads came out earlier this week, Murphy’s physicality immediately helped him rebound from what Macdonald called a “slower couple of days” than he hoped to start camp, dominating in 1-on-1 drills and team sessions. Aside from powering his way into the backfield in Tuesday’s practice for a tackle for loss, he also drove center Nick Harris more than five yards off the ball with a ferocious bull rush in the second padded practice in a 1-on-1 rep, drawing oohs and aahs from the crowd at the VMAC pavilion.
On Saturday, making his debut at Seattle’s home venue, Murphy continued to dominate in individual and team drills at the annual mock game, reportedly bulldozing undrafted rookie Jalen Sundell in 1-on-1s during warm ups before the scrimmage period and destroying a double team to flush Sam Howell from the pocket on an impressive pass rush once 11-on-11 began.
Capable of playing everywhere from 3-tech defensive end to nose tackle to 5-tech “big” end, Murphy already looks the part of a Swiss army knife for Macdonald’s defense front, as few players of his size offer the overall athletic profile and strength he possesses. Right out of the gate, mixing him in with veterans Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Dre’Mont Jones, and Johnathan Hankins should create chaos up front and open up opportunities for Seattle’s edge rushers as a result.
But as Macdonald made sure to state, Murphy hasn’t accomplished anything yet, at least in a true game setting, and there’s plenty of areas where he needs to continue working before the regular season starts on September 8. He won’t be feasting on undrafted rookies like Sundell once the regular season arrives, and seeing how he handles reps against better competition will be an important part of the evaluation process in coming weeks.
Luckily, the Seahawks will have a trio of preseason games as well as two joint practices with the Titans in Nashville for Murphy to show what he can do against outside competition, which will provide a quality barometer for where he’s at before the Broncos come to Lumen next month.
