The Draft Network: Byron Murphy III

Some solid FREE PUB!!! for Mr. Murphy from TDN. Really hits on his playmaking abilities.




Aqib Talib holds the record for most games within a single season with at least three pass break-ups. He had seven in his 2006 season with the Kansas Jayhawks — and he only played 10 games. That’s absolutely bananas. The next highest number is shared by a few players — Tramon Williams for Louisiana Tech, Julian Love for Notre Dame last season — at four.

In his first nine games ever as a college football player, Byron Murphy III has broken up at least three passes four times. If he continues on this disruptive pace, he’ll have around 20 pass break-ups across his first 13 games.

But we can talk about the clear conclusions drawn from Murphy’s early 2018 tape:

- Murphy has excellent change-of-direction ability. Great body control and agility
- Murphy has nice overlapping instincts; an aggressive mentality
- Murphy understands how to attack the catch point despite lacking ideal size and length

All of these pass break-ups are impact plays, in that they likely prevent first-down conversions.

Murphy will have to answer questions about his long term health, as well as hit some big measurable benchmarks given his lack of ideal size. But his instincts and ball skills alone make him a highly desirable prospect for NFL teams in need of high-impact plays on the defensive side.

Murphy has a big test coming up this Saturday in Arizona State’s N’Keal Harry, who could expose Murphy’s struggles with size given his imposing frame. If he can clear that test with good tape, there will be little to question for the next NFL corner to come out of the Washington machine.