The Seattle Seahawks have tended in recent years to produce excellent, very good to elite talent. Whether it's come through drafting (Devon Witherspoon, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Nick Emmanwori, etc.) or via free agent or trade (Leonard Williams, Ernest Jones IV, Julian Love, etc.), the Seahawks have hit home run after home run.Â
On defense, general manager John Schneider's wisdom has been elite, as elite as an NFL general manager can be. Has he hit on every draft pick? No, but there have been far more hits than misses. One of those hits was Byron Murphy II. Since the get-go, Murphy has done everything right, and his ceiling is incredibly high.
Murphy's ceiling is so high that, despite playing just two seasons and about to be a third, he's already on track to be one of, if not the best, at his position, nose tackle. It helps that he's learning from Leonard Williams, who's the NFL's best defensive tackle.
Training camp is proving Seattle Seahawks' NT Byron Murphy II is well on his way to NFL awards consideration
Still, Murphy is so good so soon that Seahawks fans can only wonder whether this season is the one where his name is mentioned in the elite awards category.
One of the Seahawks' more impressive training camp performances has come from Murphy, according to Seattle Sports' Brock Huard, of the Brock & Salk podcast. Huard is one of Seattle Sports' eyes on the ground, and his comments on Murphy after Seattle's Monday camp session were glowing for the soon-to-be third-year star.Â
"He looks phenomenal. He’s in great, great shape," Huard said. "I think he then wants to go from good to great to elite. Give me double-digit sacks. Byron Murphy puts up double-digit sacks, you know where he’s going to be on next year’s Jeremy Fowler list (of the NFL’s top defensive tackles)? You know where he’s going to be after the season? He’s going to be in the Pro Bowl, and he’s going to be talked about as one of the best defensive linemen and defensive tackles in all the NFL. And hopefully a rich contract will follow."
There's nothing to debate about Huard's comments; Murphy truly is the real deal. He has enriched the Seahawks' defensive line in just two years and boosted them to an entirely new level; if, after his third year, he's not being considered for some major league recognition, it would be a total shock.Â
Furthermore, while making Jeremy Fowler's list would be nice, making the Pro Bowl and being considered for an All-Pro selection would go a long way toward the Seahawks making Murphy the league's highest-paid nose tackle, as Huard mentioned.
Last season, Murphy tallied 62 total tackles compared to his rookie year's 34. Additionally, his sack totals also jumped from .5 to 7.0. Huard alluded to Murphy reaching double digits this season, but what if he did one better and doubled last season's mark? Okay, maybe 14 sacks for a nose tackle is a stretch; nevertheless, Murphy is about to explode; you can almost feel it.Â
There is further motivation for Murphy to make an even bigger leap from year two to three, and it has everything to do with the Seahawks' current mission to repeat as champions and show everyone who took the opportunity to leapfrog the Los Angeles Rams as favorites this offseason that they were misguided.
In any case, Murphy is on the precise trajectory Seattle hoped he would follow when they drafted him. There should be no surprises if, within two or three years, Murphy is the best at his position, a defensive player of the year candidate. Until then, a Pro Bowl nod is certainly in his future this season, so let's start there and keep going up.Â
Add us as a preferred source on Google