Name: Myles Murphy
Position: Edge rusher
School: Clemson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 275 lbs
Games watched: vs. Syracuse (2022), vs. Florida State (2022), vs. Wake Forest (2022), vs. UNC (’22 ACCCG), vs. Georgia (2021), vs. Wake Forest (2021)

Clemson has one of the most talented defensive lines in the entire country, featuring four players that will likely be selected in the Top 100 come April. Perhaps the one from that front four that will hear his name called first will be Myles Murphy. He finished his true junior season with 6.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss. His presence was felt in the backfield way more often than that as well.

Murphy’s impressive year earned him 1st team All-ACC honors, which came on the heels of a 2nd team All-ACC performance the year before. He has been consistently productive and there is a ton of untapped potential. Given how high we have seen raw, toolsy edge rushers be drafted in recent years, I have a feeling there will be a number of NFL teams interested in Murphy’s services.

Pros

As I already said, Murphy is a plus athlete with incredible bend and burst off the line. He is more athlete than polished pass rusher at this point, but 18.5 career sacks for a player that feels like he is just scratching the surface more than suffices from a production standpoint. He certainly looks the part of an NFL edge rusher as well. His play strength clearly improved in 2022, with Murphy regularly breaking out a bull rush that allowed him to collapse the pocket. His speed rush move improved as the year went along as well. His hand usage is solid, but there is room for improvement. While I wouldn’t call it a strength of his game, Murphy is better in zone coverage than I would have expected.

Cons

For as much fun as it is to watch Murphy fly off the ball, that aggressiveness often gets him in trouble. He is known to overrun plays or miss assignments because he is too hasty to read his keys. As a result, Murphy really struggles when put in conflict. He excels at setting the edge as a run defender, but he still has room to improve when it comes to disengaging to finish the play. His pass rush planning needs to improve at the next level. Right now, he just plays downhill and hopes to win off athleticism and finishing speed.

Synopsis

Murphy did not grade out as highly as some of the other edge rushers in this class, but I think he has a higher ceiling than most of them. He routinely created pressure based on being the faster or stronger player. With some good coaching and a bit more experience, I think Murphy has the potential to be a game-wrecker.

Ideal scheme fit: Attacking 3-4 outside linebacker or 5-technique defensive end

Grade: 87

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