RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider was all smiles after taking defensive tackle Byron Murphy II with the 16th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night.
Until he was reminded by a reporter that Seattle won’t be on the clock again until pick No. 81 on Friday night.
“We’ve got to wait all the way to 81? Waaah waaah,” Schneider shot back sarcastically, sounding like a somber saxophone. “What a bummer.”
Because Schneider gave up what became the 47th pick in the midseason trade that brought defensive tackle Leonard Williams to Seattle, he and coach Mike Macdonald will spend most of Friday evening sitting back and watching other teams select players. Schneider said Seattle turned down multiple trade offers — “Good ones, too,” he added — and that he felt comfortable doing so because of how much he believes in Murphy, graded by the Seahawks as the best defensive prospect in the class.
“I’d be lying to you if I said we didn’t think about (trading back), but the player was too good,” Schneider said. “He influences the game a lot.”
Said Macdonald: “He just plays our style of football, really. He’s so talented.”
Time to celebrate, Byron. 🥹 pic.twitter.com/oBUga79K8w
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) April 26, 2024
Murphy had eight tackles for loss and five sacks last season and was named the Big 12 defensive lineman of the year. He’s a disruptive player with what can be argued is a premium skill set in today’s NFL: the ability to get to the quarterback from the interior.
Williams was one of many defensive tackles to break the bank this offseason. Williams and Murphy have different body types, but they project as similar players in Seattle’s scheme: three-technique defensive tackles who have the power and quickness to align over the center, depending on the matchup. Macdonald has mentioned positional flexibility as an emphasis throughout the offseason, and his first pick as a head coach reflects that.
“Leonard can play all across the line. So can Byron,” Macdonald said. “That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about it. You’re not going to know necessarily where guys are going to be all the time, and we’ll have some really sweet ways to move guys around and have them in different spots based on the teams we’re going to play. A lot of flexibility going in, a lot of pass rush opportunities, matchups, things we can manipulate. All that’s on the table. It’ll be fun to see how it shakes out.”
Drafting Murphy also reflects Seattle’s commitment to being better up front. Defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones got the biggest external free-agent contract by average annual value that Schneider has ever negotiated. Seattle used Day 3 picks in 2023 on nose tackle Cameron Young and defensive tackle Mike Morris. Ahead of the trade deadline, Schneider gave up a second-round pick for Williams, then signed him to a three-year deal worth up to $64.5 million that made him the highest-paid defender on the team. Nose tackle Jarran Reed signed a two-year, $9 million deal last offseason, and this year, 32-year-old Johnathan Hankins was signed to be the backup.
But having bodies in those spots doesn’t mean there isn’t an argument for adding talent.
Jones had a relatively underwhelming season with just 4 1/2 sacks and two additional tackles for loss (he did have five run stops for no gain). He played out of position at outside linebacker the second half of the year because of Uchenna Nwosu’s injury, so perhaps his 2023 numbers aren’t indicative of what he can do with a better coaching staff, playing his natural position full-time. However, the way he played in 2023 shouldn’t have dissuaded Seattle from upgrading at the position if Schneider and his scouts fell in love with a prospect. And it didn’t.
Looking beyond the starting lineup, there were obvious needs for upgrades on the interior of the defensive line. Morris, a fifth-round pick from Michigan, missed all but one game last season with a shoulder injury. He’s expected to be healthy this year, but he’s still a mostly unknown commodity. Myles Adams is in his fifth season with the Seahawks but has never been more than a seldom-used backup.
A lack of depth is one of the reasons Seattle’s defense has struggled in recent years. Drafting Murphy is a step toward fixing that problem.
“(Depth) is incredibly important,” Macdonald said. “Two-minute (situations), you’re going to want to have guys fresh and ready to rock. It’s not a short season, (and) you need guys who can get after it in the trenches, for sure.”
Murphy’s tape suggests he’s an elite athlete, and his testing numbers supported that. He ran 4.87 seconds in the 40-yard dash and posted great numbers in his agility testing and the vertical and broad jumps. He’s 6 feet tall with 32 3/8-inch arms, which is not ideal for the position, but Murphy wins with power, explosion and quickness in a way that prompted Schneider to compare him to former Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
“He’s got that compact style about him,” Schneider said, emphasizing that the Donald comparison is mostly about play style and body type. “He’s got the ability to jump off the ball and get upfield. He can play edges, he can play square, he can rush the passer inside, he gets up and down the line of scrimmage. The body type comparison is Aaron Donald.”
Being drafted by the Seahawks is a dream come true for Murphy, a DeSoto, Texas, native who grew up a Seahawks fan, enamored of the Legion of Boom-era defense and its Marshawn Lynch-led offense.
“Growing up and watching them do that, that’s all I’ve wanted is to win a Super Bowl and to win games,” Murphy said from a draft party in Dallas with between 300 and 400 attendees. He said it was an “honor” to get that phone call from Schneider on Thursday night.
The moment @ByronMurphyII found out he'd be playing for his favorite team. pic.twitter.com/nAGoFWsXCz
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) April 26, 2024
“For those guys to come and believe in me and trust in me, I’m going to give them everything I’ve got,” Murphy said. “Growing up, that was my team. Now to be drafted by Seattle, it’s crazy.”
