Bengals Film Breakdown: Myles Murphy Flashing Potential, Despite Limited Snaps

The Bengals first round rookie is improving and growing as a player.

Author:
Mike Santagata
Publish date:
Nov 9, 2023 9:43 AM EST

In this story:

The Cincinnati Bengals took defensive end Myles Murphy with the 28th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

This pick surprised some people who assumed that the Bengals would go after a position of greater need like tight end. Instead, they went with the guy they had the highest on their board. They took a long-term view/investment when picking Murphy.

He was projected to be a mid-first round guy. He fell to the end of the round due to his lack of production at Clemson. He hit every benchmark that the Bengals look for at the EDGE position. He fits everything that Duke Tobin looks for at the position.

So how is his rookie year going at about the halfway point?

Murphy has been buried in the Bengals depth chart this season. It's a wealth of talent issue as Trey Hendrickson (70%) and Sam Hubbard (78%) have been on the field for the majority of the defensive snaps so far this season.

Cam Sample is the clear third guy and has taken 33% of the remaining available snaps after the two veterans. Joseph Ossai and Murphy only get about 10% of the defensive snaps because that’s all that remains after the top 3 guys.

The argument that he would not have a huge impact in year one is fairly true so far because of the health of the Bengals defensive line. Murphy has played 85 defensive snaps on the season, roughly 10.5 per game. Without an injury or a change in the rotation, Murphy will end the season just under 200 snaps.

To put that in perspective, Hendrickson has 88 snaps in the past two weeks and plays about 200 snaps over four games. With Murphy’s lack of playing time, it requires deeper analysis on each individual play with every win or loss scrutinized more closely.

Murphy was also always going to be a bit of a project coming out of college. He really only has power at the moment and needs to develop some technique to go with the power that he possesses. He’s a young 21 year old who needs time to hit his full potential. He’s basically a ginormous ball of clay for defensive line coach Marion Hobby to play with and possibly mold into a future cornerstone of the franchise.

Let's take a look at what Murphy has done with limited opportunities:

Run Defense

Murphy comes with some natural ability to defend the run because of his size, strength and length. He’s a tough guy to move and when he gets an offensive player locked out, he can dominate a rep. He’s mostly seen the field as a pass rusher, but that has not stopped him from flashing his skills in the run game.

Murphy plays this so well as the backside end that it almost appears as if the tight end has no effect on him. There are only six guys for seven gaps from the offense so the Bengals are playing this slow. Murphy and the rest of the defensive line are going to essentially play gap and a half up front. The rookie can't shoot inside or outside on the snap. He has to instead get two hands on the tight end, squeeze this down, and then disengage once the running back is in a position that he cannot get outside of him. He does exactly that on this rep and comes away with a good looking run stop.

Another example of him against an auxiliary blocker although this one comes against a fullback trying to kick him out with a running start. Murphy shows his ability to be stout and strong and finishes this play with a run stop. He boxes the kick out block meaning that he forces the run to go inside of him on this play which takes away most of the play side of this run. Sound, strong defense is generally what Murphy has brought to the run game.

This play allowed Murphy to just be an athlete and utilize his explosiveness. He fires off of the ball and gets into the backfield before anyone can block him. He comes away with a tackle for loss as part of this blitz.

It hasn't been perfect in his limited reps against the run either.

Murphy is tasked with keeping this run inside and does not execute well enough to do that. He is attempting to lock the extra offensive lineman out, but he misses high with his hands and has to spend extra time getting them lower on the play. By the time that he disengages, he is unable to make the stop against the running back who also beats his pursuit angle. This did not seem to be an issue of reading out the play but rather executing with his hands. His hands need some work in both the run and pass game.

His limited run game snaps have been promising and it’s an area that the Bengals could look to get him on the field a little bit more to keep other guys fresher throughout the game. He’s generally done a solid job and should provide some quality snaps if he was to see more action.

Pass Rushing

Murphy has played a majority of his snaps on pass rushing downs. He has flashed some of the coveted power and get off in these snaps, while also showing that he still has room to grow as a player with regards to his ability to disengage and finish.

This typifies a lot of what Murphy has brought as a pass rusher this season so far. He is able to get Paris Johnson with the long arm stab, but if you watch his outside hand, he misses his chop repeatedly. This is a win for Murphy but instead of it ending in a pressure or sack it ends up in a very manageable win for the quarterback who just has to step up a little bit in the pocket.

Another long arm bullrush win from Murphy on this play, although you would like to see him disengage faster to the inside and recognize that Lamar Jackson has stepped up in the pocket. Still, the power and explosion has translated from college to the NFL for Murphy which is a good sight to see.

Just last week he flashed again with his ability to push the pocket. He bullrushes a good left tackle in Dion Dawkins and pushes him back into Josh Allen. The quarterback speeds up a little bit and throws the check down. Murphy gets a hand on Allen right after the throw as well.

I would love to see Murphy develop a move to finish Dawkins after he pushes him back and gets Dawkins to commit to the anchor. It’s a good rush that can be transformed into a great rush and dominant win with the ability to disengage and finish.

This is the rep that should give fans the most hope in his ability to develop some of these moves to go with his power. He controls the rep with his length and power and then finishes the right tackle with an arm over move that gets him a clean shot at the quarterback. Despite this play taking a while for him to get there, it’s not just an effort sack as he cleanly won against the tackle.

Overall, Murphy is on schedule for where he should have been expected to be as a player. He’s still raw with regards to his technical ability as a pass rusher, but there have been some flashes on film of everything coming together.

While it would be nice to see more snaps, it’s fortunate that he hasn't had to play too much for the Bengals because it means that everyone has stayed healthy. Maybe there is an uptick on the back half of the schedule as he gets more comfortable and the game slows down. As it stands he’s flashing just enough of the player he could become if the development continues.

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