The Dolphins Should Aggressively Pursue Byron Murphy II
Syndication: Austin American-Statesman
I’m not gonna lie, I was expecting the Miami Dolphins to do a lot worse in free agency considering they were in cap hell. Yes, Miami lost quite a few key players including Andrew Van Ginkel, Robert Hunt, Brandon Jones, and Jerome Baker. Despite those losses, I thought Chris Grier did a good job of finding direct replacements for most of the players who departed in free agency.
The lone exception here is none other than star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins who signed a massive four year, $110 million deal with the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s not to say the Dolphins didn’t address the defensive tackle position. Miami signed three defensive tackles: Jonathan Harris, Benito Jones, and Neville Gallimore all of whom will compete to be a part of a defensive tackle rotation alongside Zach Sieler who is coming off a 10 sack season after signing a three year, $30 million deal last offseason.
With that being said, the Dolphins would be wise to continue investing resources at the defensive tackle position. None of the rotational players Miami signed can truly replace one of the most dominant defensive tackles in the league. If the Dolphins want to more adequately fill the void left by Wilkins, they should consider drafting Byron Murphy II out of Texas.
Byron Murphy is a bit on the smaller side standing at 6 ‘0”, 297 lbs, but he’s very powerful for a player of his size. Murphy’s calling card is his explosiveness and he showed off his athleticism at the Combine by running a 4.87 at the 40 yard dash which was the third fastest recorded time amongst defensive tackles this year. Murphy also boasted the second highest vertical at his position at 33 inches, and his 28 reps at the bench press ranked fifth amongst defensive tackles.
What really makes Murphy stand out for me is his motor and tenacity on the field. It feels like there’s a fair amount of players who check all of the boxes from an athletic standpoint, but they struggle with inconsistent play because they don’t always put in maximum effort. You’re never gonna encounter that problem with Byron, which makes him one of the safer picks in this draft class.
The only downside of drafting a guy like Byron is that he doesn’t have a massive frame like Christian Wilkins did. If the Dolphins want to get really crazy, they could draft both Byron Murphy II and his teammate T’Vondre Sweat who is a mountain of a man at 6 ‘6”, 366 lbs that can single handedly take on double teams like prime Linval Joseph did for the Vikings. I doubt that actually happens, but it’s fun to think about nonetheless.
Most mock drafts I’ve seen have the Dolphins taking an interior offensive lineman like Ben Powers-Johnson or Graham Barton. Frankly, I don’t think it makes a ton of sense for the Dolphins to draft a center or a guard in the first round. Aaron Brewer was signed to fill in for Connor Williams who is currently rehabbing from a torn ACL, and there’s still a chance that the Dolphins bring back Williams once he’s ready to go. Aside from Powers-Johnson, I don’t see any interior offensive linemen in this draft that are worthy of being drafted in the first round.
If the Dolphins want to get the most value out of their first round pick, they need to target their weakest position, which to me is the defensive line. Byron Murphy II is the best defensive lineman in this draft class and is equally disruptive as a pass rusher and as a run stopper. If I were Chris Grier, I would definitely consider trading up to draft Byron Murphy II to help solidify the interior defensive line following the departure of Christian Wilkins.
Up Next