Longhorns Country

Texas Longhorns NFL Draft: Byron Murphy Selected No. 16 Overall By Seattle Seahawks

Longhorns star Byron Murphy II has found his new NFL home.

Matt Galatzan

Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Byron Murphy II (90) celebrates after a sack against TCU Horned
Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Byron Murphy II (90) celebrates after a sack against TCU Horned / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

AUSTIN - Texas Longhorns defensive tackle Byron Murphy entered the NFL Draft on Thursday night widely considered as the No. 1 defensive tackle in the class, and was even in the conversation as the best overall non-offensive player.

On Thursday night, that proved to be just the case with Murphy being selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the first round by the Seattle Seahawks, making him the first defensive player to be selected in the draft.

Murphy also became the first Longhorn taken in the 2024 draft and is the first defensive player picked in Round 1 for the school since Malcolm Brown in 2015.

Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Byron Murphy II (90) celebrates after a sack against TCU Horned
Texas Longhorns defensive lineman Byron Murphy II (90) celebrates after a sack against TCU Horned / Ricardo B. Brazziell/American-Statesman

This season, Murphy has recorded a total of 29 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, and five sacks. and even scored two offensive touchdowns, including one in the College Football Playoff semi-finals vs. Washington in the Sugar Bowl.

And alongside T'Vondre Sweat, Murphy was one-half of the country's most dominant defensive tackle tandem and top-ranked rushing defenses. Sweat has also recently hinted that he is going to forgo his final season, sending a goodbye message to fans on social media.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, who perhaps knows Murphy's skill set better than anyone, mentioned all of the qualities he sees in Murphy that allow him to be so dominant and impactful on the football field.

“He’s built like a pit bull, man,” Sarkisian said. “He’s strong. He’s got really strong shoulders. He’s extremely quick and powerful. He’s got a very high football IQ, and he plays hard. Those are all really cool prerequisites that you want to have as a defensive lineman, especially with his stature.”

Now he brings those skills to a Seattle defensive that desperately needed an upgrade at the position - a spot that Murphy is eager to fill.

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Matt Galatzan
MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.

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