Cincinnati Bengals Film Breakdown: What Myles Murphy Brings to Lou Anarumo's Defense

Cincinnati took Murphy with the 28th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Mike Santagata | May 1, 2023

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Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals got great value when they selected Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.

He had a consensus draft ranking of 20, making him solidly a first-round pick and even more of a value than last year’s selection in Dax Hill. He was a top 5 recruit in the country coming out of high school due to his rare blend of size, length, and athleticism. This combination has been highly sought after in the NFL, especially when a prospect also shows their talent at a young age.

Rashan Gary, Bradley Chubb, Marcus Davenport, Emmanuel Ogbah, Ziggy Ansah, Jason Pierre-Paul, and Shawn Merriman all have similar pre-draft profiles to Murphy. All of those players were drafted in the first round, with only Ogbah being taken outside of the top 16 picks. All those players had at least one season with nine sacks. Gary, Ansah, and Pierre-Paul had limited production during their final season in college, much like Murphy.

He was No. 3 on Bruce Feldman’s Freak List due to benching 405 pounds, power cleaning 355 pounds, deadlifting 505 pounds, while also weighing about 270 pounds and running a 4.5 40-yard dash. The Bengals have always loved edge rushers that can bench press a Toyota Camry, so it makes sense that they sprinted to the podium when he was still available at pick 28. With all of that said, let’s dive into the film and see what Murphy is like as a player and not just a physical specimen.

Where He Excels

If you talk to defensive line coaches, the ability to explode off the ball is the best attribute to have. An elite get off works as a set up for working inside, outside, or through the offensive lineman. Murphy has an extremely high end get off and first step which should serve him well. This will most likely lead to him having success with his signature long arm move as he converts speed to power as the offensive lineman turns their hips and opens to him. As he refines his game to add other moves that will allow him to cleanly win inside or outside, the get off will be what sets everything up.

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Murphy’s signature move is his long arm bullrush. This works in conjunction with the size and first step because force equals mass times acceleration.

He has elite marks in both mass and acceleration for a pass rusher, which is what really makes his long arm so devastating. His nearly 34-inch arms also serve him well here. It’s a thunderous impact when he’s able to make first contact and plant that long arm into the tackle’s chest. He can make it even better as he improves his consistency in placement and turns his upper body to utilize his full length.

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Murphy was built in a lab to play on the edge for the Bengals. He’s 6-5 and about 270 pounds. He does a good job of using his size as an advantage. The arm length shows up on tape, as he locks out linemen in the run game and reaches around blocks to make stops.

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Not only is Murphy a card-carrying member of the Feldman freak list, but it shows up on tape. The strength that he possesses in spades. Whether it comes from a running start as he converts speed to power or it comes from him stagnant and controlling the man in front of him it’s a tool that he can utilize in his game at the next level. That strength should serve him well as he continues to refine his game as something he can fall back on to win.

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— Wally the dog (@pff_wally) May 1, 2023

As of this moment, Murphy is a better run defender than he is a pass rusher. His size, strength, and length all serve him well as he defends the run. These traits allow him to win despite some rawness still in this area. He will continue to grow and become an even better run defender, but early on this will be what keeps him on the field.

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— Wally the dog (@pff_wally) May 1, 2023

Murphy is only 21 years old as well. He’s one of the youngest players in the draft and when you consider how well he played as a teenager it’s easy to see the potential. Whenever a player can make contributions as a freshman and sophomore, it’s a good sign for their future in the NFL. Winning against future NFL players, while he was still developing, shows that it should translate to the next level. There is quite a bit of room to grow as he continues to refine his game and he probably hasn't hit his athletic peak.

Areas of Concern

Right now, Murphy is raw as a pass rusher. He does not have a good changeup off his signature long arm move. He needs to become better with the timing and accuracy of his chop and swipe move so that he can win in different ways and threaten the inside and outside of the offensive tackle. He flashed some feel for oversets and that should get better with experience as he will force some opponents to overset due to his high end get off. Even his long arm can be better refined to be a more effective move with precise placement and maximizing his length.

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— Wally the dog (@pff_wally) May 1, 2023

Murphy needs to read his keys a bit quicker. As a defensive lineman, you will typically read what the man in front of you does to know what concept is coming. Murphy was inconsistent in his ability to do this. He would be cut blocked, double teamed, and generally was just a tad slow in his recognition at times. Also seemed to occasionally struggle finding the ball on option plays and play action. It's another issue that could be remedied by experience and playing time.

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— Wally the dog (@pff_wally) May 1, 2023

The one area of Murphy’s game that probably won't improve is his lack of bend around the edge. It’s not terrible, but it’s middling. This bend issue will make him more of a pressure guy than a sack guy, at least early on in his career.

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— Wally the dog (@pff_wally) May 1, 2023

Overall Thoughts

The Bengals are going to love Murphy. Right now, he’s raw as a pass rusher. Despite that, he should be able to take plenty of snaps as he works through these growing pains because of his ability as a run defender.

Murphy already has a signature move in the long arm bullrush, but he needs to develop counters, a better feel for the offensive line, and a few changeups as well.

Currently, offensive linemen can sit on his long arm move and dare him to beat them another way. While he has the potential to threaten the outside and inside to go with this bullrush, it’s very unrefined. He has flashed a chop and swipe move that could be utilized as either an inside or outside move that he should continue to develop. His rip move is strong as a final piece used to disengage from blockers especially as he slants or crashes inside.

His signature long arm could use some refinement as well as he will at times miss the hand placement and other times does not twist his upper body to maximize his length. He has flashed some feel for oversets from tackles to win back to the inside. The feel for the offensive line should come with time and experience in the NFL.

The last area to talk about with Murphy as a pass rusher is his lack of bend. He has enough bend to be able to hold his positioning as he turns the corner, but he does not have the high end “motorcycle turn” type of bend that many smaller players (and Myles Garrett) possess.

Even with a lack of bend, he still does have good change of direction. He was a very effective looper on stunts as he quickly changed direction and stayed tight on his course. He also was able to make a few stops in the screen game as he retraced it quickly.

As a run defender, Murphy is stout. He can either hold the point of attack and set a hard edge or be used as a chess piece to slant and cross face on blitzes and stunts. The stout run defense right now is mostly due to his strength and size while he still figures out how to quickly read his keys from the offensive line to know what concept is coming. The slants and stunts work well for him because of his elite get-off and explosion on the snap.

His length shows up here as well as he creates distance between himself and the opposing offensive line so that he can hold his gap and read the ball carrier. This distance also makes for an easier time shedding the block when it comes time to disengage and make the tackle.

The main weakness he has with regards to his run defense is that he is inconsistent on reading the keys of the opposing offensive line. This should get better as he gets more experience playing in the NFL. It’s not uncommon for collegiate defensive linemen to have this issue coming out though.

Schematic Fit

Early in his career his versatility will most likely be called upon. With two strong edge defenders already in Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard, he will need to get onto the field by any means necessary which could include some snaps along the interior. He will probably be used in a rotation to help keep Hendrickson’s snap count down with Murphy taking more base downs (1st and 2nd). It’s possible that he takes snaps all over the defensive line. The team could also benefit from using him on stunts and slants as either a penetrator or looper due to his get off and change of direction.

As he grows and becomes a stronger pass rusher, he will develop into a starting edge defender for the Bengals. Whether that is in their even nickel package or their odd base package, he will be asked to hold the point in the run game and pin his ears back in the passing game.

NFL Comparison

Jason Pierre-Paul

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