Packer Central

100 Days of Mocks: PFF Picks a Pass Rusher

Clemson's Myles Murphy was the third-ranked player in the nation coming out of high school.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers enjoyed a relatively healthy season in 2022, though the torn ACL sustained by Rashan Gary at Detroit was a season-changer.

Gary’s injury was sustained on Nov. 6, meaning there’s no guarantee he’ll be back in the lineup for Week 1 – let alone be back in prime form. While fifth-round pick Kingsley Enagbare had a solid rookie season, there’s no doubt the Packers need to bolster their outside linebacker corps in the 2023 NFL Draft.

That’s why Clemson’s Myles Murphy, the selection for the Packers in ProFootballFocus.com’s latest mock draft, makes so much sense.

“Chances are you’ll read mock drafts with Myles Murphy in the top 10, and maybe even the top five,” PFF’s Trevor Sikkema said. “With the way this defensive class is set up, there is still a possibility of that happening, given the lack of clear pass-rushing stars beyond Will Anderson Jr. and with Murphy being an athletic 6-foot-5, 275-pounder. Some production concerns could push him a little further down boards. But even if that’s the case, he checks a lot of size and athletic thresholds the Packers typically go for.”

Murphy was considered the No. 3 player in the nation by ESPN.com coming out of Hillgrove High School in Marietta, Ga. He was a Freshman All-American in 2020 with his four sacks, three forced fumbles and 12 tackles for losses. In 2021, he earned second-team all-ACC with seven sacks, two forced fumbles and 14 tackles for losses. He added first-team all-conference accolades in 2022 with 6.5 sacks, one forced fumble and 11 tackles for losses.

According to PFF, there were 137 draft-eligible edge defenders from FBS schools with at least 200 pass-rushing opportunities. Murphy finished 80th in pass-rushing productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing snap, and 63rd in pass-rush win rate.

If that seems underwhelming, it’s worth nothing that Murphy had 34 pressures during his final season while Gary had 26.

With his strip-sack prowess, Murphy joined Gaines Adams, Vic Beasley and Clelin Ferrell as the only Clemson players since 2000 to post multiple seasons with multiple forced fumbles and at least four sacks.

Murphy’s father, Willard Murphy, played at Chattanooga and his older brother, Maxwell, played at NAIA Worcester Polytechnic in Massachusetts. Maxwell inspired Myles to challenge himself academically, with Myles Murphy majoring in construction science and management.

“My main goal is to be the most disruptive player on the field at all times,” he said. “With me being the most disruptive person on the field, other things come with that, including beating your one-on-one competition and getting the sacks, tackles for loss and quarterback pressures. If I am not being huge in the box score, I am still affecting the quarterback or the ball carrier in some type of way.”

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100 Days of Mocks

Starting Jan. 17, when there were 100 days until the start of the NFL Draft, we started our mock-worthy goal of 100 mock drafts in 100 days. Here’s the 100-day-countdown series.

100 days: First-round quarterback?

99 days: Trading for outside linebacker

98 days: Stud tight end

97 days: This pick would break a long drought

96 days: NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah goes back to Georgia

95 days: Two firsts if Rodgers is traded

94 days: College Football News mocks Mayer

93 days: Safety first for Bucky Brooks in NFL.com mock

92 days: Kiper takes a tight end

91 days: Three defensive backs in seven-round mock

90 days: Playmaking cornerback at PFF

89 days: A “Eureka!” moment in two-round mock

88 days: Sorry, vacation day.

87 days: Packers trade back, get extra second-rounder

86 days: Tight end in NFL Draft Bible Mock

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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