Seahawks’ Byron Murphy II falls to second round in ESPN’s 2024 NFL re-draft

Who doesn’t love a hindsight NFL mock draft?

ESPN’s NFL beat reporters just did a two-round redraft for the 2024 class, which means re-assigning most players from one team to another based on their respective rookie seasons and/or the clear positional needs of the teams. Unsurprisingly, Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels’ marvelous year upgraded him from the No. 2 overall pick to No. 1 and the Chicago Bears.

The Seattle Seahawks selected Byron Murphy II at No. 16, but in ESPN’s redraft they have him freefalling into the second round and to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 37.

Original pick: Ja’Lynn Polk, WR, Washington (NE pick from LAC trade)

New pick: Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas

The Chargers still need a wide receiver, but general manager Joe Hortiz would have a hard time passing up on Murphy. Hortiz prioritizes taking the best player available, and Murphy would surely rank much higher than the available receivers and fill another need on the defense. — Kris Rhim

The alternate universe where the Chargers don’t draft a receiver with either of their first two picks—Joe Alt stayed at No. 5—would be an ugly one for Justin Herbert. Imagine what that offense would’ve looked like without Ladd McConkey and with Quentin Johnston as the nominal number one receiver.

Anyway, if Murphy isn’t a Seahawk anymore than who’s the replacement? Of course, it’s an offensive lineman.

Original pick: Byron Murphy II, DT, Texas

New pick: JC Latham, OL, Alabama

There would be consideration to sticking with Murphy, who was better than his underwhelming stat line (0.5 sacks) suggests. But Latham was their other top draft target, and he would have had a bigger impact on a team with an offensive line that struggled while starting four different right tackles. If Abraham Lucas settled back into that spot, Latham could have moved over to guard for the Seahawks. — Brady Henderson

Latham was drafted by the Tennessee Titans at No. 7 overall and played exclusively at left tackle, a flip from his days as right tackle in 2022 and 2023. He did play a little bit of right guard as a freshman, hence Henderson’s note about kicking Latham inside to guard.

I believe Murphy’s presence was part of why Seattle’s run defense improved and he’ll eventually get better with his sacks and pressures. If we use Nnamdi Madubuike as his closest comparison, the Baltimore Ravens star only had three sacks in his first two seasons before getting 5.5 in year three, then 13 sacks in year four, and back down to a still impressive (for a DT) 6.5 in 2024.

Brian Thomas Jr, Dallas Turner, Quinton Mitchell, Braden Fiske, Graham Barton, Chop Robinson, Cooper DeJean, Xavier Worthy, Keon Coleman, and Mike Sainristil were some of the notable players taken in the Round 1 redraft after No. 16. Maybe other than Graham Barton, I’m not losing any sleep right now over players Seattle could’ve taken, and that includes Jared Verse.