The Seattle Seahawks are 4-0 with first-round rookie Byron Murphy II.
They’re 0-3 with out him.
Why?
Murphy has clearly been an influence participant since summer time. He led the NFL in double-team fee in Week 1 towards the Denver Broncos. However like, he can’t truly be the principle cause they’ve been 1.000 level win differential with or with out him, can he?
Let’s have a look.
As Murphy performs inside line of defense, the primary wrongdoer you may assume could be the run protection. Because it seems, it’s not fairly that easy. He’s good, however he’s not been a one-man run-defeater. Listed below are the plain quantity run statistics in 2024:
Rush yards with:
99 on 25 makes an attempt – 3.96 Yards per Carry
185 on 36 makes an attempt – 5.14 YPC
65 on 18 makes an attempt – 3.6 YPC heck yea (Murphy additionally left early attributable to harm)
155 on 32 makes an attempt – 4.84 YPC
That final one was this most up-to-date recreation in Week 7 towards the Atlanta Falcons. 155 shouldn’t be nice, however it’s actually survivable, as the sport simply performed itself out.
Rush yards with out:
116 on 28 makes an attempt – 4.14 YPC
175 on 34 makes an attempt – 5.15 YPC oh no
228 on 33 makes an attempt – 6.9 YPC pricey Lord
So it’s actually higher. However not so astronomically higher you’d be compelled to conclude the one group is winless whereas the opposite is undefeated.
But by some means, the general defensive efficiency with and with out Murphy is unimaginable.
Factors Allowed
With Byron Murphy: 14.25 per recreation, over 4 video games.
With out: 35.67 per recreation, over three video games.
This protection has been 20 factors per recreation higher of their 4 wins over their three losses. This piece shouldn’t be a movie evaluation; these come later and Murphy’s already the topic of a slew of hype movies.
My suggestion, nonetheless, is that Murphy unlocks the protection in a manner fairly just like the Carlos Dunlap impact from 2020. That season, the Seahawks traded simply earlier than the deadline to get Dunlap from the Cincinnati Bengals. At Week 9, Seattle had 9 sacks. After buying and selling for Dunlap, they completed with 46.
Consider it or not Dunlap didn’t get all 37 of these sacks. What we witnessed was line of defense that added a real primary risk.
I ponder if one thing comparable happens with this explicit line of defense and the rotational mixture of Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy.
And never simply them, however it will profit Jarran Reed and the brand new man, Roy Robertson-Harris as properly.
A small instance: In Weeks 1 and a pair of, earlier than all of the accidents, Williams performed 65% and 77% of the crew’s snaps. Final Thursday towards the San Francisco 49ers, he performed 91%.
That’s a tricky ask for the large guys within the center. An inconceivable ask, actually. And the worst defensive efficiency of the final six matchups would again that up.
However issues actually regarded completely different in Atlanta.
Can’t wait to rewatch this Seahawks recreation on the airplane. Falcons offense had been rolling! Seems to be just like the return of Byron Murphy together with the remaining to the D line getting more healthy did the trick. Change at RT from the chatter on twitter seems to be a really welcomed one.
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) October 20, 2024
Macdonald discovering his option to get into what was basically nickel bear seems, both by pre-snap alignment or post-snap stress, was key for the #Seahawks second-half run protection. Together with Byron Murphy and crew simply wrecking it.
— Underneath Zone X (Frisco)/Phoenix Verify/Stick Slasher2 (@mattyfbrown) October 20, 2024
Murphy shouldn’t be an edge rusher, however I imagine he can have the identical “unlock” kind impact that Dunlap did in 2020.
His presence and the eye he instructions up entrance permits for the remainder of the road to work free in a manner it appeared unable to do from Weeks 4-6.
Did you guys get a have a look at Dre’Mont Jones’ recreation?
A sack, two tackles for loss, a batted ball and 4 QB hits! His greatest recreation as a Seahawk. It’s this kind of freedom that makes this explicit d-line actually formidable.
So…what’s up with the 155 rush yards although?
Nice query. Once more, Murphy shouldn’t be going to stroll on the market and defeat an opposing run scheme single-handedly. Though he’s superb at it!
Rookie Byron Murphy II led all Seahawks defenders with a PFF run protection grade of 80.2 (pending assessment).
— Brian Nemhauser (@hawkblogger) October 21, 2024
My level is extra to argue that he’s so efficient as a rookie already that he accomplishes two issues this roster desperately wants. On the one, he masks what look like appreciable holes in each beginning linebackers’ expertise or capacity to shortly determine run gaps. On the opposite, he not solely receives sufficient double groups, however beats them typically sufficient, to permit Boye Mafe, Leonard Williams et. al to do what must be achieved.
This was Kirk Cousins’ second-worst recreation by passer ranking exterior of the Week 1 points for Atlanta. The crew hit him 9 occasions. They sack-fumbled him and compelled two interceptions – one attributable to making an attempt to catch up however the different attributable to stress.
A hamstring is such that I’m keenly watching the harm experiences popping out on the midpoint this week. If he makes it by means of, together with the remainder of the road which is trending far, far more healthy, I’m extra optimistic about Seattle’s probabilities of holding up towards the groups arising on this schedule.
And on the finish of the day, the child’s nonetheless by no means misplaced an NFL recreation, and it’s virtually November. Fairly enjoyable stuff.
