BACKGROUND

Myles Murphy is a football player from Powder Springs, Georgia. He was a highly-touted player coming out of high school. Rivals ranked him the #4 overall prospect in the country and the #1 overall defensive end. As a senior, he played in the All-American Bowl. He ended his final high school season with 10.5 sacks and a commitment to Clemson.

COLLEGE CAREER

Myles Murphy had a fast start to his college career where he had a couple of sacks and seven tackles in his first-ever game. For the season he had four sacks and three forced fumbles. He got even better in his second season where he was Second-Team All-ACC. Myles had seven sacks and 38 tackles.

2022-2023 COLLEGE CAREER

As a junior, Myles Murphy ended his college career strong. In over 13 games, he had 45 tackles, 11 for loss, 6.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. His performance garnered him a First-Team All-ACC Selection and Second-Team All-ACC honoree. Against multiple ranked teams, Murphy was always a disruptor and a positive contributor to the team. ESPN ranked him as college football’s 33rd-best player for 2022.

STRENGTHS: Athleticism

Looking at Myles Murphy’s tape shows how his athleticism will make NFL teams drool for him. One thing that looked NFL-ready from Day 1 is his spin move. His versatility makes him impressive in multiple facets of the game. He also has length that makes it difficult for offensive linemen to stop him. A lot of NFL scouts and analysts looked at Clelin Ferrell as his basis. The main difference is that they see a much better prospect than the one who went fourth in the 2019 NFL Draft.

WEAKNESSES: Finishing

For someone with all the gifts he has, one of the concerns is his finishing ability. He ended with just 6.5 sacks in his junior season and maybe it should be higher with everything. He does reach the backfield but he had trouble finishing plays. With the proper coaching, this issue can be addressed and Murphy can have more sacks in his NFL career.

PLAYER COMPARISON: Travon Walker

TEAMS WHO COULD DRAFT HIM

Mock drafts consider him a consensus top-10 player in the draft. His unique skill of talent, physical traits, and motor make him an impact EDGE to whoever drafts him. Myles Murphy is projected to be the 3rd EDGE taken in the draft. Look for Atlanta at 8th or Seattle at 9th to take the talented EDGE from Clemson.

The post 2023 NFL Draft Focus: Myles Murphy appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jake Rajala

The Las Vegas Raiders ranked 21st in sacks in 2021 (with 35 sacks), but they should really aim to be Top-10 in sacks in the upcoming season. The Raiders team that carries a rich history (especially under Al Davis), brought in the very talented pass rusher Chandler Jones to join Tom Hardy Mad Maxx Crosby in the front seven. Jones may have turned 32 in February, but he is coming off an impressive 10.5 sack season — along with 6 forced fumbles and 26 QB hits. Jones inked a contract extension for three years worth $52.5 million dollars.

Jones will ask Crosby to continue to help hunt opposing signal-callers, as well. Crosby was a wrecking ball last season — as he was named second-team All-Pro. PFF gave Crosby a very impressive 91.4 grade for his 2021 performance. He signed a contract extension for four years worth $94 million dollars last March. It was clearly an emotional day for the individual that suffered from alcoholism.

The invisible man, also known as Clelin Ferrell, needs to find his groove as a pro. The fourth overall pick from the 2019 NFL draft has 8 career sacks and 24 QB hits in three seasons. He is bound to be a free agent after the 2022 season. The Raiders could still trade Ferrell, as B/R has noted this off-season.

Let’s not forget that the Raiders should have more potent scoring offense (w/ Tae and a healthy Kenyan Drake) than last season, which will force opposing signal-callers to keep pace with their offense. This also means that the Raiders pass rushers will have a plethora of opportunities to pin their ears back and take down the likes of Russell Wilson and Justin Herbert.

The post Why the Las Vegas Raiders pass rush will thrive in 2022 appeared first on Pro Football Mania.

By: Jake Rajala

The Las Vegas Raiders may have had an impressive overhaul of talent this off-season. Yet, they still need to squeeze as much talent out of their roster if they want to edge out other juggernaut AFC West rosters for the division title. With that said, I’m going to untwine a few underperforming players that need to turn the corner and help LV in 2022.

Clelin Ferrell

It would be impossible to leave Clelin Ferrell off this list, as he’s clearly been an enormous NFL bust (fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft). Ferrell has registered 8 sacks in his entire career thus far. His lack of production has led to the Raiders recently swinging for the fences and bringing in Chandler Jones. Bleacher Report has recently projected Ferrell to breakout (and they also projected him to be a trade candidate). If he doesn’t get traded, he may finally translate his athletic ability into production soon.

Randy Gregory, who holds a similar skillset as Ferrell, was a bit of a late bloomer. Gregory recently inked a hefty contract with the Broncos.

Johnathan Abram

The Raiders big-hitter at safety Johnathan Abram had an unfortunate season-ending injury in late December last season. He had a roller-coaster season that was still an improvement from his putrid 2020 season (aka when PFF graded him as the worst safety in pass coverage). He certainly hasn’t solidified himself as a long-term starter in the Raiders pass defense. The Raiders also have a question mark at CB, so it’s important that Abrams can be a stud for their secondary in his contract year.

Kenyan Drake

I believe that Keyan Drake is slightly overrated, as he unleashed 545 total yards (which was a drop-off from his 1,092 all-purpose yds in 2020). He wasn’t exactly a dynamite RB behind a bell-cow Josh Jacobs. Nonetheless, I do believe that Drake (who has one year left with LV) should be more efficient and productive in Josh McDaniel’s offensive attack.

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