What to know about Seahawks draft pick Byron Murphy II, including his Seattle fandom

Byron Murphy II, the first Texas product taken in the 2024 NFL draft, is headed to the Seahawks with the 16th pick of the first round. The second defensive player off the board, Murphy's stellar 2023-24 season saw him collect 29 tackles and five sacks. Not gaudy numbers, but his impact in the run game and the pressure he created even when he didn't get a sack stood out enough for general manager John Schneider.

He joins a defense that has been dominant in the past, but has recently lost that reputation. Seattle will appreciate the boost that Murphy will bring as one of the top defensive players in the draft.

Here are five things to know about Murphy.

The measurables and more

Name: Byron Murphy II

Birthday: Sept. 8, 2001

Height, weight: 6-foot-1, 308

40-time: 4.87 seconds

Seahawks fandom

Seattle fans will be delighted to hear that Murphy's favorite team growing up weren't the Cowboys, despite being a Dallas-area kid. The DT actually enjoyed watching the Seahawks and their dominant defenses in the mid 2010s.

“I used to like the Seattle Seahawks,” Murphy said in a recent Dallas Morning News article. “The Legion of Boom era, with Russell Wilson, Kam Chancellor, Marshawn Lynch, Michael Bennett.”

Now, he has the opportunity to usher in a new era of Seahawks defense.

Athletic freak

The first thing that sticks out about Murphy? He is a big man that can do a lot of things that players his size can't usually do. In other words, he's super athletic.

Texas players were able to see it in the games he's played all season, as his consistent disruption led to five sacks and, more importantly, a 19.6% win rate, one of the highest in college football. That means that even when he isn't getting sacks, Murphy is still able to disrupt the pocket like few players are able too.

His play on the field was crafted off the field, with tons of time put into the weight room which landed him a spot on The Athletic's Bruce Feldman's 'Freaks List.' Last season Murphy had a team-best 455-pound front squat, and power-cleaned 375 pounds. Strength coach Torre Becton said that the DT probably could've gotten to 500 pounds and 405 respectively.

Position player?

For all of his success on defense, Murphy's most surprising plays came when he got sent onto the field for offensive snaps.

A former quarterback, head coach Steve Sarkisian made use of Murphy's history by drawing up some plays where his DT became a fullback. That culminated in some clever plays, in which Murphy faked a block and caught a touchdown. And another one in the Sugar Bowl, where the DT bowled over Washington's defense on his way for yet another offensive score.

That likely won't be the norm with the Seahawks, but Murphy's such an incredible athlete that drawing up a play for him is not completely unreasonable.

Best DT in the draft?

There's a very good case to be made that Murphy was the best DT in the draft, with Illinois' Jer'Zhan Newton being the other player seen as a top tier prospect.

Though Newton had better numbers in his final year with Illinois, Murphy's athleticism surpasses Newton in some key areas. For Seattle, they seem to have preferred the Texas products upside and what he could bring to their defense. It's not a strict competition, but fans would obviously rather have the best of the best rather than second.