Murphy bigger and better

I think this is great news. Last year alot were considering this guy a "bust" or that he was a major disappointment and now here we are this year, the starting job is his to loose, and Sparano says he was the top performer of our summer practices... This is very encouraging news for our OL and its depth. I love it.

 

The lack of upper body strength of Murphy was widely known in the media as his problem last year...He's improved, apparently, this year and that's a good thing. I'm excited that there is some competition at the RG position and that Smiley could also feel a little heat...that's a good thing...Right now, Murphy, Alleman, Smiley, Idukwe and Thomas all seem to be vying for the two spots...that's a good thing...

From a personal point, it's good to see Murphy competing again...it seemed he disappeared once TC was done....

 

Thanks Anthony, good read. I think Murphy was a disappointment last year because he was so raw and inexperienced. He has something in the way of upside or they wouldn't have given a DP to draft him AHEAD of Thomas, and they would have put him on the practice squad where we could have lost him. But they didn't and here he is bigger, stronger, and playing with the starting unit, for now, that is a huge turnaround and very good news for our OL even if just for the depth & support in case Thomas doesn't come back as quickly as we hope he does.

 

I dont know about all of this Murphy talk. I'm not sure how a guy can seemingly overnight go from roster phantom to offseason standout. He has easily been the least talked about player from the 08 draft class. During a year where we went 4-5 deep at G, where was he then? Is this purely a strength difference? Is it an accumulated knowledge difference? Or perhaps this is Sparano generating some confidence in a guy who only lacks confidence to become what he needs to be. Whatever it is, I guess I like it. Talk is cheap, I'm looking forward to seeing him moving people on the field.

 

Like James Harrison?

Players do improve in the NFL

 

Eh, we'll see, Training Camp heroes come and go, Murph has to stand the test of time.

If he makes it, great, we need quality Guard depth badly.

 

I do agree with that.

Still it is not unheard of for a player to do little to nothing his rookie year and then come on during his second year.

 

True but nowadays anything is possible. Look at Camarillo. He is playing as if he never had that knee injury. Who would have thought it??!!

 

all good news:

the Orca-5 (however they wind up) will eat defense alive I guarantee it!
wouldn't be too quick to count Thomas out.
maybe, what we're looking @ is the first backup guard (Murphy) being groomed
to replace Thomas or Smiley in a crunch, would be a major step up for Murphy after last year

anyway it works out is fine with me. let them compete!
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Just hearing ANYTHING positive on Murphy is refreshing....if the guy can become even a good back up, it's better than what we have come to expect from him.


JS

 

Great Username.

 

I think they want to give all of their G candidates a shot at starting to see how they stand up to the challenge.

I expect that there will be some rotation going on throughout training camp if Murphy should falter.

 

as Larry said, we knew when he was drafted last year that he was a work in progress ... hopefully, his progress will continue to show ... having another young improving G would be a great asset to have knowing Smiley's injury history ...