Byron Murphy II Working On ‘Taking My Game To Another Level’ In Year 2

That’s obviously very lofty praise, but not anything Murphy, who coming out of the draft was sometimes compared to three-time defensive player of the year Aaron Donald, is shying away from. But even if Murphy believes his talent and work ethic can take him that far, that isn’t what he’s focused on in his second NFL camp.

“I feel like I can live up to those expectations, I feel like I’m that type of player,” he said. “I’ve got what it takes to be defensive player of the year in this league, but I’m not focused on that right now, I’m just being where my feet are at, and right now I’m in camp, so I’m just focused on getting better right now, and then when the season comes, same thing.”

As for Reed’s colorful description of his game, Murphy chuckled and said, “I love it. But I’ve really just been focusing on me, just working on my craft this offseason, just trying to be consistent, and also just taking my game to another level, whether that’ s on the field, in the classroom, just trying to have a bigger role this year within the D-line and on the team.”

If Murphy is going to take his game to another level in Year 2, it will in part be because of the natural growth that often occurs following a rookie season, but it could also come from him being in more situations to make plays in the backfield. After playing a lot of nose tackle as a rookie, Murphy said he is expecting see more time as a three-technique defensive tackle this year, meaning he would be lined up between a guard and tackle rather than across from center. That three-technique role is one that traditionally comes with more pass-rush opportunities.

“I’ll be playing a lot of 3-tech this year, a lot more, way more than I did last year, so I’m going to have way more opps at 3-tech as far as pass rush and everything, getting the opportunity to rush,” he said.

And ultimately, the best way for Murphy to get more pass-rush opportunities in an interior group that also includes Reed and Leonard Williams, one of the game’s best interior rushers who had 11 sacks last season, is for the Seahawks to dominate on early downs to create more pass-rush situations.

“We’ll create more pass rushing opportunities for our defense and he’ll be right there,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. “We have to play better on early downs to create those situations. We have to play better complementary football. To play with the lead more,…