BYRON MURPHY IS LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS IN SEATTLE – SEAHAWKS DEFENSE FILM STUDY #seahawks

BYRON MURPHY IS LIVING UP TO EXPECTATIONS IN SEATTLE – SEAHAWKS DEFENSE FILM STUDY #seahawks

This is a film study video to focus on Byron Murphy II, who’s having a great start to the 2025 season. He’s a force at this point for a Seattle Seahawks defense that’s put up 20 sacks overall and and they’re doing so oftentimes from an organic four-man rush platform. In Mike McDonald previously in Baltimore and then in Michigan for his one season spent there in college, it was often an unpredictable but safe blitz. meaning you’re you’re blitzing a nickel DB but dropping an outside linebacker into the boundary or blitzing a nickel and an inside linebacker and perhaps dropping both outside linebackers to create what is still in some sense a four-man rush scheme. That’s not what we’re getting lately and that’s not what really gave Jacksonville so much trouble in week six. These were organic four-man rush schemes at times. Did J did the Jags and have other teams doubled or chipped Leonard Williams? Sure. Those guys have to win their one-on- ones. And Byron Murphy is four and a half sacks so far in 2025. I think he’s got nine quarterback hits as well already, just obliterating his pace from his rookie year of 2024. Other guys are having an impact as well. I think Wosu is second on the team with four sacks and seven quarterback hits. Leonard Williams has contributed three sacks and eight. Demarcus Lawrence was amazing. His week six performance. He played uh I think I described him in another video as he played like a bat out of hell. Hope to have a full length film study on him at some point late Tuesday night or perhaps into Wednesday as well as an offense video if I have the time to get to it. Let’s get to the film here and we’ll start with stuff from week six. And I do want to include a couple of plays from earlier in the season. Murphy will generally be spot shadowed here um in in yellow at the beginning of each play. This is a first and 10. In fact, the first play of the game. Look, Jacksonville had only allowed six sacks all year um coming into week six and Seattle put up seven and in fact Murphy gets one on the first snap of the game. I think this one illustrates what he’s capable of. He plays well through contact. So responding or reacting to the blocks. The whole offensive line for the Jags is moving in this direction, right? And Murphy once again, who’s here lined up in in basically a shade, if you will, is responding and staying in his gap. The center tries to long arm frame him and then Murphy starts to work. Trevor Lawrence is looking to the downside. Um, Demarcus Lawrence dropped out into the flats. I actually already covered this play in a film study video that I did on Monday, but I love Murphy’s ability to redirect. He’s an athlete. Um, packed inside of, you know, a smaller frame than Leonard Williams, of course, or Geron Reed. But so far in 2025, he’s got organic wins, and I’ll show you one against the Steelers from week two. But he’s great at redirecting and finding these opportunities, finding these lanes to to get to the quarterback because he’s just a better athlete and he’s got better agility while while maintaining violence with his hands than, you know, than the offensive linemen who are tasked with trying to block him. Seventh possession. This a first and 10. We’re into the third quarter. And again, I’m kind of skipping a lot of plays here, obviously, because we’re just trying to focus on what Byron Murphy is giving you in 2025. The ability to rush for in an organic manner, meaning you’re not having to blitz a nickel DB, drop out an OOLB for unpredictability sake, so that the offensive line is trying to figure out who’s blitzing. You pretty much know who it is. It’s going to be at this point, at least last week against the Jags, it’s going to be the fourman defensive lineman Murphy Williams and Wosu and Demarcus Lawrence here. And once again, he redirects after the center steps to him. I’m not sure that you can do this pass pro scheme with the guard pulling and I think the running back crossing face of the quarterback such that it leave this leaves the center one-on-one with Byron Murphy. He’s got low pad level, gets his cleats into the ground, able to drive that center back into the quarterback’s lap such that when Trevor Lawrence realizes the pockets being collapsed on top of him. Now Byron Murphy has the agility to slap the center off of him and then dive to make the tackle. I think this one went down as a sack, a split sack in fact for him. Violent finish from Demarcus Lawrence as well. He played um like he was really pissed off. two sacks in a row, I believe, during this stretch for for the Jags or for the Seahawks against the Jags. Same possession, very next snap. Like I said, it’s 20 to six at this point. And again, it’s another organic fourman rush. Here’s Byron Murphy. We’ll give you the all 22 and then the end zone angle. He appears to be confirming something within Wosu. They’re communicating to each other. And so, watch the stunt that occurs. I’m talking about their helmets flashing towards each other as they get their hands in the dirt. And so Murphy is going to go up field and it’s a real lack of awareness if you ask me by the left tackle. On the opposite side, Demarcus Lawrence is going to the top side to basically push the pocket down towards us, if you will, and then maybe even towards the line of scrimmage. But it’s a great stunt by Murphy getting up field violently. And then the finish, I really love the finish here. I get it in this day and age. It’s it’s um fashionable to talk about protecting quarterbacks, but Murphy finishes in an extremely violent manner here. This Seattle defense is playing well the guys who are supposed to play downhill are are playing downhill. The front four. Everyone else is doing a great job in coverage for the most part. I know that Josh gave up an unusual slashcheep touchdown to Tim Patrick in this game. Oh, by the way, they did double team Bunner Williams on this particular snap. So, it gives you an opportunity for for Byron Murphy and and others to um to get a one-on-one and get a win. Now, it’s not an organic one-on-one win. I guess he’s he’s basically trying to occupy the guard and then allow Uchenna and Wosu to to rip underneath. It’s a switch rush te if you want to call it that, meaning tackle first, end second versus a ET, which would be end first and tackle second. So he’s trying to occupy the guard as long as possible. That’s the the slap and then the rip that he’s given here. But he’s also making this move up through the B gap such that Inosu can go underneath. Guard does a pretty good job if you ask me of dealing with Murphy’s move and then peeling off to a Wosu tackle. Nothing at all in terms of awareness or um adjustability. Like I said when the first time we ran through this from the all 22 angle, you’ve got Williams being double teamed. The Jag the math for the Jags just did not work against these fourman rushes by Seattle because when they’re releasing the running back, it’s five on four. Well, you double Williams, you got three one-on- ones. And just from a sheer numerical perspective or chance perspect probability I guess one of these guys in Wosu Lawrence and Murphy at least the way they’re playing right now early in the year is going to get a win. I covered this in in the first film study video that I did um on the Seattle Seahawks pass rush on Monday from week six. They held Jacksonville to four yards per play in a season low 273 yards. It was pretty incredible performance if you ask me. Did you see did you think that Seattle’s defense was going to be this good this soon? I think you saw some markers of it. Um, basically against the Steelers in week two. I know that it’s uh to me the Steelers are very underrated at this point in time. I I’m a Ravens fan and so for me to admit that that’s based on film. That’s based on me watching the film and my interpretation of it. the way that they took Pittsburgh out of their offense with with basically stopping slowing down the run game and the pass game at the same time. I think you saw some markers of how good this team could be with Murphy exploding in terms of his ability to win with one-on- ons. It just makes the pass rush that much better. This is a run play I will include, I think, three snaps from that game. It’s it’s very weirdly blocked. The Steelers, I think, actually messed this up. It’s supposed to be a same side run. So, I think they’re supposed to combo Murphy up to Ernest Jones the fourth. And that’s not what they do. That’s not what the Steelers do um at all. They’re pulling the tackle who’s trying to kick out the edge defender over here on our right hand side. It’s a weirdly uh same side run play, meaning the running back is on this side and he’s hitting to that side. It’s it’s a lot whole lot easier to run the ball to the opposite side of the field. They’re trying to cut the backside edge defender with Jaylen Warren on Demarcus Lawrence. But watch Murphy squeeze through here pretty much unblocked. The center thinks the guard’s taking him over. The guard thinks the center is going to take him over. And so Murphy scorched through there for a tackle for loss early in the season. The defensive line has been extremely active, very hostile. Um definitely against the pass, but I know I focused on the run play there. This is the last play of the second quarter, his one sack against the Steelers. Um he he’s going to basically continue to fight through as the the tight end chips Williams and then the left tackle takes him over. Murphy’s got great contact balance. He’s got the ability to jump to either side. This is a clean win against the left guard. I thought that pretty much all game long he really gave this left guard trouble. So, it’s a little bit of a swat here and then a rip. That seems to be one of his more effective moves trying to get that angle, cut that angle in towards the um the quarterback. This to me, this level of decisiveness is what Seahawks fans wanted to see when he was drafted and and then in his rookie year. It didn’t work out obviously because, you know, he only had a half a sack last year. He’s totally, you know, outpaced that already. If you’re going to chip and and double Leonard Williams, then you’re going to have to deal with Byron Murphy on the inside. And Seattle can control the matchups. Basically, they can put Murphy against the weaker of your interior offensive lineman and move Williams to the other side such that you got to double team him with perhaps your best guy. Or they can do it the inverse of it. Put Murphy on the best guy and allow you to use your weaker guy to double team Williams. And they’re just causing problems. They’re causing problems at this point. 20 sacks overall. Like I said, so many guys um having an impact. I misspoke a moment ago. That was not his only sack. So, my apologies for that. He’s folding over the top here. the coverage is sound um underneath. That’s the thing about Seattle because they can switch coverages so much that it forces the quarterbacks to kind of hold on to the ball. That’s a dynamic that I described when McDonald was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore. I don’t I don’t want to really want to call it a coverage sack. I don’t think that’s fair. Um guys still have to make moves. This is Murphy here who switch rushed had a switch rush and then ends up matched up with the left tackle able to slap him off and then swim over the top. I will show you the end zone angle of that one. Getting back to my point, Murphy has, I think, four and a half sacks right now, nine quarterback hits, and and some of them have been like this where it’s he keeps working during the play. But that is the the McDonald scheme. That is what the scheme is supposed to be, forced the quarterback to process something after the snap. And then another key factor here, I think, for Murphy and Williams, although Williams plays a lot of snaps, is they’re fresh. These guys are fresh. uh they’re being rotated at times and so they can be hostile in the middle of a play or in even the latter third of the play if you will. I think Murphy is playing at an elite level right now. He’s finishing plays extremely mobile throughout the entirety of the snap, meaning he’s explosive with his initial move. He’s explosive with his counter. He’s recognizing when to go to the counter quickly and then he’s quick to redirect. Basically working through the play to either try to establish an angle to the quarterback or keep fighting for one. Like I said earlier in all Seattle has 20 sacks and and recently especially against Jacksonville, a lot of them were those fourman rush schemes where it’s declared pre it’s not a zone blitz. There’s no inside linebacker twist with the outside linebacker. I know that Drake Drake Thomas had that badass blitz in the fourth quarter where he overpowered the left tackle, but generally we’re talking about organic four-man rushes that’s declared for the offensive line. And if if they can continue to do that with the talent that will eventually return um in the secondary in the case of Woolen, Witherspoon, and Julian Love, they’re in a great situation um to continue this level of play. Murphy, like I said, has four and a half sacks, 20 23 tackles overall, I think, is notable as well. He’s not just playing at a high level against the pass. He’s doing the job um against a run in my opinion. Seahawks fans should be excited, right, to see how far he can push this. The Seahawks are on pace for 60 plus sacks, which would be right in line with what Mike’s defense produced in Baltimore in 2022 and 2023. Last year, they only had 44. You’re really halfway there already uh through just six games in my opinion. Byron Murphy is a huge part of it. Leonard Williams is both, in this analogy, which might be poor, the leadoff hitter and the cleanup hitter for for the Seattle Seahawks pass rush lineup and that he’s got so many wins, but he also gets double teamed or chipped a lot. Byron Murphy, in my analogies, the number three hitter at this point in time who’s hitting between them. Demarcus Lawrence, Utenna, and Wosu are are getting involved consistently. you’d like to see more from, you know, Boy Maf, Derek Hall, if he’s able to get on the field a little bit more. But, but if Lawrence and Wosu are giving you this on pass rush downs, those are going to be guys that are on the field in my opinion because it’s working. In any case, if you guys enjoyed the the film study video, the look at Byron Murphy, please let me know in the comments section. If you think I, you know, left anything out that he does that’s spectacular, you can obviously communicate that to me as well through the comment section. And if you think other Seahawks fans would enjoy this film study look at Byron Murphy coming out of the week six performance um where him and and so many others just absolutely dominated Jacksonville’s offensive line holding them to 12 points when they had come in averaging 25. If you think other Seahawks fans would enjoy this video, please consider grabbing a link to this and sharing it out on social media to help this content get more reach.

#seahawks #seattleseahawks #seattle #nfl #football

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