Byron Murphy II was the first draft selection the Seahawks made under head coach Mike Macdonald. An agile, explosive defensive lineman with versatility over size fits the NFL now as well as ever, as pass rush specialists have become more prevalent in the 21st century. Teams look to find run support without sacrificing the big-play potential of stacking the front with sack-getters.

He had an underrated 2024 season which looks better the deeper you go. His 57.8 Pro Football Focus defensive grade ranked 74th out of 143 interior defensive lineman who played at least 20% of their team’s snaps, but he was forced inside to play nose guard due to a constant depth crisis. He did an admirable job filling in at a position of need despite his own injuries forcing him to miss games, and only showed more promise as a holistic defensive lineman.

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The Seahawks have allowed Murphy to play closer to his natural position as a traditional 3-technique, and he’s already taken another leap forward while being afforded further opportunities to make impact plays. Veterans Leonard Williams and Jarran Reed have provided stability on the interior, and backups Quinton Bohanna and Brandon Pili offer much-needed depth.

This allowed him to have his best game in the NFL yet on Sunday against the Steelers. Here’s tape of his 4 stops, 4 pressures, and 2 sacks.

Michael Shawn-Dugar pointed out this sack of Murphy’s was made possible by finally getting a 1-on-1 pass rush situation. The play below shows how his low center-of-gravity creates a problem for bigger offensive lineman, who typically have about 4 inches and 40 pounds on him and can’t move as well. The Pittsburgh guard he’s up against, Isaac Seumalo, is actually quick for the position (88th percentile shuttle drill at pro day), but still can’t get hands on Murphy and lets him cross his face, resulting in a Rodgers sack.

Murphy has an excellent opportunity to continue feasting this Sunday against the Saints. They rank 16th in PFF pass blocking grade and 27th in run blocking grade through two weeks and are banged up heading into Week 3. Left guard Trevor Penning has yet to make his season debut and practiced for the first time today and right tackle Taliese Fuaga was held out of today’s practice with knee and back injuries. Penning’s backup, Dillon Radunz, was also held out with a toe injury.

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New Orleans also brought in four offensive lineman for a workout on Tuesday and had two of them at practice on Tuesday, including former Seattle guard Sataoa Laumea- who Murphy had practiced against for his entire first year in the NFL before the Seahawks released him this month.

This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Why Seahawks DT Byron Murphy II wrecked the Steelers in Pittsburgh