FRISCO, Tx. — For the last 11 seasons, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been treated time and time again to rather impressive displays of insane power from star defensive lineman Cameron Heyward.
Those days will come to an end eventually though. Good news is, there might be a ready-made replacement in the 2024 NFL Draft in North Carolina’s Myles Murphy.
Murphy, who checks in at 6-foot-4, 312 pounds, has great power on tape, bullying offensive linemen time and time again in the trenches. In fact, he models his game after the likes of Heyward and Kansas City’s Chris Jones when it comes to using power in his game.
Speaking with Steelers Depot at the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl in Dallas, Murphy spoke highly of his power, which has him as a Day 3 prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“I’m strong as hell. I ain’t gonna lie to you,” Murphy said to Steelers Depot. “I feel like the double teams, I embraced them a lot because I don’t feel like nobody can move me. I get off the ball and I know it’s a run play. I feel like nobody can move me.”
That showed up on tape during his three seasons as a starter at North Carolina.
Throughout his time in Chapel Hill, Murphy showed off his strength, handling double teams well against the run, rarely getting moved off of the spot by opposing offensive linemen. As a pass rusher, Murphy leaned heavily on his bull rush, something the he consistently won with, even with opposing offensive linemen knowing it was coming.
“I like the club/swim club as a pass-rush move, but my go-to is my stutter bull[rush],” Murphy said. “I feel like nobody, I don’t think there’s nobody that can defend my stutter bull.”
That stutter bull-rush is very similar to the bull rush that guys like Heyward and Jones utilize, making them two of the best defensive linemen in football. There’s a reason it’s a go-to move for Murphy as he enters the NFL.
“Yeah, he’s nasty,” Murphy said of Heyward. “Imma be real. I don’t think nobody can guard that, my stutter bull.”
In his career at North Carolina, Murphy recorded 7.0 sacks, playing in 52 career games with 50 starts. Those numbers might not be eye-opening, but context is required when it comes to Murphy’s production.
The last two seasons, Murphy has been more of a two-gapping 3-tech, whereas in his breakout season in 2021, he was a penetrating 3-tech, one that wrecked opposing offenses with his power and his eye-opening quickness. In 2021 when he was allowed to play in a more penetrating role, Murphy recorded nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks for the Tar Heels that season, breaking out in a big way, truly putting himself on the NFL radar.
But playing under former Tar Heels’ defensive coordinator Gene Chizik the last two seasons put a cap on his production, forcing him to play a very specific role that led to him becoming a true team player, one that accepted his role and played it to the best of his ability, even if it hindered his production.
“I wasn’t allowed to do a whole lot of stuff. And these last two years, the defense coordinator, I really had to go to contain a lot,” Murphy said regarding the change in his role the last two seasons. “…It was very difficult for me, but my DC [Chizik], he was just like, ‘bro, I just need to embrace it bro,’ because he knew I was gonna get doubled a lot this year, too. He was like, ‘bro, embrace it. Don’t be like a selfish player and be like, oh, I’m not getting into production.’
“So I really developed that mindset of not being selfish and help my teammates, whether that be a linebacker making a play or the defensive end making a play. I gotta do my role to make sure they making any plays.”
That role really hindered Murphy’s production, causing him to drop off the NFL radar just a bit. But now here at the Shrine Bowl, Murphy will get a chance to show off his power and athleticism as a penetrating defensive lineman, one that should thrive in 1-on-1 matchups throughout practices during the week.
He has a great build with his size, and the power certainly shows up on tape. Getting out of that two-gapping role that limited what he could do from a production standpoint should do wonders for him, getting him back to the buzz he generated in 2021.
