With all the speculation in the build-up to the draft focusing on defensive backs, I almost had to watch the announcement of the 16th pick through my fingers.

Byron Murphy and Troy Fautanu were both available. Either was fine by me. Surely they weren’t going to go cornerback? Surely they were going to follow what the Head Coach had been saying about wanting to be physically superior up front?

Then, relief. Roger Goodell announced Byron Murphy’s name. The player who was being tipped to go in the top-10 throughout the last week was instead one of the value picks in the first round.

It’s a fantastic statement of intent by the Seahawks. Re-signing Leonard Williams wasn’t seen as job done. They weren’t settling for that. Now, they can pair Williams with Murphy and let the pair wreak havoc. After years of watching the 49ers and Rams push the Seahawks around in the trenches, this is an opportunity to get a bit of revenge.

Seattle now has ample talent across the D-line. Throw Jarran Reed into the rotation, not to mention newly signed natural nose tackle Johnathan Hankins, and the Seahawks are ready for a fight up front. This is a far better situation than a year ago, where the numbers were so thin going into camp along the interior.

This will massively help the run defense. It’ll keep the linebackers clean. Murphy and Williams are athletic enough to stunt outside and cause real problems. They can move them around the line and create opportunities. It’s intriguing.

Last year at Texas, Murphy had a productive year. He led all defensive tackles with a pass rush grade of 91.5. His overall defensive grade (91.1) was second only to teammate T’Vondre Sweat. He ranked fifth for pressures (45), second for hurries (36) and his pass rush win percentage (19.1%) was way ahead of any player. Mason Graham in second had a percentage of 16.4%.

What I would say is I don’t think he’s necessarily ever going to be able to collect sacks. He hasn’t shown he can get the easy wins yet. When you watch Calijah Kancey at Pittsburgh a year ago, he won so often with burst and an effective swim/rip to get those easy wins. Murphy doesn’t show that on tape — he’s more powerful, disruptive. It might mean he’s never an 8-10 sack-artist at the next level. Grady Jarrett, who he’s often compared to, had a career high of 7.5 sacks in 2019. That might be his kind of peak range. Yet like Garrett, he’ll have every opportunity to play a complete brand of football.

The first round was unpredictable and at times, utterly insane. No restraint was shown in the top-12 as needs were prioritised. It all led to a tremendous opportunity for the teams picking 13th onwards. The Raiders didn’t waste any time snapping up Brock Bowers. The Saints nailed their pick with Taliese Fuaga. The Colts took their top rated defender with the pick of the bunch and then the Seahawks followed suit with Murphy.

It continued with the Rams (Jared Verse), Steelers (Troy Fautanu), Dolphins (Chop Robinson) and Eagles (Quinyon Mitchell). The teams who were willing to be patient were rewarded. Several players taken between #13-22 were top-10 worthy.

Seattle did the right thing not trading down. The drop-off from #22 was significant. It wasn’t worth missing out on Murphy to acquire extra stock. It’s the ideal starting point for the Mike Macdonald era and this latest draft class.

So what now?

It will not sit well with John Schneider to wait until #81. He’s been an active day-two trader in the past (Tyler Lockett, Jarran Reed, DK Metcalf, Darrell Taylor). A year ago, Seattle gained a future third round pick to drop from #83 to #108. Could they use their 2025 third rounder to move up from #81? It might be more palatable than usual given they’re expected to gain compensatory picks in rounds four and five next year.

If there’s an offensive lineman they really like — perhaps Roger Rosengarten, Christian Haynes or Dominick Puni — it might be worth moving up to really feel like you nailed the two lines. Perhaps they could be bold for a quarterback like Spencer Rattler or Michael Pratt?

If a few key names stay on the board towards the end of round two, it won’t be a shock if the Seahawks make their move.

We’ll finish by addressing this:

If true, then it speaks to Seattle’s determination to start adding at the position. If they’d pulled it off, it would’ve changed the landscape of the franchise forever. They do need to take some shots — and I wonder if a significant move on day two is coming up.

Here’s my horizontal board, updated with the players drafted removed:

If you missed our day one reaction stream, check it out here:

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