CINCINNATI – The week of the NFL Draft usually stirs memories for players, especially those coming off of their rookie seasons. Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy is no exception.
Not only is Murphy thinking back on the advice he received last year when he was coming out of Clemson and heading toward becoming a first-round pick, he’s passing it on.
“I have a lot of teammates that I played with at Clemson that are in the process now, so they have been asking me a lot of questions as far as, ‘What did you do on draft night?’ and so on,” Murphy said on Monday morning as the Bengals began Week 2 of the voluntary portion of the offseason program.
“The biggest thing that I tell them that I was told from vets in the league was just enjoy the night. Don’t be worried about, ‘Oh, why wasn’t I picked yet? Why is my phone not ringing yet?’ Just enjoy the night and enjoy the people around you. Enjoy the experience. That’s my biggest message to all of them right now.”
NFL Draft Stirring Memories for Bengals’ Myles Murphy
Murphy can’t help but reflect on last April because of how many former teammates have been reaching out to him, from those he played alongside, such as defensive tackles Ruke Orhorhoro and Tyler Davis and edge rusher Xavier Thomas, to guys on the other side of the ball such as running back Will Shipley.
But more than anything else, Murphy thinks about where he was and how he felt a year ago compared to where things stand today.
Myles Murphy has arrived in Cincinnati.@BigMurphy_25 | @IEL_LLC pic.twitter.com/FZHuITxZMt
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) April 29, 2023
“There are two types of conditions — there is a Combine condition and there is football condition,” Murphy said. “I was in great Combine condition a year ago but not in good football condition. So I feel like right now I’m in really good football condition. My endurance is great, the strength is there. So I feel like my preparation for this upcoming season is much better than it was last year.”
And that has Murphy excited about contributing more in 2024 than he did as a rookie when he only played 27.8% of the defensive snaps.
While the total wasn’t what he wanted, the good news is that his rookie year progressed on an ideal trajectory, with his playing time increasing during the second half of the season.
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“I feel like the biggest mental difference from college to now is the playbook is a little bit easier, but the on-field, in-game adjustments when the crowd is extremely loud is a lot more difficult,” Murphy said. “That’s the biggest game changer, in my opinion. Toward the end of the season, I was predicting and knowing what [the play-callers] were already going to say, what defense it was.
“So I was most definitely moving faster, knowing what to do and what to expect from our side of the ball and the offensive line. And I always had a plan when it came to pass rushing, especially in the second half of the season.”
Murphy finished the year with three sacks and 15 pressures.
He tried to take some time off to decompress and visit with his family at home in Atlanta, but he’s a restless soul who struggled to be idle, so he quickly booked a flight to Arizona and spent the month of February doing the kind of offseason work and conditioning that eluded him in the draft run-up in 2023.
“I was at Exos [Sports Performance Training], so I was with Ruke and X.T., T.D., and all them doing their draft prep,” he said of his former Clemson teammates.
“So I started working out, then came back to Atlanta for March until now. Really, just working and putting on muscle. My routine every offseason is to bulk up, put on muscle, and then once we get close to the season, lean out. Right now, I’m sitting around 278-280 [pounds], but I always get down to about 273-272 right before the season.”
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In addition to getting stronger, another key to Murphy getting on the field more will be his ability to rush the pass off both edges.
He played on the right side almost exclusively in college, and with Trey Hendrickson locked in on that side as one of the best rushers in the league, the coaches’ message to Murphy at the end of last year was to make himself able to be moved around in the formation.
“Just being more versatile so if anything happens, it’s not anything new to you,” he said. “When I got thrown in and I was like going from that (left) side, it was almost a new feeling. Although I’d done it before, it was almost a new feeling. So for sure, just honing in on my skill sets on both sides and making everything look even and the same. That was a big message.”
Last year, everything felt new, from where Murphy lived to where he lined up to who he hung out with.
“You go into a locker room with 30-year-olds with families, and I’m just the new kid on the block,” he said.
Two weeks into the offseason program, Murphy said he’s pleased with his comfort level.
“It’s very calming,” he said. “I know everyone in the locker room, and it’s not that serious. It’s like a college locker room. Although some people do have families, they’re still big kids, in my opinion.”
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