One can choose to believe and agree with Pro Football Focus's (one must subscribe) grades or not. Most of their predictions for various things are based on those grades, including a recent one involving a certain Seattle Seahawks player, and that makes sense.
A site that bases everything it does on its own grading scale has to lead into that. Otherwise, they look foolish. Of course, PFF does look silly at times, such as a recent linebacker ranking for 2025 that has former Seattle linebacker Tyrel Dodson ranked ahead of current Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones IV.
With that in mind, we will still hope that the positive predictions or rankings it has involving Seattle come true. One recent article predicting the best potential breakout players at each position in 2025 has Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II chosen as the breakout interior defender.
Pro Football Focus projects Seahawks' Byron Murphy II to have breakout season
The reason PFF gives for the positivity is that while Murphy's overall grade wasn't great, he had a pass-rush win-rate of 10 percent, and he ranked in the top quarter of run-stoppers.
It is difficult for any rookie to excel in their first season. Murphy has good size and strength, but he was also having to learn what head coach Mike Macdonald needed for his defense. Being surrounded by productive veterans, Jarran Reed and Leonard Williams, was great, but they also ate into Murphy's snap count.
For the Seahawks' defense to turn from good to great, players such as Murphy need to elevate their game. Counting on Reed and, especially, Williams to be as good as they have been and stay healthy is a risk. Should one go down for any amount of time, Murphy is going to have to play at their level. He has the athleticism to do that, but he hasn't proven he can yet.
PFF also points out that Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike had a fantastic season in his second season under Macdonald, when Seattle's head coach was still the defensive coordinator in Baltimore. One important difference, though, is that Madubuike's breakout season came in his fourth year in the NFL.
He also regressed a bit last season, so one might wonder if his one good year was simply an accident instead of portending majorly productive seasons to come. In the case of Murphy, the Seahawks need the 2024 first-round draft choice to consistently play like a first-round selection.
Assuming Murphy is a bust after just one season in Macdonald's system is foolish. The greater chance is that he gets very good and stays that way. Let's hope Pro Football Focus is correct in their projection that 2025 is the year Murphy becomes excellent.
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