Who should replace Orakpo this week? Not Trent Murphy.

[PortisBetts]

Murph?

Set the edge in the run.

Got some pressures.

Was active and around the ball.

Broke-up a pass.

Recovered a fumble.

 

Hellva first start from the rook.

 

He played well last night. He was around the ball, making plays. He was in the backfield. Him and Kerrigan seem to have a chemistry already, more than Kerrigan and Orakpo ever had. I like this kid. I think he will be a solid player for us. I would be surprised if he turned into a stud, but not every player needs to be.

[TimmySmith]

I give Murphy a C+.  Which is not bad.  1 tackle, 1 pass defensed, 1 fumble recovery, got badly held in the endzone and should have been rewarded with a safety.   If you watched him all night as I did, you saw a guy get generally manhandled and was a non-factor on most plays.  He still did better than I thought he would.

[dballer]

I give Murphy a C+.  Which is not bad.  1 tackle, 1 pass defensed, 1 fumble recovery, got badly held in the endzone and should have been rewarded with a safety.   If you watched him all night as I did, you saw a guy get generally manhandled and was a non-factor on most plays.  He still did better than I thought he would.

 

I just don't see it where people are saying he is getting manhandled. He was going up against one of the top three LT and he was giving more than he was getting. Just rewatched the first half and at the point of a attack he was the aggressor.

 

Also, he was a fingernail away from knocking down that ball that Dez scored on...Then hustled down and got a lick on Dez as he was stretching for the endzone.  

[emor09]

No way does Orakpo recover that fumble. 

 

No way does Orakpo tip that ball and almost intercept. 

 

Orakpo probably would have been held as well in the endzone, but would have just thrown 1 arm up in the air and waited for a flag. 

[dballer]

My man was showing off some moves yesterday. Does have to finish that second sack, ended up incomplete but that could have been a big play.

Definitely needs to work on some things, but id hope he has changed some of the naysayers minds.

Add Murphy to a core group of Kerrigan, Keenan, amerson and breeland and you have a good young core of defenders going forward. Get a safety and DC and this unit should be pretty good.

[bradboyd80]

My man was showing off some moves yesterday. Does have to finish that second sack, ended up incomplete but that could have been a big play.

Definitely needs to work on some things, but id hope he has changed some of the naysayers minds.

Add Murphy to a core group of Kerrigan, Keenan, amerson and breeland and you have a good young core of defenders going forward. Get a safety and DC and this unit should be pretty good.

Overall I think he had a decent game yesterday.  Got one sack and from what I remember watching, was in the backfield quite a bit.  I remember seeing him get a handful of Bridgewater's jersey several times, but just wasn't able to get him. 

[SkinsGuy]

My man was showing off some moves yesterday. Does have to finish that second sack, ended up incomplete but that could have been a big play.

Definitely needs to work on some things, but id hope he has changed some of the naysayers minds.

Add Murphy to a core group of Kerrigan, Keenan, amerson and breeland and you have a good young core of defenders going forward. Get a safety and DC and this unit should be pretty good.

You forgot they have to get rid of Haslett, too.

Murphy, I think, will be good. He's a rookie right now. Got to give him time to mature.

[Gurgeh]

Decent game by Murphy on a not very good day for the defense. The drop-off from Orakpo was that the Vikings focused more on Kerrigan than they would have otherwise.

[Gregpeck99]

Murphy is a late bloomer who with weight room development could blossom into a poor man's JJWatt-type. 

 

Skins can use more players from Stanford.  Andrus Peat and Kevin Hogan will become NFL standouts.

[Dan T.]

Murphy reminds me physically of another tall, somewhat dorky looking linebacker who was a terror - Ted Hendricks. It was difficult to see Hendricks' talent right away, and he took a little while to blossom, but he ended up in Canton.

I see similarities in their playing styles. I'm not comparing their talents, but it's something for Trent to aspire to.

 

He was held for a good two seconds. I get that officials don't want to be the deciding factor in a game but that was so freaking blatant that even NFL.com has it up on highlights, asking if that was a missed call.

 

 

Tough to get that call in Dallas.

People may not want to hear it, but Murphy needs to brush up on his acting skills. He needs to draw all kinds of attention to the hold and make it very hard for the official to keep the flag in his pocket - throw up his off arm, arch his back, throw back his head - and do that without quitting on the play - then look expectantly for the flag with arms outstretched in a WTF pose...

He needs to do all that convincingly and with an earnest - and not whiny - demeanor. Then the calls will come.

 

No way does Orakpo recover that fumble. 

 

No way does Orakpo tip that ball and almost intercept. 

 

Orakpo probably would have been held as well in the endzone, but would have just thrown 1 arm up in the air and waited for a flag.

If Orakpo had more moves than 1. Bull rush or 2. outside blast with the swim motion, he would draw more flags.

[DogofWar1]

Add Murphy to a core group of Kerrigan, Keenan, amerson and breeland and you have a good young core of defenders going forward. Get a safety and DC and this unit should be pretty good.

Need to add a disruptive DL to that.  Cofield and Hatcher are decent, but everyone there is aging.  If we have a guy who is young and demands double teams, and can free up Kerrigan or Murphy, that would do wonders.  Hatcher and Cofield together can probably do that, but alone they seem to be unable to.

 

I'll bet with a new DC, one of the first things they'll want is a young top tier pass rusher, and that's going to have to come from the draft.

 

Depending on how the draft shakes out, and where we're picking, DL in the first might make sense, going safety in the 2nd.

 

Spend the money we won't be spending on Orakpo on OL in FA.  We've got our skill position guys locked in on contracts for another year or so, so we can focus OL in FA.

[dballer]

Need to add a disruptive DL to that. Cofield and Hatcher are decent, but everyone there is aging. If we have a guy who is young and demands double teams, and can free up Kerrigan or Murphy, that would do wonders. Hatcher and Cofield together can probably do that, but alone they seem to be unable to.

I'll bet with a new DC, one of the first things they'll want is a young top tier pass rusher, and that's going to have to come from the draft.

I was going to say a DLineman but I like Baker, and I feel like good 3-4 DLineman can be found. The interior guys aren't normally big time pass rushers in this defense. Kearse has showed some promise and has Jenkins. They can be upgraded no doubt I just don't think it's something you have to drop a top pick on.

I think Safety is the most immediate need. Now if Thomas can get some Pt and looks like he can be a good player a good DLineman would move up the list. That'd be best case scenario.