Gabriel Murphy's path toward making the Minnesota Vikings' final 53-man roster is quite clear
The offseason is officially in full swing now that the NFL Draft and rookie minicamps are over with. Next up is OTAs, mandatory minicamp, and then training camp before the preseason and regular season kick into gear.The Minnesota Vikings are on track for a very interesting summer. When counting free agent additions, draft picks, and […]
The offseason is officially in full swing now that the NFL Draft and rookie minicamps are over with. Next up is OTAs, mandatory minicamp, and then training camp before the preseason and regular season kick into gear.
The Minnesota Vikings are on track for a very interesting summer. When counting free agent additions, draft picks, and undrafted free agents, Minnesota has over 30 new faces in the fold and all of them will be fighting for a roster spot – whether it's an open spot or not.
One of those new faces is UDFA Gabriel Murphy, who shockingly fell out of the draft. Many experts had him pegged as a Round 4 selection, or early Day 3 pick. But instead, he landed in the Vikings' laps without requiring any draft capital.
Murphy had a very solid career as a pass rusher at UCLA, but his short arms are the catalyst behind his fall. Regardless, he has plenty of other tools that can help him make an NFL roster.
And, the Vikings have the overall availability when it comes to Murphy snagging a spot on the final 53-man rosters.
"Overall, Murphy’s lack of length and desired size will be tougher to mask at the next level, but he was a pass-rushing nuisance in college, because of his skilled hands and quick feet. He has the juice to make an impact as a subpackage rusher who can also play on special teams." – Dane Brugler, The Athletic
Murphy's overall athleticism is a big deal, too. His RAS (relative athletic score) was one of the highest, at 9.28 out of 10, entering Day 3, which should've prompted teams to pull the trigger.
Murphy can start the season as high as EDGE4 if he does things the right way
The Vikings have their top-2 pass rushers in Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel and then there's No. 17 overall pick, Dallas Turner, in the fold. But, Van Ginkel can play different positions along the defensive front and Brian Flores is going to use him like that. Sure, the majority of AVG's snaps will come on the outside, but there will be an open spot for another rusher after he's moved around.
The same goes for Turner, who can also be moved around, although he'll be on the outside the majority of the time.
Regardless, this creates the perfect dynamic for Murphy to win the EDGE4 position and be an obvious passing down-type rusher while he continues to develop. Yes, there are other guys he has to beat out in Pat Jones, Andre Carter II, Jihad Ward, and the latter was added in March, but none of them have the resumes or contracts to where the Vikings have to give them any benefit of the doubt, so to speak. The rest of Murphy's competition are UDFAs, themselves.
Ward is the biggest challenge. The veteran journeyman is entering his ninth NFL season and is on his sixth team in the Vikings. He has 18.0 career sacks over the course of 102 games. His career-high for a single season is 5.0 sacks.
Next up is Pat Jones, who played 635 defensive snaps in 2023. His production was nowhere near his presence, however, as he logged just one sack in 388 pass rush snaps, per Pro Football Focus. Sure, the sack came in one of the last three games when he filled in for injury, and he had three tackles for loss in that same contest against the Lions, but that leaves 353 other pass rush snaps that resulted in zero sacks and just zero tackles for loss. He was not very good against the run, either. Last up is Andre Carter, who has been on a football field for just 68 defensive snaps.
The road to the final 53 is there. It'll be interesting to see if Murphy can make it.
