Cardinals to use Murphy in the slot next season
Back in April, back before the draft, things were different for the Arizona Cardinals. They planned on playing their veteran cornerbacks outside, and giving rookie Byron Murphy more time to absorb the defense. But plans changed, as they often do.
Coach Kliff Kingsbury suddenly needed Murphy to step in quickly. He did just that, but now, Kingsbury says he’d like to see Murphy play primarily in the slot next season.
“We’d like to,” Kingsbury said Wednesday. “To me, it’s been tough, him having to play corner and play half the season going against their best wideouts, that’s a tall task for him. We drafted him to be that nickel-type body.”
Murphy, a second-round draft pick and an Arizona native, has started every game in his rookie campaign. With Patrick Peterson’s six-week suspension at the start of the season, coupled with Robert Alford’s injury, which has sidelined him since training camp, there was no real choice.
“His role was going to be the third corner, as a nickle,” defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said Thursday. “And that’s a starting position. So it’s not a position where it’s a spot that we don’t covet. It’s a real position, and it really fits Murph’s skill set . ... If he can be a top-rate nickle for us, that’s gonna help us win.”
Joseph compared Murphy to Leon Hall, who he coached in Cincinnati. Peterson compared him to former-Cardinal safety Tyrann Mathieu, like “a wild card for the defense,” who has “to learn a different position almost every other week.” And Peterson thinks the rookie has handled that fluid role well.
“Byron’s been all over the place,” Peterson said. “Byron’s been outside, inside, playing single safety. I thought when we drafted him, I thought it was a great pickup for us, because he can pretty much put him anywhere.”
With that though, comes the added load of learning multiple spots inside and out. Now, with two games left, the plan is to get Murphy to focus more on nickel in preparation for next year. The discussions heated up as the team got to December, giving him the last four weeks to prioritize physical and mental reps there. The coaches also feel that that necessitated flexibility can benefit Murphy in future years.
He’ll get a more immediate chance this Sunday in Seattle, right near the University of Washington, where he played collegiality. As a Husky, he played mostly outside, and he was the MVP of the 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game.
“He’s a ballhawk around the football, he can do different things and he’s been playing really out of position, which has been good for him,” Kingsbury said. “He’s had to grow up a bunch and face some ups and downs, and I think it’ll pay dividends down the road, but it hasn’t always been exactly fair to him throwing him out there in some of those situations.”
Murphy still has some growing to do. He struggled in particular against Pittsburgh, with receiver Diontae Johnson admitting that the Steelers saw things on film that led them to attack Murphy.H e has allowed 63 receptions.
He’s also logged 69 total tackles (fourth-most on the team), two for loss, eight passes defended, and he got his first interception against Tampa Bay.
“As a rookie corner, he’s done some good things. But it’s a tough position,” Joseph said. “Quarterback, corner, offensive line for rookies are tough. But again, he’s never complained about his hard days. He’s always working, he’s always smiling, and he’s going to be 40% better for what he did next year.”
The Cardinals were forced to play a few rookies early this season. Joseph believes that particularly young defensive backs benefit from getting those early reps. And that optimism permeates through the defense.
“I think next year, once we get Robert (Alford) back, we’re gonna be one heck of a secondary to be reckoned with,” Peterson said. “...If upper management can find a way to keep, not only the secondary together, but the key players that we need to make this turnover, I think the sky’s the limit for this defense for sure.”