Field Gulls
How did Byron Murphy II, Tyrice Knight, and the other rookies play in the Seahawks’ first win in NFC West play this season? Let’s look at the All-22.
The Seattle Seahawks rookies combined for 153 snaps in the team’s thrilling 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers. This was a result of three of them starting and, more importantly, actually making an impact on the game. We’re going to take a look at how those rookies performed in this critical road victory.
All data used in this article was taken from PFF.
Murphy wasn’t responsible for the defense’s excellent play against the run, but he was a key part of the change. His numbers via PFF didn’t reflect how he actually played, with him being attributed only one stop and no pressures.
In the 49ers’ outside zone, Murphy moves well and adjusts his hands to control the OL. Once he does this, he pushes the opponent back, forcing Christian McCaffrey to cutback and into the arms of Ernest Jones.
He moves well laterally, but keeps the backfield under his watch. He uses an arm-over to get away from the OL and leaves McCaffrey with no options.
He is blocked by the center and right guard and is moved back. He recovers quickly and breaks down the block and helps with the tackle.
Although the OL played a little better, it was still not at a good level. When you are drafted in the third round, you expect that when the OGs play at the level that Anthony Bradford and Laken Tomlinson have been playing, you will be able to be the starter.
I considered Knight a hidden gem in the draft. I was extremely sad when I didn’t see any prospects for him in his first year. I was equally happy with him becoming the starter with the cut of Tyrel Dodson.
He was the third best in run defense, behind Devon Witherspoon and Boye Mafe, the second best grade in tackles, behind only Julian Love. In addition, he was the third best in coverage grade, behind Derick Hall (???) and Boye Mafe. He gave up 2 targets with 2 receptions for 12 yards. He was second on the team with 10 tackles, with no mistakes, behind only Ernest Jones.
Despite an aggressive mentality, Knight is not the biggest of the LBs, physically. He makes up for it by doing a great job of navigating between blocks and either avoiding opposing blockers, or escaping quickly.
Except for the OL and Geno Smith, he was second only to DK Metcalf in offensive snaps. He was third in pass block grade, behind Abe Lucas and Zach Charbonnet.
AJ Barner reads the gap between the zones correctly and quickly turns to the QB. However, he should have stopped and not continued running towards the opponent....
