The Cincinnati Bengals had plenty of good options on the board when they made Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy the 28th pick in the 2023 NFL draft.
But Murphy, blatantly the best player available on Cincinnati’s board, registers as one of the biggest steals of the entire first round.
Anthony Reinhard of Fantasy Life visualized how each pick of the first round compared to a consensus big board ranking and Murphy was by far the biggest steal of the round using this dataset.
Meaning, Murphy was rated much higher across all of the compiled big boards from experts than the 28th slot where the Bengals actually got him. Which, based on how coaches have talked about the pick, seems to mesh with the team’s actual board.
Does it mean Murphy will pan out and be the best pick of the draft? No, but it sure is fun to look at for fans:
With the first round complete, here is how pick compared to their consensus big board ranking
"reach" = player was taken earlier than their big board rank, "steal" = player was taken later than their big board rank. pic.twitter.com/Ce07Nsbo0y
— Anthony Reinhard (@reinhardNFL) April 28, 2023
