Cincinnati Bengals coaches were more than a little excited to add Clemson defensive end Myles Murphy in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
Fans were a little more split, mostly thanks to the never-ended access to draft content. The fact that Notre Dame tight end Michael Mayer was still on the board seemed to be the biggest point of polarization.
So there’s the question — should Mayer have been the pick?
Mayer’s certainly a flashy player who would help the offense. He scored 16 touchdowns over the last two seasons and is a good blocker, too.
But it’s not exactly fair to undersell Murphy’s flashy highlights or production either — 20 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, 66 quarterback hurries and five batted passes over three seasons isn’t exactly something to turn the nose up at.
It feels like this mini-debate has an easy answer — yes, Murphy was the better pick. Pass-rush is far more important than tight end in today’s NFL and this happens to be the deepest class of tight ends we’ve seen in a decade. Even worse, tight end is a crapshoot — the number of first-round tight ends who have panned out is terrible. And to top it all off, Mayer didn’t get picked at all.
That’s not to say Murphy is guaranteed to pan out or anything. But pass-rusher was the one thing the team really didn’t address in free agency. His arrival and immediate insertion into the rotation will help keep veterans fresh and make the overall unit more effective, plus he’s got long-term starter written all over him.
In all seriousness, Bengals fans understood Thursday night would be best player available. That was Murphy on their board and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and the scouting department have earned some trust.
