The Elephant in the Room: Kenneth Murray.

[gzubeck]

Sadly, that is a possibility...Staley didn't pick him, he was a total Lynn pick..a consolation for TT's Herbert selection...but I am crossing my fingers Staley molds him into something very useful for us, wherever that may be.

Once the the two wolves ( Bosa and Mack) flush the chicken out of the coop the K-9 chomps on the left overs!

[Riverwalk]

Bust

[blueman]

Thought I would post his highlight film again. If all he has to worry about is 5 yards down field and and keeping everything in front of him this guy is a monster.

Dude, we should totally draft this guy!

[Velo]

Thought I would post his highlight film again. If all he has to worry about is 5 yards down field and and keeping everything in front of him this guy is a monster.

This guy was a monster in college too. Sometimes they aren't the same player in the NFL.

[sonorajim]

Thought I would post his highlight film again. If all he has to worry about is 5 yards down field and and keeping everything in front of him this guy is a monster.

Murray was on IR with an ankle last year, week 4 - wk 10, played limited snaps wk 11-15, out wk 16, back for wk 17.
It's a lock that he will have a much better year..
1. if he's reasonably healthy for more than 3 games

[21&500]

Trying him at edge was very telling to me, and it told me Staley does not see him at iLB. Right or wrong, I don't see K9 there.
like Lonebolt said, task K9 to be Mack's shadow and hope something rubs off.

or trade him back to Lynn's 9ers for a 3rd

[Velo]

Trying him at edge was very telling to me, and it told me Staley does not see him at iLB. Right or wrong, I don't see K9 there.
like Lonebolt said, task K9 to be Mack's shadow and hope something rubs off.

or trade him back to Lynn's 9ers for a 3rd

Well he's got the talent, there's no denying that. Maybe he just turns out to be one of those guys who need a couple of years to figure out how to play in the NFL, and he is lights out this season. One can only hope.

[gzubeck]

This guy was a monster in college too. Sometimes they aren't the same player in the NFL.

Taking an ill tempered player and comparing him to any player will get you those results. Having K-9 running twenty yards down the field trying to cover receivers is like trying to have an offensive linemen play receiver more than a few trick plays at the goal line.

[Steve]

Hoping better DL play in front of him allows him to play to his strengths.

I suspect Staley/TT are thinking the same, since they signed 2 NT to play in front of him in what is mostly a 42 D.

[SuperCharged]

This guy was a monster in college too. Sometimes they aren't the same player in the NFL.

LOL nailed it!

:lmao:

[Steve]

May not be a popular concept, but they may well try him at edge again...coming out Mack was 10 pounds heavier, and had a wee bit more length, but Murray a little speedier and agile...otherwise somewhat similar body types...possible understudy to Mack? That is a crowded LB room with Tranquil, Amen, and Niemann...as I said in another thread, we may be seeing a ton of 5-1-5 packages...not a lot of room for Murray, unless he turns a corner and really gets it this offseason...or he cross trains at edge again. Just a theory. On the other hand, in a 5-1-5, the lone LB does just what Murray does best...stay close to the line, and run to the ball....make a play.

Not that crowded a room. of the 4players (Amen, Niemann, Tranquill and Murray) Niemann didn't play much on D, Amen played a bit more, mostly due to injuries and didn't excel so that leaves Tranquill and Murray. I would really count Amen and Niemann as ST guys more than defensive guys unless they really step up.

It looks when Staley went to a lot of 5-1-5 nickel packages with the Rams, he went exclusively with 425 nickel the first couple games, and then went with more of his smaller DL. We used the 515 very sparingly last season. The Rams thing I think was more about trying to get his team's strength on the field. They were weak at ILB and strong at DL. We may not be strong at ILB, but I wouldn't call our DL a strength, even with the FA reinforcements.

I think there is a reason we signed 2 NT To play in front of our LB. It accomplishes much of the same thing as a 5 man front (keep the LB clean) and still leaves the LB to flow, drop, rush or blitz.

With signing Jackson, I would just like to see us run more 5 man pressures. With the Rams, Staley would run a lot of very rushes or blitzes, not to free up the LB, because his ILB were not great blitz guys. He just used it to occupy the blockers. That gave his best rushers Floyd and Donald to be singled up. Everyone knows how tough Donald is to block one on one. We may not have the inside push the Rams did, but with Mack and Bosa, it's still 2 guys who are really, really hard to block one on one. And if Murray can start to figure out some pass rush moves, that could be guy #3, making it even tougher for OL to get everyone blocked.

[blueman]

Murray showed a bit of pass rush moves in that college highlight reel. I still like the idea of him freed up the way we’ve never been able to do.