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Redskins 2nd Round pick, #47 overall, is the 7th player from their 2014 draft class to sign a contract with the team. 3rd Round pick Morgan Moses is the only remaining draftee without a contract. Murphy is expected to start his Redskins career at OLB, and be involved in the Redskins Nasty Nickel package and special teams. He led the NCAA in sacks while playing at Stanford last season with 15, and the Redskins are looking to improve their dismal pass rush from last year's performance.
"We saw in Trent Murphy another guy that can rush a passer. He’s a proven pass rusher – 14-and-a-half sacks this year. He led the country in sacks. He works his tail off. He’s first on the field every day and the last to leave. He studies the game. He’s big, he’s long. He may not have the explosion right now off the line of scrimmage, which might have knocked him down to the second round, but I look for production, I look for intensity, I look for toughness and accountability. He’s got all those traits and if he has all those traits, I know he is going to work hard in the weight room to get stronger and provide another pass rusher and some depth at the position. We felt like he was a very good fit on our team." - Jay Gruden
Hogs Haven alum and current Washington Post writer Mark Bullock looked at the possibility of Murphy in the Redskins Nickel package.
In this package, Kerrigan moved inside and put his hand in the dirt as a defensive tackle. That freed up a spot at outside linebacker for Brandon Jenkins to fill. Washington had some success with this package in preseason last year, but went away from it during the regular season. But with the addition of Jason Hatcher on the defensive line and Trent Murphy in the draft, I wonder if this is one of the ‘extravagant’ nickel packages that Haslett will revisit. Murphy has the ability to slide inside like Kerrigan did in the picture above, or take Jenkins’s spot on the outside. A combination of Hatcher and Orakpo attacking the left side of the offensive line, along with Kerrigan’s quickness inside could leave Murphy with plenty of one-on-one matchups against right tackles.
FULL STORY: LB Trent Murphy (@TMurphy_93) inks rookie deal with #Redskins: http://t.co/92WGtamnIg pic.twitter.com/MWzIR0jOdP
— Washington Redskins (@Redskins) May 23, 2014
Press Release:
The Washington Redskins announced today that they have signed 2014 second-round draft pick linebacker Trent Murphy (47th overall). In addition, the team signed free agent wide receiver Rashad Ross and waived wide receiver Kofi Hughes. Terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Murphy (6-5, 258) started 42 of the 44 career games in which he played at Stanford, finishing third in Cardinal history with 32.5 career sacks. As a senior last season, Murphy started all 14 games, leading the Football Bowl Subdivision with 15.0 sacks and earning All-Pac-12 first-team honors.
Murphy, 23, was born on Dec. 20, 1990. He attended Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, where he was named the 2008 Arizona Republic All-State Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.
Redskins second-round Trent Murphy's deal is worth $4.472 million, including $2.616 million guaranteed, $1.572 million signing bonus
— Aaron Wilson (@RavensInsider) May 23, 2014
A look at Trent Murphy's skill set and how the #Redskins might use him http://t.co/izQmzp14Hn
— Mark Bullock (@UkRedskin1) May 14, 2014