High praise from one of the greatest college coaches of all time.
The standard for every slightly undersized, lean defensive tackle entering the NFL is former Los Angeles Rams standout Aaron Donald, one of the most dominant interior linemen of his generation and, arguably, in league history.
That’s exactly the comparison that former Texas Longhorns defensive tackle Byron Murphy earned from new NFL Draft analyst Nick Saban when the Seattle Seahawks selected Murphy with the No. 16 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday.
“One of the most disruptive players in the draft.”
“He is Aaron Donald-like”
-Nick Saban
— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) April 26, 2024
Former NFL GM Rick Spielman went in a similar direction, saying, “He’s not Aaron Donald, but he’s as close as you can get in this year’s draft.”
Football analyst Hugh Millen, a longtime NFL quarterback, also brought up Donald when discussing the pick by Seattle.
“There are attributes of Byron Murphy that reminds me of Aaron Donald,” Millen said.
At slightly under 6’1, Murphy is roughly the same height as Donald and lean for a defensive tackle at 297 pounds, about 10 pounds heavier than Donald, so it’s easy to see the physical similarities to the two players, which extend to the strength and quickness that both possess.
Taken with the 13th pick in the 2014 draft by the Rams, Donald was also selected in the middle of the first round, like Murphy, and was the first defensive tackle taken in that draft, too.
Murphy will need some favorable injury luck and to maximize his potential to continue earning mention with Donald as he gets into his NFL career, but it’s certainly high praise for Murphy to earn any comparison to the future Hall of Famer on the biggest night of his life so far.