CINCINNATI — Myles Murphy took some time away from his draft celebration to send an opening message to Bengals fans on Thursday.
The Bengals took the pass rusher with the 28th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
"Cincinnati, We getting to the quarterback, we getting to the Super Bowl, we getting to the AFC championship," Murphy said. "Hey, Who Dey!"
Murphy is the consensus 17th-ranked player on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board. He adds juice to a pass rush that ranked 29th in total sacks last season.
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
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.