ESPN: Eric Murray's value to Gophers hard to quantify; potential 1st round pick

per ESPN:

And maybe there's a chance one of the most suffocating cover-guys in college football, and a potential first-round NFL draft pick next year, would be more of a household name, not only nationally but even within the Big Ten, if there was more than one career interception on his résumé. But considering everything else the rising senior provides for Minnesota, the truth is nobody there seems to care much about it at all.

"I really don't think about the number," Murray said after walking off the practice field last month. "I just worry about doing my job, and if I'm put in the position and I'm able to do extra, I will do that.

"I do get my opportunities and I just have to make the most of my opportunities when they come.”

"I think it's one of those things where he's really, really good at so many things,” Sawvel said. "He's a good tackler, he's a great blitzer, he's a tremendous special-teams player, he's very, very good in press coverage to the point where a lot of times a play will just break down. There are a lot of times that he doesn't show up in a play, but he's a big part of our success in it because of what he does for us in the style of football we play.

"I really think like this, if Eric Murray comes out of this year and he has three or four interceptions this season, he'll probably be a first-round pick -- provided he does the other stuff the way that he does. We have talked about it, and I look at it this way, he just needs to get better at finishing some things."

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/117899/eric-murrays-value-to-minnesota-hard-to-quantify

Go Gophers!!

How many times was Murray even thrown at last year? To get 4 picks he'll need to be thrown at more often, lucky for him BBC and the rest of the secondary is good enough teams won't be able to avoid Murray.

I love the attention our D backfield is getting. They'll get a big opportunity to validate it right out of the gate vs. TCU.

There was an ESPN article last year showing the numbers of the #1 WRs he faced and he essentially held every single one to far below their averages. Dude is simply a coverage monster. I don't care about his lack of INTs because he's usually draped all over a WR. He doesn't play a ton of zone either which often helps, and then on top of that there have definitely been games where he's only thrown at once or twice

Murray has been such a great asset as a tackler as well. Great in supporting the run and defending the bubble screen.

oleboy41 said:

There was an ESPN article last year showing the numbers of the #1 WRs he faced and he essentially held every single one to far below their averages. Dude is simply a coverage monster. I don't care about his lack of INTs because he's usually draped all over a WR. He doesn't play a ton of zone either which often helps, and then on top of that there have definitely been games where he's only thrown at once or twice

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Agree on all this. The most under publicized benefit of our corners is that we can leave them on an island and use our Safeties to be extra aggressive. We saw that a ton last year and EM31s ability to blanket the WR 1-on-1 is the #1 reason we can do that.


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oleboy41 said:

There was an ESPN article last year showing the numbers of the #1 WRs he faced and he essentially held every single one to far below their averages. Dude is simply a coverage monster. I don't care about his lack of INTs because he's usually draped all over a WR. He doesn't play a ton of zone either which often helps, and then on top of that there have definitely been games where he's only thrown at once or twice

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If he'd only turn his head.

okay j/k

It has been amazing to see all the talent in the defensive backfield that has been lost to injury or graduation that has not been an issue because of the great depth this staff has developed. The fact that this staff has been able to move players to CB, Nickel, and S in a seamless way to address need, while bringing new players like #28, #22, and now Rodgers without Missing a beat. I am especially excited to see Antonio Johnson # 11) and Travis (#7) laying the wood to the Big Ten this year.

The great thing about this staff is that you will not be recruited if you cannot run. No one is going outrun our DB corp uniess they are elite (OSU), and team like Iowa have zero chance. It amazing t watch the replays of last year and note how often other Big Ten teams look slow and plodding vs. our defense.

oak_street1981 said:

It has been amazing to see all the talent in the defensive backfield that has been lost to injury or graduation that has not been an issue because of the great depth this staff has developed. The fact that this staff has been able to move players to CB, Nickel, and S in a seamless way to address need, while bringing new players like #28, #22, and now Rodgers without Missing a beat. I am especially excited to see Antonio Johnson # 11) and Travis (#7) laying the wood to the Big Ten this year.

The great thing about this staff is that you will not be recruited if you cannot run. No one is going outrun our DB corp uniess they are elite (OSU), and team like Iowa have zero chance. It amazing t watch the replays of last year and note how often other Big Ten teams look slow and plodding vs. our defense.

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Wasn't long ago it was the exact opposite.

I think Mason ordered really heavy shoes for the guys.

Id rather they fly under the radar just a little bit during the season. Getting drafted in the 1st round would be huge for not only EM but for Kill and the gophers recruiting efforts.

IAGopherfan said:

Id rather they fly under the radar just a little bit during the season. Getting drafted in the 1st round would be huge for not only EM but for Kill and the gophers recruiting efforts.

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Would Keelon Brookins even make the starting D line up here at MN? I don't recall him playing against MN last year.

wait!what? said:

Would Keelon Brookins even make the starting D line up here at MN? I don't recall him playing against MN last year.

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Probably not. No, he didn't play against the Gophers last year. I'm not sure why you're posting about him on an Eric Murray thread, particularly given that he plays LB.

wait!what? said:

Would Keelon Brookins even make the starting D line up here at MN? I don't recall him playing against MN last year.

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Random thought there but no he wouldn't.