FanPost

Let's talk about new Chiefs DB Eric Murray, his skills and where he fits

Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

From the FanPosts. Good stuff. -Joel

Continuing a little post-draft New Chiefs player preview, up now is Eric Murray.

Previously: Chris Jones Pre-Being Draft, Chris Jones by MNChiefsFan, Chris Jones by ChiefWarPaint KeiVarae Russell

Eric Murray, Cornerback, Minnesota

Who is he:

Eric Murray started off with an impact at Minnesota seeing solid playing time in every game as a freshman, albeit mostlyon special teams. Murray started his true-sophomore campaign in the same role but took over as the starting CB during the year and never relinquished the job. Starting at CB both as a junior and senior for the Golden Gophers.

Murray ended up starting 39 straight games for Minnesota and receiving All Big Ten honors in both of his starting years. As a junior he was voted second team Big Ten and third team in 2015. Murray was voted the best DB and defensive MVP of Minnesota's defense during his senior season. Murray also continued to play special teams at Minnesota even when starting 39 straight games at CB.

Eric Murray was also voted Team Captain in 2015 and received constant praise from teammates and coaches for his on and off field commitment to the team and game.

Raw numbers

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 199 pounds

Arm Length: 31 ¾"

Hand Size: 9"

40 Time: 4.49

Short Shuttle: 4.05

3 Cone: 7.08

Vertical: 39.5"

Broad Jump: 10'4"

Bench: 15 reps

The Athletic Profile (thanks to Everest) of the typical Chiefs DB is almost completely full with Murray, who just falls a little short of our preferred sub seven second three cone time.

Where he wins

Eric Murray's biggest advantage is his versatility, which is seen in his ability to cover big, strong receivers equally as well as small, quick receivers. Murray's physical traits allow him to play both big and fast leaving him in a good matchup vs most wide receivers. Along with match up versatility, Murray brings both inside and outside coverage skills.

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This play may not look like much but diving in a little deeper we can see "bonus" things. To start with alignment, we can't see it from this angle but Murray is actually lined up outside the numbers in what looks like off-man coverage over No. 17 for OSU. As the play starts Murray sees Devin Smith pushing up the seam hard and breaks off the underneath route in this combination and gets downfield before Smith can get over the top. This early recognition and zone responsibility is nice to see from a CB who admittedly likes to press and get physical. He ignores the desire to jump the short route (despite Barret looking that way) and gets into his deep zone early on so he's not playing catch up.

Press coverage is his specialty, while he has experience in off and zone coverage he is much more comfortable when allowed to get into a receiver's body and get physical. His quick jab on a WR is strong and well located allowing him to throw receivers off while not sacrificing his positioning. He continues to ride receiver's hips well in trail technique or get into their chest when they try to break off their route.

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So we saw one zone play against OSU last year, now here's a press-man play. Notice Murray's quick, accurate, and powerful punch that completely throws off Michael Thomas (a 6'3 215lb receiver) off of his route. Murray doesn't end it there though, he continues to stay in front of Thomas continuing to bump him for about the 5 yards allowed in the NFL. He pushed Thomas so far off his route that he almost took the TE out of the seam route as well.

Murray brings his physicality to the run game as well playing behind the line of scrimmage. Murray is a good corner blitzer making sure to square up the ball and keep it in front of him. Against the run he is not going to ride out a block, instead he's going to slip it and lower his shoulder to deliver a big hit.

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Murray does a good job keeping his eyes on the QB on a short third and five and breaks off his vertical route to deliver a huge hit the underneath WR as he tries to make a catch.

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Murray showing the ability to come downhill vs the run game (after slipping a Josh Doctson block) and lower his shoulder delivering a big hit.

One thing I was very interested to see, was how Murray stacked up against elite athleticism / size because watching his tape I thought that might be a weakness of his. As we saw in that earlier clip, Murray can be physical with bigger, stronger WRs like Michael Thomas. Thomas won some good routes against Murray but Murray never seemed to be outclassed by him.

Another matchup I wanted to see was against Josh Doctson, who was tearing up Minnesota in the first quarter before Murray was switched onto him. Once Murray took on the job, Doctson had five catches for 65-ish yards on seven targets and Murray recorded one INT. Good speed coupled with great size didn't seem to hamper Murray too much in either case.

What he needs to work on

  • Murray's top end speed on the field leaves a little to be desired after seeing his forty.
  • He has a little stall in his change of direction both laterally and getting downfield.
  • Very handsy all the way downfield leading to quite a few penalties.
  • Plays the receivers hands, leading to a ton of pass break-ups but few INTs.
  • Murray doesn't always square up his tackles, often times looking at the ground when trying to make the hit.

Along with watching his match up vs bigger receivers, I wanted to see how he fared against elite speed/quick guys. These happened to be the players that caused the most issue for Murray, specifically Devin Smith and Kolby Listenbee. Listenbee was able to get on the top of Murray a few times between the two match ups over the last two years using sudden bursts and long speed and Smith was able to lose Murray a few times with his start-stop speed and ability to attack the ball. Neither guy had huge days but made Murray get very handsy downfield.

Where he fits with the team

Murray didn't show a ton of slot experience in the limited tape that I watched but he did kick in there from time to time. He seems to have the skillset to play inside, outside, and in the slot safety role we used Abdullah in. At some point, Murray still may end up being in a bad match up vs some faster, longer WRs on the outside that like to get over the top of defenses. Murray should have a long career as a nickel CB in the NFL with the potential to become a spot starter at some point. He will also provide much needed special teams help immediately.

This year I don't expect Murray to start the year getting a ton of snaps but he'll be involved in the back in of the CB rotation. Barring any injury I see him starting and ending the year as the Dime CB competing with Brown/Wilson to be the first true Dime DB on the field. Murray will also be a good gunner on both kickoff and punt coverage teams.

Games watched:

Vs OSU (2014), vs Iowa 2015
Vs TCU 2015 (note, he's not the highlighted player, Murray is the other CB)
Vs TCU and SJSU (2014)

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.