I think that’s because for the first 3 or 4 games of the season Murphy was a nice surprise before he fell off a cliff. That first quarter of the season bought him the middle before people started to really bang on him toward the end.
At the end of the day, we don't know if we don't try.
Our defense, even fully healthy, isn't good enough to keep out the #8 pick in the draft. The Ravens are playing Queen, he's playing 70% of snaps and has a PFF Grade of 30, the same as Simmons. But they are still playing him because he's not going to improve sat on his ass. And their defense is massively better than ours. Even pick #98 Malik Harrison is getting 20%+ snaps for the Ravens (54 grade).
The Chargers are players Kenneth Murray. He's racking up 80% of snaps with a 44.2 grade. They also have a much better D than we do but he's still playing.
3rd round pick Logan Wilson is getting 30%+ snaps for the Bungals with a 44 grade.
None of the rookie linebackers are playing well, it's a really tough position in the NFL, but if they don't play they don't get better.
Give me 1 game rep over 10 practice reps. Even Byron Murphy looks good in practice (apparently).
On Sunday we had 5th round pick and 4th on the depth chart safety Deionte Thompson covering Hockenson. That's just wrong when you have Simmons there.