The Los Angeles Chargers traded back up into the first-round to select former Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray with the No. 23 overall pick.
To get familiar with the physical linebacker, here is my scouting report on Murray followed with film notes from a few of his games:
Kenneth Murray | Oklahoma | #9 | Junior | Missouri City, TX | 6024 | 241
40-Yard Dash: 4.52 seconds
Bench Press: 21 reps
Vertical Jump: 38 inches
Broad Jump: 129 inches
3-Cone Drill: N/A
20-Yard Shuttle: N/A
Career: Semifinalist for the Butkus and Bednarik awards. Racked up 325 tackles, 36.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks in 42 games.
Red Flags: N/A
Strengths: Outstanding speed, acceleration and range. Fast in all directions, and is able to drive extremely well to the ball carrier. Able to anticipate and get to the spot faster than blockers to make the play. Covers significant ground when dropping back in coverage. Terrific blitzer, who attacks with a purpose and does a great job of shrinking space between him and the quarterback. An explosive tackler, runs through the ball-carrier and brings heat with him.
Weaknesses: Average instincts and route recognition in zone coverage. Can rely on speed to get him to the ball in space and could stand to take cleaner angles with straighter lines to the ball-carrier. Makes wrong reads between the tackles at times. Struggles to disengage from climbing blockers. Can come in too high when attempting to tackle.
Final Word: Murray is a quick-twitch athlete who possesses the speed against the run and pass, physicality and blitz ability, but he needs to improve his play recognition and play under control on a more consistent basis, projecting as three-down starting Mike or Will linebacker.
Fit Likelihood: High
Grade: 1st-2nd Round
Film Study – vs Baylor (Big-12 Championship Game)
In this game, Murray finished with 10 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and a pass deflected. This game exemplified how his closing speed quickness and his ability to cover a lot of ground even when dropping back in coverage, making it look effortless. Along with that, we saw his explosiveness to acquire a sack in this contest. But we saw on a couple of plays him coming in too high when tackling, which was an issue.
Film Study – vs LSU (College Football Playoffs)
In arguably the biggest stage of his collegiate career against the 2020 National Champions, Murray amassed seven tackles and one tackle for loss. Murray, again, showed his elite speed and range when coming downhill, but his overaggressive tendencies got the best of him and he was late to diagnose on a couple of instances.