The number jumps out at you like a lightning bolt flashing across the sky when you dive into the draft profile of University at Buffalo linebacker Red Murdock.
Seventeen forced fumbles across his final three seasons as the anchor in the middle of the Bulls defense, the most ever recorded by an FBS player, breaking the record of 16 set by another former Bull, a guy named Khalil Mack.
“It’s a great feeling,” Murdock said on the day he set the new standard during a 28-3 blowout of Bowling Green on Nov. 1, 2025. “I’ve looked up to Khalil all my life.”
Why the Buffalo Bills could see Red Murdock as a draft fit
Sure, some of that is luck, but not all of it. That was Murdock’s superpower, his remarkable ability to create turnovers during his 42-game career at UB, and it’s something that will prompt a team to select him at some point on Day 3 of the NFL Draft.
Should that team be the Buffalo Bills who have a clear need at linebacker? Perhaps, and that would be cool with the 22-year-old from Petersburg, Virginia who came north to play for UB and stuck around for the duration, even playing 2025 as a grad student after he’d graduated magna cum laude in May 2024 with a degree in psychology.
“Shoot, I mean obviously being able to play beside Joseph Andreessen,” Murdock said with a smile at the NFL scouting combine, referencing his former Bulls teammate who will be heading into his third season with the Bills. “Buffalo is a great community, a great city. Buffalo is my second home already, so it would be a blessing to not have to go anywhere else. I’m not too opposed to the cold or anything like that. Nevertheless, I’m grateful for any opportunity that I get.”
There will be an opportunity because teams will value a player who logged 2,139 snaps in college and was in on 364 tackles including a whopping 39.5 for lost yardage with nine sacks, one interception and two fumble recoveries. He was also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award that recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the nation for his combined academic success, football performance, and exemplary leadership.
“I definitely think the maturity may help teams to get a more positive light on me,” Murdock said. “I’m just going to continue to be the best Red Murdock that I can be and try to maximize my potential on and off the field, and let everything else sort itself out.”
When he arrives in the NFL, he’ll be joining a lineage of UB linebackers that includes Mack, Andreessen and another of Murdock’s former teammates, Shaun Dolac. And regarding the Bills, they’ve had a propensity for signing UB players with Andreessen, Cam Lewis and Ja’Marcus Ingram being the most recent examples.
“They’re a big inspiration for me. It’s great to see my guys succeed,” Murdock said. “For the last couple of years I’ve been getting insight from a lot of the guys that have made it. There’s a lot of UB guys that are in the league right now and I’ve been trying to take heed to any type of advice I can get. A lot of community outreach and seeing some Bills players over there, get some information from them. I’ve been trying to get as much information for the last couple of years to hit this as hard as possible.”
Red Murdock may have a role on special teams at start of his career
While Mack was the No. 5 overall pick of the Raiders in 2014 and may someday wind up with a bust at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Andreessen went undrafted in 2024 but signed with the Bills and became a core special teamer, same for Dolac who signed as an undrafted free agent in 2025 with the Los Angeles Rams.
Murdock will get picked, but the start of his pro career will probably look like that of Andreessen and Dolac, players who have nonstop motors and can bring value to the special teams, but right now don’t have the goods to become full-time starting linebackers.
What holds Murdock back is his lack of elite athleticism, not so much a problem playing in the MAC but certainly an issue in the NFL. He has good size at 6-foot-2 and 233 pounds, but he ran a 4.7 in the 40-yard dash at UB’s pro day which was cut short when he tweaked his ankle.
“Absolutely, it’s frustrating,” Murdock told reporters after the disappointing workout day last week which he was hoping would catch some eyes because the same ankle injury forced him to sit out the combine testing. “At the same time we did all the work, and everything else is in God’s hands. We’ve got to live with the results. Did what you could. Leave it all out there.”
Murdock’s game tape shows that he can sometimes struggle in pursuit of the run and in pass coverage because he lacks lateral quickness. But he’s a downhill thumper in the run game and for a team like the Bills, that’s something they lack in their currently constructed linebacker unit. The question will be whether he can improve the rest of his game to get on the field in a meaningful way for the defense.
“I wouldn’t say there’s too many glaring weaknesses, but obviously there are certain parts of my game that I’m working on improving every time,” he said. “And then even my positives, I’m still working at perfecting those. Meticulous preparation, a very intense passion for getting the ball out, getting turnovers in any way possible, and generally on my altruistic outlook on everything and really how I can help the team in any way. Truly devoted to that.”
What analysts are saying about Red Murdock
Lance Zierlein, NFL.com: “Inside linebacker with a nose for the football and loads of production to prove it. Murdock plays firm at the contact point with physicality and toughness. He’s ready for battle when the ball comes downhill, but he lacks the closing burst to stay ahead of blocking schemes and shut down the outside run before it turns the corner. He’s a consistent tackler with good stopping power when he’s in position. His coverage features too many mistakes and a lack of recovery talent. Murdock lacks speed and third-down value, but he’s tough, makes plays and appears suited for core special-teams duties.”
Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for more than four decades including 37 years as the full-time beat writer/columnist for the D&C. He has written numerous books about the history of the team, and he is also co-host of the BLEAV in Bills podcast/YouTube show. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills draft radar includes UB linebacker with historic takeaway skill
Reporting by Sal Maiorana, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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