Minnesota Vikings linebacker and former UCLA Bruin Gabriel Murphy had quite a performance against the Houston Texans this past weekend. He has received a lot of praise from it. Murphy received the highest Pro Football Focus grade of any defender on the Vikings with an 89.4 rating, according to Vikings Wire. He received praise from his head coach, Kevin O’Connell, as well as CBS player analyst Chris Trapasso. It seems likely that he will remain on the 53-man roster come September.
“He is, from what I remember at UCLA, incredibly well polished with his handwork,” Trapasso said about Murphy on the Purple Insider podcast on Aug. 7.
Murphy dominated during his time on the field and caused many fans to be aware of him with 5 quarterback hits, 1.5 sacks and 1 tackle-for-loss, according to ESPN.
“He feels like a man on a mission right now in a lot of ways and I’m just proud of him,” O Connell said to reporters after the Vikings 20-10 win on Aug. 9. “Proud of where he is at in camp right now and now he just has to set his sights on continuing to compete.”
O’Connell continued to say that the outside linebacker position is stacked on the Vikings. According to the Vikings’ unofficial depth chart, Murphy is the backup to Jonathan Greenard, with Dallas Turner being the backup to Andrew Van Ginkel.
With Murphy being in the same depth position as Dallas Turner, it would appear that it is currently his spot to lose, as long as he remains healthy.
Defensive coordinator Brian Flores seems to trust him. If his bend and athleticism make an appearance again on Saturday, Aug. 16, against the New England Patriots, we will see him continue to bring fear into quarterbacks as he zooms along the edge and brings a wallop for another quarterback hit on Sundays for the Vikings.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA’s Gabriel Murphy receives heaps of praise for preseason play
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
