Last night I caught the second half of the Brophy/Desert Ridge game with @ChillyASU. We stopped out at Notre Dame's Scot Bemis Field first to see them open the place up with their new field, track, video board and stands. The place is magnificent.
The whole point of going to Brophy was to watch Connor Murphy. The Broncos have plenty of talent, whether it's Harvard commit Cade Knox at QB, Ryan Velez at RB, Walker Adams at MLB and the DE on the opposite side of Murphy, Dante Diaz-Infante. Usully I'd bring back a tidbit on everyone, but since we were only there for a half, I figured I'd focus on the Broncos prospect who actually is being pursued by ASU.
Physically, Murphy has a huge frame, and he's a legit 6-6 to 6-7. He carries himself well and while I'm not into the whole "eye-test" cliche, he aces it.
Some background: I have mixed feelings about Murphy as an elite prospect, and have had a ton of conversations about him over the last couple of years. I've been overruled by people who are much smarter than me on the subject, and I'm cool with it. People I trust think he's going to pan out in a big way.
My issues with Murphy have had to do with statistical production. I've been told by people who disagree with that being an issue that the other team runs away from his side, and that he's double and triple teamed in the passing game. I actually saw a bit of that on Friday, with only one designed play sent toward the left guard/tackle gap. It just so happened on that play Desert Ridge QB CJ Fowler faked the option and fooled Murphy, scampering past him for a first own run.
Murphy struggled in a few areas on Friday night. When he's in a four-point stance, a lot of his body weight is on his arms, and he had a tendency to stand straight up and lose his leverage. When that happened, a single blocker was more than enough for Desert Ridge. Quick snap counts caught Murphy off guard on a few different occasions, and even though Desert Ridge didn't run his way, they did throw above/around him repeatedly late in the game.If the 6-7 Murphy had gotten his hands up, he'd have batted down at least two passes that went for a Centennial first downs.
The final stats may show that Murphy had quite a few assisted tackles, but in high school, assists are often credited for being nearby. Murphy is always around the ball, but his involvement in group tackles on may occasions was falling on the pile after the play had been completed.
Murphy did jump the snap on one goal line stand and completely swallowed up a Desert Ridge RB in the backfield. He came down on the ball carriers back from above and with a loud pop, tossed the RB to the ground like he was a sack of flour.
It's obvious that Murphy has a ton of talent as a DL prospect, but even in a disciplined system with disciplined teammates, he's formed some correctable bad habits, such as playing too tall, and coming out of his stance poorly.
The whole point of going to Brophy was to watch Connor Murphy. The Broncos have plenty of talent, whether it's Harvard commit Cade Knox at QB, Ryan Velez at RB, Walker Adams at MLB and the DE on the opposite side of Murphy, Dante Diaz-Infante. Usully I'd bring back a tidbit on everyone, but since we were only there for a half, I figured I'd focus on the Broncos prospect who actually is being pursued by ASU.
Physically, Murphy has a huge frame, and he's a legit 6-6 to 6-7. He carries himself well and while I'm not into the whole "eye-test" cliche, he aces it.
Some background: I have mixed feelings about Murphy as an elite prospect, and have had a ton of conversations about him over the last couple of years. I've been overruled by people who are much smarter than me on the subject, and I'm cool with it. People I trust think he's going to pan out in a big way.
My issues with Murphy have had to do with statistical production. I've been told by people who disagree with that being an issue that the other team runs away from his side, and that he's double and triple teamed in the passing game. I actually saw a bit of that on Friday, with only one designed play sent toward the left guard/tackle gap. It just so happened on that play Desert Ridge QB CJ Fowler faked the option and fooled Murphy, scampering past him for a first own run.
Murphy struggled in a few areas on Friday night. When he's in a four-point stance, a lot of his body weight is on his arms, and he had a tendency to stand straight up and lose his leverage. When that happened, a single blocker was more than enough for Desert Ridge. Quick snap counts caught Murphy off guard on a few different occasions, and even though Desert Ridge didn't run his way, they did throw above/around him repeatedly late in the game.If the 6-7 Murphy had gotten his hands up, he'd have batted down at least two passes that went for a Centennial first downs.
The final stats may show that Murphy had quite a few assisted tackles, but in high school, assists are often credited for being nearby. Murphy is always around the ball, but his involvement in group tackles on may occasions was falling on the pile after the play had been completed.
Murphy did jump the snap on one goal line stand and completely swallowed up a Desert Ridge RB in the backfield. He came down on the ball carriers back from above and with a loud pop, tossed the RB to the ground like he was a sack of flour.
It's obvious that Murphy has a ton of talent as a DL prospect, but even in a disciplined system with disciplined teammates, he's formed some correctable bad habits, such as playing too tall, and coming out of his stance poorly.
