Pittsburgh Steelers film room: Washington cornerback Byron Murphy

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offseason has begun. The focus on the draft here at Still Curtain is full speed ahead and with that, I bring you the Film Room series covering a new prospect at a position of need for the Steelers every time.

The corner train keeps on chugging along in the film room. The Steelers have the obvious  need for a corner and one of the top rated guys could fall to them if things shake out right.

The Steelers will undoubtedly target corner or inside backer with their first selection come April. Barring any splash free agent signings or blockbuster deal with a corner or backer coming to Pittsburgh in return, these positions are their two most glaring needs.

The next corner is one of the guys with the highest ceiling and lowest floor in the corner group among top names. He possesses everything a team would want in a starting shutdown corner, something the Steelers desperately need after Artie Burns failed.

Byron Murphy from Washington is the latest in a recent string of defensive backs to come from the school to the NFL dating back to 2013. Marcus Peters, Desmond Trufant, Budda Baker and Sidney Jones have all been recent successful NFL defensive backs to don the purple and gold.

Murphy is probably my favorite of the top three corners. He seems to have the most total package of skills and is the most polished of the three.

Deandre Baker and Greedy Williams are both more raw than Murphy and possess larger weak areas than Murphy seems to have. He may be the first of the three taken or he may slip to Pittsburgh at 20 overall. Regardless, should he fall, he should be snatched at 20 by the Steelers and I am about to tell you why.

Profile

Name: Byron Murphy

School: Washington

Position: Cornerback

Height: 6 ft. 0 in.     Weight: 180 pounds

Games Watched

Washington vs Utah (PAC12 C’ship) – one tackle, two interceptions, one pass defensed, one touchdown

Washington vs Ohio State (Rose Bowl) – two total tackles

Washington vs Arizona State – two total tackles, one pass defensed