Offensive tackle Kyle Murphy was drafted by the Green Bay Packers with the 200th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft on Saturday.
Stanford has now has an offensive tackle taken in four of the last five drafts, with Murphy joining Andrus Peat (first round, 2015), Cameron Fleming (fourth round, 2014) and Jonathan Martin (second round, 2012). The Cardinal have now seen seven offensive linemen taken in the last five drafts as well.
Murphy is the fifth Stanford player to hear his name called, joining Joshua Garnett (San Francisco), Austin Hooper (Atlanta), Blake Martinez (Green Bay) and Kevin Hogan (Kansas City). He and classmate Martinez will reunite at Lambeau Field as pros and will also be joined by wide receiver Ty Montgomery, a third-round pick last year.
Murphy had incredible longevity in his time at Stanford, playing in 54 of his 55 games on The Farm over a four-year career. After seeing action in 27 games of his freshman and sophomore seasons in as an extra offensive lineman in jumbo packages, Murphy started every game as a junior and a senior, spending 13 games at right tackle in 2014 and 14 games at left tackle in 2015.
He was named to the All-Pac-12 second team in 2014 and to the All-Pac-12 first team in 2015, working alongside fellow NFL draftees Peat and Garnett to continue Stanford’s legacy of offensive line excellence even after the departure of four excellent linemen to the 2012 and 2014 drafts.
Murphy first came to Stanford as part of the program-best 2012 recruiting class, when Stanford picked up several of the top offensive line recruits in the nation, including Murphy, Peat, Garnett, Graham Shuler, Johnny Caspers and Nick Davidson.
The 6-foot-7, 301-pounder from San Clemente, California was particularly great in pass protection in both of his seasons as a starter against some of the best edge rushers in the Pac-12. He also paired up with “Bash Brother” Josh Garnett on the left side of the line to give Stanford a formidable duo to run behind with Christian McCaffrey.
Although Murphy is described as needing to become stronger to anchor an NFL offensive line, he projects well as a future NFL right tackle, though he’ll almost certainly take some time to develop before he is able to make an impact on Sundays.
Murphy will join a Green Bay rushing attack that finished 11th in the NFL with a 4.2 yards per rush average last season. He will also be tasked with pass protecting for Aaron Rodgers and the potent Packers air attack, which took a step back due to injuries last season.
Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dhpark ‘at’ stanford.edu.