5-Straight 5-Stars: DE Myles Murphy Chooses Clemson

Clemson gained a verbal commitment from 5-star defensive end Myles Murphy tonight. Murphy comes to Clemson from Powder Springs, Georgia (Hillgrove) and is 6-5, 260 lbs. He is the #2 defensive end in the 2020 class per the 247Sports Composite and the #8 player overall. Murphy chose Clemson over Auburn and, to a lesser degree, Georgia. The Tigers took the lead in his recruitment following his visit to the elite junior day in January. His interest in joining a strong engineering school and elite football program eventually separated Clemson from his pack of contenders. Lemanski Hall led Murphy’s recruitment and Murphy becomes the highest rated recruit he’s ever landed.

Murphy is the fifth straight five-star commitment in Clemson’s #1 ranked 2020 class and the 15th commitment overall. Read that again. Rejoice! Do a little dance on the throne? Why not? Compose yourself...and continue reading.

His jaw dropping measurables include a 4.65 40 yard dash, a 4.28 shuttle, and a 34 inch vertical leap. He projects as a strongside defensive end due to his large frame. His elite athleticism paired with his long arms should allow him to become a terrifying pass rusher but he already excels in run defense. In short, he’s the total package - both on and off the field. Expect Murphy to compete early, become the heir apparent to Xavier Thomas, and strengthen Clemson’s claim on #DLU.

Clemson will continue pursuing defensive end Jordan Burch to complete the defensive line haul for the 2020 class.

You can watch Murphy’s highlights below and celebrate with your STS brethren in the comment section!

QT’s Take:

Myles Murphy was coveted by every major college football program and especially by every program in the South. This is plucking an elite defensive end talent right out of Georgia. Lemanski Hall gets his first big recruiting feather in the cap. UGA is not happy about this outcome. The Dawgs have amassed a great deal of defensive end/outside linebacker star power in recent years, but are still searching for an elite pass rusher. They wanted Murphy!

In the end, this recruitment came down to Auburn and Clemson with UGA being eliminated. Murphy and his family were extremely diligent in their pursuit of a match for Myles. Myles has the grades and test scores to go anywhere in the country and early on their was a feeling that he might pick a school based on academic fit like a Stanford or Michigan, for example. Myles did his homework on engineering schools, part of the reason that Auburn made the final cut. The family visited the main schools on Myles list and quietly whittled the list down.

Hall and the Clemson recruiting staff did work to position Clemson at the front of the pack, but, again, quietly. Clemson does a really good job of allowing the recruit to also realize that the fit is mutual without being overly pushy. It should also be noted that if you were to rank the top 100 players based on being an upstanding citizen on and off the field—Murphy would be in the top 10 easily (but don’t worry, Myles plays with an edge on the field).

My comparison for Murphy isn’t perfect, but right now it is Cle Ferrell. Murphy can play both the pass and the run. He is big enough to play immediately at strongside defensive end. He has a big frame similar to Ferrell with long arms. He will likely play in the 265-270 range. He plays with power and decent speed, but just like Cle he gets off the line quickly and has good bend for a guy his size. His pass rush moves are probably more advanced than Cle at this stage compared to Ferrell’s first years coming off of injury.

Murphy was double teamed much of last season, but still dominant. He’s performed on the field and in camp settings consistently. He can bull rush, but surprises you with his quickness with his 6’5 frame. Murphy will be an early contributor and a potential early first round pick.