Bengals get best-in-class prospect on defense in expert’s new mock draft

Byron Murphy has been a popular pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in our mock drafts for a bevy of reasons.

Chief among those? The Texas standout has massive upside and would help ease some of the loss that was DJ Reader leaving in free agency.

Still, Murphy isn’t often available for the Bengals in many mock drafts. In some efforts, he’s going as high as the top 10.

Bengals fans might be happy to hear, though, that Murphy falls to the team in the latest effort from NFL.com’s Peter Schrager:

Murphy is the top interior defensive line prospect in this class. He has interviewed well and was a workout warrior in Indy. B.J. Hill and free-agent addition Sheldon Rankins are solid veterans inside. Murphy would fortify the group with his highly disruptive game.

Murphy, in tandem with Hill, would be a notable upgrade in terms of interior pass-rush while also working to free up the edge rushers.

From a broader team-building perspective, Murphy would also help the Bengals by keeping an increasingly expensive area on a cheaper rookie deal for a number of years.