Giants 2021 roster profile: OL Kyle Murphy

Can former UDFGA push his way into playing time picture at guard?

Kyle Murphy was impressive enough last season that the New York Giants moved him to the active roster midseason to keep other NFL team from poaching him off their practice squad. Could Murphy push his way into the picture at guard for the Giants this summer.

Let’s take a closer look as we continue player-by-player profiles of the 90-man roster the Giants will bring to training camp in a few weeks.

The basics

Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 302
Age: 23
Position: OL
Experience: 1
Contract: Year 2 of two-year, $1.39 million UDFA contract | 2021 cap hit: $780,000

Career to date

Career to date Murphy was a four-year starter at Rhode Island. He played all across the line in 43 games (36 starts). Murphy started 21 games at left tackle, nine at left guard, five at right tackle and one at center.

The Giants signed him as an undrafted free agent last season, with the $97K guarantee they gave him being the most given to any UDFA. He made the team’s practice squad, and was added to the active roster in mid-November. He never appeared in a game.

Here is what coach Joe Judge said about Murphy when the Giants promoted him a year ago:

“He’s been able to really use the first half of the season of kind of getting on track, get used to the speed of the game, and really show some improvement for us on a daily basis in practice. I think Kyle is a good, young player that’s worth developing. We enjoy having him in the program. He’s a guy that’s worked very hard with Fitz (Craig Fitzgerald) and his crew and has changed his body a good bit. I see him moving, I see some athleticism, has some power, he has some nasty to him in how he plays. He’s a guy right there that we just think in terms of a young guy, worth developing, and giving us some depth on the roster moving forward.”

Judge said at the time that the Giants saw Murphy as an inside player, meaning guard or center.

Shane Lemieux, Will Hernandez and Zach Fulton enter training camp as the top three guards on the roster. Could Murphy force his way into the conversation for playing time should the players in front of him falter?