1. OL Kyle Murphy
For some reason, Dave Gettleman seems intent on not landing a traditional center for 2020, yet finding an athletic guard or tackle prospect that has traits that lend themselves well towards making a move inward. It’s a savvy strategy that we’ve seen pay off numerous times around the NFL, as traditional center prospects tend to lack the elite athleticism the NFL warrants.
Enter Rhode Island’s Kyle Murphy, who is a load at 6’4 310 pounds, and appears to have a monster body type for the pivot position. Murphy did start one game at center in college – which helps – but its certainly a far cry from legit experience.
The small school prospect started off his career playing tackle before sliding over to guard for his final season. The NY Giants surely feel confident in his abilities as the team shelled out 97K guaranteed to land his services, the most spent on any undrafted free agent this year.
Murphy’s strengths are his leverage and his hand punch – two things that lend themselves well to the center position. The footwork he mastered coming up as an offensive tackle will only help him as he learns the intricacies of his new position.
With three inexperienced centers with solid backgrounds at other positions along the offensive line, the battle for the NY Giants center position is likely going to be the most interesting battle on the entire team this offseason.
Don’t count Murphy out — he’s a legitimate dark horse candidate and will undoubtedly land on the practice squad at minimum.