Byron Murphy II viewed as potential Aaron Donald replacement for Rams

That noise you heard is NFL offensive linemen celebrating the retirement of Aaron Donald. Considered one of the best defensive tackles of all time, the Los Angeles Rams suddenly have a huge hole in their roster. ESPN’s Mel Kiper believes Donald leaving now switches up the first-round strategy in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Kiper released Mock Draft 3.0 on Tuesday and has the Rams selecting Texas‘ Byron Murphy with the No. 19 overall pick. Murphy profiles as a smaller defensive tackle but was still able to flash his talent alongside T’Vondre Sweat in Austin. Some development might still need to take place but Los Angeles has to find a way to replace Donald.

“Bryon Murphy II becomes the pick here because of Aaron Donald retiring,” Kiper said Tuesday on ESPN2. “Byron Murphy II is a guy that’s got talent. He flashed at Texas. The productivity, when you want to compare him to Aaron Donald over the last three years of their careers, it wasn’t even close. Aaron Donald destroyed everybody.

“So Bryon Murphy, to me, wasn’t as productive as the talent indicated he should be. Once he’s coached in the NFL, will he put it all together? The Rams could roll the dice with Aaron Donald’s retirement and Byron Murphy II could be the guy.”

Donald was a stud from the moment he stepped into the NFL and his level of play never dipped. He was a first-team All-Pro on eight different occasions and won Defensive Player of the Year three times. Teams feared him and would routinely double or triple-team him.

Nobody will ever truly be able to replace Donald, likely being a first-ballot Hall of Fame player. But the Rams have to at least try and Murphy fits the mold of what they could be looking for.

Regarding the production of Murphy, Kiper is correct. The numbers do not exactly pop off the stat sheet, only having 29 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, and five sacks. However, the 2023 season was undoubtedly the best of his three years he spent in a Texas uniform.

In Kiper’s mock draft, Murphy is the first defensive tackle off the board. In fact, he is the only player at the position to be selected in the first round. This was true of Mock Draft 2.0 as well, with Kiper not thinking there are a lot of guys worthy of a top-32 pick.