Seahawks defensive tackle Byron Murphy II looks to build on a sack-heavy second season heading into year three

The Seahawks are looking for another step forward from defensive tackle Byron Murphy II, who has shown up early in training camp and is entering his third NFL season with his profile elevated after a breakout run. In the team’s own offseason coverage, Murphy II is framed as a player in a strong developmental position, with his second season ending on a high note after he helped tip the Super Bowl in Seattle’s favor.

Murphy II’s production in 2025 gave the Seahawks a centerpiece on the interior. He tied for the team lead with 7.0 regular-season sacks, a notable marker for a defensive tackle whose impact was not limited to occupying blockers. Instead, the numbers placed him among the most productive pass-rushers on the roster, strengthening Seattle’s ability to pressure quarterbacks from the middle.

That postseason form carried into the sport’s biggest stage. According to the Seahawks’ report, Murphy II capped his second year with a decisive Super Bowl performance against the Patriots, recording a pair of sacks and adding a fumble recovery in a dominant Seattle win. The sequence mattered because sacks and turnovers on the game’s biggest stage compress offensive momentum, and interior disruption can also force quarterbacks into hurried throws even when drives are still alive.

Heading into the third season, the attention around Murphy II is less about whether he can reach a baseline level of effectiveness and more about whether he can sustain the kind of disruptor role that produces game-changing plays. Defensive tackle is a demanding position, because the job is physical and repeatable across snaps, but the difference between good and impactful often shows up in consistency: winning matchups not only early in games, but in the late portions when offenses are leaning on rhythm.

In practical terms, Seattle’s defensive identity includes pressuring the quarterback while maintaining structural soundness against the run. A pass-rushing tackle who can stack sacks with interior pressure gives a coordinator more flexibility, because it can change protections and influence third-down play-calling. Murphy II’s 2025 sack total and Super Bowl production create a reasonable expectation that he will again be a central figure in how the Seahawks generate negative plays.

There is also a timing element to his development. A breakout second season is often a sign that a player has mastered a key part of his technique, reads, and leverage, and that the team has found a role that maximizes his strengths. The Seahawks’ framing of Murphy II as being “in a great spot” entering year three suggests the organization sees this as a continuation of that refinement rather than a one-year spike.

For the rest of camp and the preseason, the main thing to watch is how Murphy II handles the increased attention that typically follows a sack-leading stretch and a headline Super Bowl finish. When quarterbacks know a tackle can get home, offensive lines adjust, and the best pass rushers turn that into cleaner lanes for teammates or additional pressures in the same plays, even if the sack count fluctuates.

If Murphy II can translate his early training-camp presence into regular-season production at the same level as 2025, Seattle’s defensive ceiling rises. The Seahawks will want him to keep stressing the pocket from the inside, and they will have a clear measuring stick after his 7.0-sack regular season and his Super Bowl impact over New England. The question for year three is whether the Seahawks can turn last season’s peak performance into a sustained standard.