The Cincinnati Bengals have improved a lot on defense over the last few games, and a big reason is their defensive end room rising to the occasion in the absence of superstar Trey Hendrickson.
Although I contend that the DJ Turner-led secondary deserves a lot of credit, there's no question the men in the trenches have stepped up. In addition to veteran Joseph Ossai, though, another disappointing Bengal is making the most of his opportunities of late.
Beyond what happened in Thanksgiving's 32-14 road victory over the Ravens, this other player's steady improvement could open up all kinds of roster-building possibilities in the future.
Bengals 2023 first-round pick finally coming on strong in Year 3
One of the first vivid memories I have of working here is writing a story about Myles Murphy admitting, on the record, that his work ethic was rather poor by NFL standards. Part of me applauds the personal accountability. Part of me was angry, as in, "Yeah, that checks out buddy!"
Then, Murphy's struggles persisted throughout the 2025 campaign. His biggest splash of note from the first half of the season came in garbage time of a 48-10 loss to the Vikings in Week 4. Defensive coordinator Al Golden was praising Murphy's motor and stuff like that. Not important. Bottom line was, well, congratulations — not helping!
Cut to Week 13 in Baltimore. Murphy makes a critical deflection on a pass from two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson that lands right in the arms of maligned rookie linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. to all but ice the game.
D Knight said he'll take those leftovers
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) November 28, 2025
📺: #CINvsBAL on NBC pic.twitter.com/UcHeaygCob
And that wasn't the only spot where Murphy showed up on Thursday evening — or over the last few outings for that matter.
Myles Murphy is likely to be at 14-15 pressures during the last 3 games by the end of this Ravens game.
— Gridiron Grading (@GridironGrading) November 28, 2025
His previous career high during a 3 game run was 8 at the beginning of 2024, per PFF.
Just crossed 1000 career snaps. The lights have turned on.
On the day Murphy was drafted, I expressed some, shall we say, hesitant enthusiasm, doubting the pick when players like DJ Turner, Nolan Smith, and others were still on the board. Somehow, Cincinnati lucked into Turner still being available in Round 2.
It's no secret I fancy myself a better draft evaluator than Duke Tobin. Take me or any other Bengals X/Twitter personality like Goodberry, Jonny Bengal, you name it. We could band together and build a dynasty in Cincinnati. I'm convinced of it.
All that said, if Murphy winds up being a hit and Turner keeps up his trajectory as an elite cover corner, maybe I'll owe Tobin an apology. Maybe I won't call for his job almost every week.
First we need to see how Murphy finishes the season. Can't tell you how nice it'd be to see him keep progressing. The Bengals desperately need him to.