Murchison Still Full Speed Ahead With Draft Preparations

Former NC State defensive lineman Larrell Merchison continues to work out at home and says the current stay at home conditions haven't be a setback to his NFL draft chances

Larrell Murchison has had to alter his preparations for the upcoming NFL draft because of the coronavirus crisis.

Not only has the former NC State star had to work out on his own because of the statewide stay at home order that has forced most training facilities to shut down, including the Wolfpack's Murphy Center, he's also been deprived of any further opportunities to show off his skills for the scouts and coaches that will be making their teams' personnel decisions later this month.

But even without the benefit of a Pro Day or private workouts, Murchison is confident that his draft chances won't be adversely affected thanks to a strong showing at the NFL's Scouting Combine in February.

More #NFLCombine work for @Murchboy92 #PackPros pic.twitter.com/nk5ELSPG03

— NC State Football (@PackFootball) February 29, 2020

“You’ve just got to take what you get and use it," Murchison said Thursday in an exclusive interview with SI All Wolfpack. "As long as I can work out, do what I’m supposed to do and answer all the questions I can answer from different teams, I feel like that’s all I can do.”

Murchison posted a time of 5.05 in Indianapolis while finishing among the best in his position group by bench pressing 29 reps and running a 4.51 in the 20-yard shuttle, impressing analysts covering the event with his initial quickness and ability to get off the ball.

His other results include a 29.0 inch vertical leap, a nine-foot, 10-inch broad jump and a 7.89-second three cone drill.

Murchison said that he performed so well at the Combine that his Pro Day participation would have been limited anyway, had State been able to hold one as planned.

"Everything I had, I threw out there at the Combine," he said from his home in Elizabethtown. "I gave it all I had. 

"Pro Day, I wasn’t going to do the 40 or anything like that. I kind of missed out on being able to do drill work in front of the different coaches again, but I’m blessed I got the opportunity to go to the Combine. So all my numbers there, that’s what I am. Hopefully they take that and like it.

“I feel like I did well. I worked extremely hard for this opportunity, so I went in not nervous because I knew I had put the work in. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen.”

Like most draft eligible players these days, the 6-foot-3, 297-pound Murchison has had to improvise in order to stay in shape as he faces the uncertain future both before and after this year's draft -- which is still scheduled for April 23-25 in Las Vegas.

He starts every day by getting up early and running up and down the bleachers at his other alma mater, East Bladen High School. He then heads down to the field to work on his lower body flexibility and agility, areas he was told he needed to improve on from feedback at the Combine.

"I just try to stay active every day,” he said.

Murchison also stays in close contact with teammate and fellow draft hopeful James Smith-Williams, along with other former Wolfpack teammates already in the NFL. 

“I talk to James often," he said. "Everything he does, he’ll say ‘Hey Larrell, this happened to me’ and I’ll say “well, this happened to me.” So we’re talking every other day about our experience and what we’re doing. We’re on the same track right now.”

“I got some guidance from (Germanine) Pratt," Murchison added. "Jakobi Meyers, I talked to him a little bit about what’s been going on, with the Combine and how much fun I had. Stuff like that. (Bradley) Chubb reached out to me, just giving me motivation, and that was big for me.”

Most draft projections have Murchison, who can play inside or outside depending on the scheme used by the team that takes him, going anywhere between the third and fifth rounds. 

At this point, the former Wolfpack star isn't concerned about where he goes and what round it's in. He's just ready to get back onto the field -- preferably one in which social distancing isn't necessary -- and begin the next leg of a journey that has taken him from a small town high school, to junior college, to redshirt to one of the most dominant pass rushers in the ACC.

“I’m ready to work and show improvement," Murchison said. "I told the scouts if you look at every year playing football in high school and in college, I’ve improved every year. Hopefully they understand the kind of player I am and how much I love football.”

As excited as he is about the prospect of being drafted and having his life-long dream realized, he's trying his best to keep his emotions in check until the time actually arrives.

“It hasn’t hit me yet because I’m trying not to get too up or too down," he said. "I’m moving at a steady pace right now. It hasn’t hit me. When my name gets called, if my name gets called, that’s when it will hit me. That’s when I’ll be like, okay, this is real.”