Seattle Seahawks first-round pick Byron Murphy II is being disrespected before he's even played a snap

Seattle Seahawks first-round pick Byron Murphy II will have to wait a few months before he can start to vindicate their decision to take him 16th overall.

But he does not need look far to find added motivation to do just that when his NFL debut finally rolls around in September.

FanDuel Sportsbook has released its odds for the Rookie of the Year awards for the 2024 season.

Despite being the second defensive player drafted behind Laiatu Latu, Murphy is only the sixth favorite for the honor at +1200

Dallas Turner of the Minnesota Vikings is the favorite, ahead of fellow edge rushers Latu and Jared Verse of the Los Angeles Rams.

After that, cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell (Philadelphia Eagles) and Terrion Arnold (Detroit Lions) are tied fourth at +1100.

The disparity between his draft position and where Murphy is in the odds is difficult to square.

Underrating the talent, and the situation

Turner is coming off a final season with Alabama in which he had 14 tackles for loss and 10 sacks and enters a situation in Minnesota with a defensive coordinator in Brian Flores who loves to send pressure, so his status as favorite is understandable. 

Latu outperformed him with 21.5 tackles for loss and 13 sacks and is heading into a solid situation with the Indianapolis Colts where he will likely start right away on a front featuring a gifted interior disruptor in DeForest Buckner. Yet Latu has an extremely checkered injury history that may have played a role in the oddsmakers and bettors being slightly lower on him.

Verse tied Latu for pressures (62) in his final season in college and is joining a young and seemingly ascending defense. Yet it will be interesting to see how that Rams front fares with Aaron Donald attracting so much attention. The hope will be that Kobie Turner — coming off an nine-sack season as a rookie — Verse's fellow Florida State draft pick Braden Fiske and Byron Young (eight sacks in 2023 as a rookie) will carry enough of a combined threat to free Verse up to wreak havoc in one-on-one matchups.

But that is far from a guarantee and, as such, it's difficult to see how Verse deserves to be three spots above Murphy in the odds. Murphy only had five sacks in his final season with Texas, but that also saw him record a pressure rate that was 10 percent above expected, per Sports Info Solutions, the most among defensive tackles in the draft class.