Transfer Portal Bio Blast: Maalik Murphy
The winter transfer portal window officially opened last week. We’ve seen some heavy player movement and are expecting some more. Teams are working rapidly to get targets on campus for visits over the next few weeks to close these fast-paced recruitments.
Kentucky got a big visitor to campus on Monday. News broke last Monday night that Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy decided to enter the transfer portal for the second time in his collegiate career. Kentucky got the first visit with the former blue-chip recruit.
Kentucky currently has four transfer commits in the fold following the addition of Arkansas guard Joshua Braun and Bowling Green tackle Alex Wollschlaeger on Monday. Could the Wildcats wrap up another transfer portal win over the next 24-48 hours?
KSR’s Transfer Bio Blast is taking a closer look at the first quarterback visitor of the offseason.
QB2 at Texas
Maalik Murphy was a top-250 recruit in the 2022 high school cycle from Southern California. The blue-chip prospect committed to Texas following his junior season and ultimately signed with the Longhorns in the first full high school signing class for play-calling head coach Steve Sarkisian.
Murphy quickly became the backup to Quinn Ewers at Texas after Hudson Card left the Texas program for Purdue following the 2022 season. Despite Arch Manning lurking on the roster, Texas gave Murphy the QB2 job in 2023.
As a redshirt freshman, the young quarterback was thrusted into the starting lineup in Big 12 conference games against BYU and Kansas State. Murphy led the Longhorns to a pair of wins by throwing for 418 yards on 6.7 yards per attempt with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Sarkisian asked Murphy to dropback 38 times in a overtime home win versus Kansas State. The quarterback made just enough plays to survive the upset bid.
Murphy entered the transfer portal after the season and landed at Duke. The transfer gained some needed playing experience early in his career at Texas and helped a College Football Playoff team win some important games.
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Productive first-year starter at Duke
Maalik Murphy landed at Duke last winter after spending a short time in the transfer portal. The Big 12 transfer immediately became an ACC starter playing for head coach Manny Diaz and offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer.
Murphy played in a tempo spread scheme at Duke that include a sizable amount of RPO action and a plethora of sideline vertical throws. The first-year starter threw the ball 35.1 times per game and completed 60.3 percent of his throws on 7.0 yards per attempt. The pocket passer set a school record with 26 touchdown passes as he helped lead to Duke to a 9-3 season.
In his final game with the Blue Devils, the quarterback connected on a walk-off touchdown to beat Wake Forest at the horn.
During his time in Durham, Murphy was a limited rusher and did all of his work as a pocket quarterback. Consistent accuracy is something that Murphy must continue to improve on, but the former Texas transfer had a solid first season as a starter and his teams are now 11-3 in games that he starts.
Luckett’s scouting notebook
Maalik Murphy will be a redshirt junior in 2025 with two years of eligibility remaining. The quarterback transfer has played nearly 1,000 combined snaps at Texas and Duke. This transfer portal cycle will end with Murphy being one of the highest-ranked quarterbacks available.
This is my scouting write-up on the big-armed transfer after studying Duke games against SMU and Miami.
Maalik Murphy is a big pocket passer who delivers the football with ease. The ball pops off Murphy’s right hand and generates easy velocity. Can drive the ball to the opposite hash without much difficulty. Ball call travel 50 yards in the air with just more than a flick of the wrist. Shows great feel for go routes and often delivers the ball with good pace, timing, and ball placement. Hits small window throws with zip on in-breaking routes. Does bail against pressure and loses mechanics as he fades away in the pocket. Intermediate accuracy comes and goes. Typically does not want to leave the top of his drop. A true platform-first quarterback with limited extended play creation on tape. Does not look comfortable in scrambling situations but did a good job of getting rid of the football to avoid sacks.
This is a big quarterback with next level arm talent. Perhaps no one in college football throws a better deep ball than the Duke transfer. However, Murphy can be a statue in the pocket and has some accuracy to clean up. Out of Duke’s spread offense structure, more progressional reads will need to be made and that could present some issues for a quarterback who is at his best when he gets to the top of the drop and releases the football quickly on the first read.
There is no denying the physical traits. Murphy did show development over a full season at Duke.
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