“Man, [the Arizona Cardinals] love their Washington boys,” an anonymous NFL scout said to me in the press box during Washington’s victory over Cal on Saturday night. “They’ve taken four Washington guys, and they’ve all started games.”

Budda Baker and Ezekiel Turner have both done their fair share of starting in Arizona, with both former Husky safeties being named All-Pros at least once. Byron Murphy is on track to become the third former Husky DB to earn that honor with his play through the first three weeks of the NFL season.

The Cardinals’ new top cornerback had big shoes to fill coming into 2021, after the team decided to move on from three-time All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowler Patrick Peterson. It’s safe to say that he’s been one of, if not the best, corners in the NFL through the first three weeks of the season. Murphy is currently tied for third in the league with two interceptions and is tied for second with his five passes defensed. Yes, it’s early in the season, but the most impressive part of Murphy’s play is who it’s coming against.

In Arizona’s first matchup of the season, they faced off with the Tennessee Titans, and Murphy spent most of his day shadowing Julio Jones. Murphy held one of the game’s best receivers to just three catches for 29 yards on that Sunday. In Week Two, he had to go up against the tandem of Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, and while the tandem went for 104 yards and two touchdowns, the tape seems to show that the Vikings did their best to avoid Murphy’s side of the field. He was hardly tested, and a lot of the yardage gained came on crossing routes to rub Murphy off of man coverage or to just totally avoid his zone.

As well as he played through the first two weeks, his signature performance through the first few weeks in the season came in his most recent performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and number one overall pick Trevor Lawrence. He pulled in both of his interceptions, and took the second one back for an Arizona touchdown.

As the season goes on, Murphy is going to have tons of chances to prove himself. Just within his own division, he’ll have to match up with Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Deebo Samuel. He’s also going to probably shadow Davante Adams during Arizona’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers, which will be by far his biggest test of the year.

The third-year cornerback from Washington is a perfect example of why Jimmy Lake’s program has the right to consider themselves DBU. The former top 100 overall recruit came to Washington, redshirted his freshman year, and then immediately became an impact player. After he left the Huskies for the NFL Draft, he was taken 33rd overall by his hometown team, and started every game as a rookie. What else can Murphy add to his resume in 2021?