Is Kiawan Murphy starting?
Kiawan Murphy is the projected starter at NT for Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
Kiawan Murphy is the projected starting NT on a Rebuilding Western Kentucky — 67 OVR.
See full Western Kentucky Hilltoppers depth chart ›Depth at NT · Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
- 15667Kiawan MurphyStarter
- 25451Sekou Peters
Top defensive linemen in Conference USA
The Story
Making His Case
A 3-star recruit out of East Hartford, ranked #1,783 nationally coming out of high school. This season: 13 tackles, 0 TFL, 0 sacks. That's 1% of the team's production at his spot — good for a 67 overall (Depth tier).
- Jersey
- #56
- Class
- RS SR/TR
- Height
- 6'2"
- Weight
- 320 lbs
- Transfer
- Akron
Stats
| Season | Tkl | TFL | Sacks |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | 13 | 0 | 0 |
Regular-season totals from public sources. Derived splits (completion %, yards per carry, catch rate) aren't available in our current dataset.
Recruiting Profile
- Stars
- ★★★☆☆3-star
- Composite
- 0.8300
- National Rank
- #1783
- High School
- East Hartford
- Hometown
- East Hartford, CT
Why this rating?
On a 65-rated defense; 45th-percentile production at transfer origin (×0.76 for competition level) put them +2 vs unit starters → 67.
2026 projection — based on SP+ (a respected team-efficiency metric; 2026 not published yet, using 2025), 2025 production, recruiting, and the 2026 transfer portal; capped to depth-chart order.
2026 Game Log
Sep 12LUGATKL 1
- TKL
- 1
- SOLO
- 1
- SACK
- 0
- INT
- 0
- PD
- 0
Final L 70-20
| OPP | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | LUGA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Kiawan Murphy's 2026 game-by-game stat log.
The People's Ratings
Team Role
Overall ratings blend team strength (SP+), on-field production, and recruiting. Higher = more impactful.