Keatley kicked 20 points as the Irish province recorded a much-needed 30-3 victory over Edinburgh Rugby and with Jonny Sexton's injury Murphy sees an opening for the 25-year-old.
Munster 's first-choice no.10 Ronan O'Gara may well be set to start against the Scarlets on Saturday as he bids to get some match sharpness ahead of the Six Nations clash with Scotland the following week.
But full-back Murphy believes Keatley has thrown his name in the hat with his consistency in recent weeks and would certainly not be out of his depth.
"We kicked the corners against Edinburgh. Keats [Ian Keatley] really drove the game, probably one of his best games ever in that regard," Murphy told the Irish Independent.
"He made right decisions, when to kick and when to run and the times we ran out of our red zone was when it was on and we made good ground.
"I think he is up there, he is a very talented guy. He has already played for Ireland a couple of times and he is very experienced.
"I suppose he showed in the [Racing] Metro game and especially at the weekend, how he can run games like that.
"Rog [Ronan O'Gara] is Rog, you can't say enough about him. He is probably going to play with us this weekend to get some game time, but if Jonny [Sexton] is out of the Scots match then there is certainly a race for a spot."
Guinness PRO12 Munster News
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