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It might be tempting to start Latavius Murray this week, as it appears he’s the emerging running back the Oakland Raiders were hoping to have in Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew this season; but don’t buy into his hype, at least this week. His stat-line is definitely great, but it’s his matchup that cancels out his potential.
That potential which gave Murray a spike in ownership across leagues is a 112-yard, two-touchdown performance in Week 12. Since then, he’s been a good, but not great start, giving performances of seven and six points. He’s been trending down, and that’s never a good sign.
But what’s scarier than that is taking a look at that one 23-point performance that makes him look like a potential starter. It wasn’t so much a great game as much as a great play. Murray holds the league long run of the season with a 90-yard score. That’s a 15-point play. Take away that one play, and he has an eight-point game on three carries.
The proceeding game, he saw 23 carries but failed to have another big break, barely managing three yards per carry. Now he’s heading into a matchup against a stout Buffalo Bills defense that’s allowing the seventh-fewest points to RBs this season and would be a top-five defense if not for a fluke three touchdown performance from C.J. Anderson earlier this season.
I’ve rallied for other big play running backs like Antone Smith this season, but at least he set a precedent early in the season as a reliable big play option. But Murray has been entrusted to have more opportunities to repeat his success that put his name on the map to no avail. He’ll struggle this week to reach even 50 yards and won’t be able to find the end zone. Don’t start Murray this week.
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