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New Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray told reporters, “It’s a little comedic to me. Every successful running back usually has a couple good offensive linemen. Those guys (In Dallas) were great, I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys. This group here, they’ve got some Pro Bowlers and great players.”
If you break down that quote, Murray says the Dallas Cowboys‘ offensive line shouldn’t be receiving the credit that they’re getting for his breakout 2014 campaign. Murray then tries to sugarcoat the criticism by saying he has respect for them, but every running back has a “couple” of talented linemen. Couple is the word that bothers me, he’s not giving credit to all five, or six guys.
As if he hadn’t trampled on them enough, he then tries to compare the Eagles’ offensive line to the Cowboys’. In 2014, with LeSean McCoy and Darren Sproles in the backfield, the Eagles ranked ninth in the league with 1,992 rushing yards on 474 attempts, which equals out to a 4.2 YPC average. The Cowboys on the other hand, with Murray, finished with 2,354 rushing yards on 508 attempts, which comes to 4.6 YPC. There’s no way Murray is that much better than McCoy.
Murray will get the chance to prove how much that offensive line helped him in 2014. I worry that he’s going to get injured at some point running in Chip Kelly’s crazy offense. He will have to improve his conditioning, and get his body prepared for this type of up-tempo offense. Ryan Mathews‘ presence will help to take some of the toll off of Murray throughout the year, but I don’t know if that will be enough.
The bottom-line is Murray didn’t have to make the comments that he made. What does it matter that the Cowboys’ offensive line is getting a lot of the credit? Murray is an Eagle now and should be focused solely on 2015, not trying to make sure he points out that he was more important to the Cowboys’ rushing success than his offensive line.
Jason Fletcher is a MLB Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.
