After being the leading rusher in the NFL last season for the rival Dallas Cowboys, DeMarco Murray made and unprecedented move. He refused to take a hometown discount to remain in Dallas, instead shocking the entire league by joining the rival Philadelphia Eagles. The move to get Murray in Philadelphia was only possible after a chain of events, which included trading for quarterback Sam Bradford from the St. Louis Rams, as well as trading away the franchise’s all-time leading rusher in LeSean McCoy. Much of Murray’s success last season was attributed to the Cowboys’ dominant offensive line. It will be interesting to see how Murray’s stats will be impacted in a new offensive system and behind a different offensive line.

Murray fits what the Eagles and Chip Kelly want to do on offense. He is a threat catching the ball out of the backfield and he is a powerful, downhill runner who rarely allows a play to go for negative yards. While McCoy is also a major receiving threat, he and Murray differ in their running styles. McCoy is much more of an east-west runner. He too often jukes and stutter steps in the hole, trying to bounce it outside for a big highlight reel run instead of putting his shoulder down and picking up the three or four yards that are available. This tendency wore out its welcome with Kelly and the rest of the coaching staff, making McCoy expendable.

When McCoy was traded to the Buffalo Bills for young and upcoming linebacker Kiko Alonso, it opened to the door for the Eagles to acquire Murray. Murray’s north-south running style will make him a fan favorite in Philadelphia. While he may not have the highlight reel 50-plus yard runs, he will keep the chains moving and take the yards that are there. He will keep the offense on the field instead of letting them go three and out. Murray will still have a solid line to run behind as the Eagles ranked second overall behind the Cowboys according to Pro Football Focus. He will still have the big holes to run through, and will be facing worn out defenses in the Kelly’s up-tempo offense, compared to the Cowboys’ grind it out style.

After last season and the stats he put up while with the Cowboys, I highly doubt that Murray envisioned himself suiting up for a different team in 2015. While Murray didn’t foresee himself in Philadelphia, the Eagles showed how much they valued him by giving him the kind of contract he deserved. One of the big reasons other than the money that Murray is now an Eagle was the teams addition of Bradford at quarterback. Bradford did a lot to recruit his former Oklahoma teammate to joining him in Philadelphia. The two have always been close friends and actually roomed together during their time with the Sooners. When the possibility of joining Bradford again on the football field presented itself, Murray jumped at the opportunity.

While Murray had a ton of success in Dallas last season, the potential is there for him to have even more in Kelly’s offense. Running a similar system to their Oklahoma days, Murray and Bradford could take this offense to new heights in 2015. With Murray in Philadelphia along with newly acquired Ryan Mathews as well as veteran Darren Sproles, the Eagles have one of, if not the best running back group in the entire league. This new group of running backs along with Bradford could make this offense a scary one to face this season. Couple the new-look offense with all the changes the Eagles made on the defensive side of the ball and it looks like they could be a real threat to take back the NFC East crown.