Section 215
Fansided

Eagles All-22: What Happened To DeMarco Murray?

By Tucker Bagley

facebooktwitterreddit

It’s safe to say 2015 hasn’t exactly gone as planned for DeMarco Murray or the Philadelphia Eagles. After rushing for over 1,800 yards, Murray spurned the Dallas Cowboys to sign with Chip Kelly and the Eagles in free agency.

Just 12 games into his career as an Eagle, Murray has struggled mightily, rushing for just 569 yards and averaging a putrid 3.5 yards per carry. Although he did pick up 504 of those yards in just seven games, a pace that would have given him 1,152 yards if sustained over a 16-game period.

Next: Eagles Roundtable: Should Fans Cheer LeSean McCoy?

But the bad has far outweighed the good and a move that was given positive reviews by fans and analysts alike is now being questioned. Has Murray fallen victim to his massive workload in 2014? Is he a fit in Kelly’s shotgun-based running scheme? Does he wish he stayed in Dallas, in a system he proved to be successful in?

A look at the tape from his time in Dallas reveals that, for better or worse, Murray is the same player he’s always been with one difference.

PATIENCE NOT POWER

One thing that I found odd when watching film of Murray last year was how much the announcers lauded his “power running.” At 6-0, 214, Murray certainly is a large back, but very rarely does he run over defenders or run through tackles, especially at the line of scrimmage.

Instead, Murray uses his superior vision and patience to find a hole, hit it and explode into the second level, picking up a head of steam in the process. For example, here’s a run from week 14 of last year against the Chicago Bears:

Murray benefits from his offensive linemen’s great push and is able to get three yards downfield before encountering a defender. The Bears do a good job of clogging the holes, but Murray uses his vision to find the cutback lane and pick up eight yards.

However, this run from the Cowboys’ game against the Rams last season is a different story:

The Rams hold their ground at the line of scrimmage and surround Murray in the backfield before dragging him down for a big loss. This is something Eagles fans have seen a lot of this year. Thanks to the struggles of the Eagles’ interior offensive line he has yet to have time to sit back and find the hole.

But there is some glimmers of hope, like this run against Washington from week three:

Here, the o-line gives Murray room to operate and he’s already five yards downfield when he first encounters a defender. Unlike running backs like Ryan Mathews and Darren Sproles, Murray struggles to pick up “dirty yards,” something that needs to be done to be successful behind this offensive line.

It sounds way to simple to classify this as a case of the offensive line needing to block better for Murray, especially when backs like Mathews and Sproles and even Kenjon Barner have been successful running the football, but Murray does not seem to have the same athletic capabilities as those three.

DOWNFIELD NOT DOWNHILL

The reason Lesean McCoy was jettisoned out of Philadelphia was due to his constant dancing in the backfield and Kelly’s insistence of needing a downhill running back who would run north-south and not feel the need to hit the home run on every carry.

Murray’s success in a power running scheme made him seem like the perfect fit for Kelly, even though the coach prefers running out of the shotgun. But it seems like Murray has struggled with the scheme change and can’t execute outside runs that ask him to gain the edge.

Murray is a pretty fast running back, but unlike McCoy he doesn’t have the sort of quick, explosive speed that can make defenders miss in tight spaces. Instead, Murray’s speed takes a little time to get going and is noticeable when he is running in the open field.

On this play, Murray busts into the secondary and once he reaches full speed, he makes Earl Thomas look foolish and picks up an extra 10 yards. Once again, this play starts at the line of scrimmage and the Cowboys offensive line keeping Murray untouched until he gets to the second level.

Maybe it’s because they are bigger and more sure tacklers, but it seems like Murray often struggles to avoid tackles by defensive linemen and bigger linebackers, which makes Kelly’s explanation for not giving Murray more carries against the Patriots.

Here’s a similar run taken from the Giants game that shows Murray still has the same talents as he did a season ago. Murray hits the hole and is untouched before breaking a tackle and picking up 11 yards and a first down.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

First, it means Murray was very much a product of the environment he was in with the Cowboys, probably more so than any of us realized. Yes, everyone knows the Cowboys have a great run-blocking offensive line, but Murray’s running style is maximized when he has wide running lanes and open space to ramp up his speed.

More from Section 215

And second, Murray has not lost any of the magic or skills that he had a season ago when he was the NFL’s leading rusher. He is still capable of putting together great runs when he is given proper time and space.

Obviously it shouldn’t come to making excuses like this for a guy who just signed a $40 million contract eight months ago and maybe all of these issues come back to Murray not being comfortable in Kelly’s scheme, but considering its very similar to the one he was in at Oklahoma, there is a precedent of him being successful in a running system that isn’t based under center.

Home/Philadelphia Eagles