That was quick. DeMarco Murray’s time in Philadelphia is up as he’s being shipped over to Tennessee. Murray made it just one season with the Eagles as the team continues to dump the many players that Chip Kelly brought in (Byron Maxwell, Kiko Alonso also gone).
Murray leaves Philly with nothing to write home about, finishing the year with 193 carries for 702 yards, 44 receptions for 322 yards and seven total touchdowns. No one thought he could repeat what he did after a 400-touch season with Dallas in 2014, but he still appeared in 15 games for the Eagles. But Murray never really looked comfortable in the offense and that showed throughout the season.
Now, he’s hoping to change his fortunes again, this time with the Titans. Tennessee has tried its hand at finding a running back the last couple years, but nothing has panned out.
Undrafted running back Antonio Andrews led the Titans in rushing last year, albeit with just 520 yards and three touchdowns. Bishop Sankey was supposed to be the answer when he was drafted in the second round two years ago, but he has done absolutely nothing on the field to give the Titans any confidence. Fifth-round pick David Cobb was a popular option to become a factor last year, but he ended up doing less than the other two with 2.8 yards per carry, although used mainly in short-yardage roles.
Needless to say, the Titans evidently don’t trust any of those guys. They still have Dexter McCluster under contract for a season, as well, but his role has never been huge in this offense outside of a receiving back.
Also of note, the terms of the trade aren’t being revealed until Wednesday. It’s likely one or two of these running backs will be gone from the Titans’ roster sooner or later. You don’t trade for a high-priced running back unless you plan on using him and that’s exactly what Tennessee will plan on doing.
The good news is that the Titans offense can only get better. Marcus Mariota was serviceable as a rookie and his knowledge of the game should only grow as time moves on. That should help in getting a better ground game going, but the Titans will more than likely add a piece or two the their offensive line. If not, Murray’s value may be limited a bit.
Behind the best offensive line in the league, Murray was dominant. Behind the mediocre offensive line of Philadelphia, Murray was a regular running back. As it stands, the Titans still have the No. 1 pick and they could easily make a move for left tackle Laremy Tunsil. That would definitely give a boost to this group and allow some of the other pieces to move around like Taylor Lewan.
As for Murray, what can we expect? Stealing from Matthew Berry on Twitter, he extrapolated what the Titans running backs did last year to Murray. Assuming Murray gets 268 touches, he’s expected to reach around 1,235 yards and seven touchdowns. This comes from the primary Titans RBs averaging 4.61 yards per touch last year.
That’s a decent barometer to go off of, because as said before, the Titans are going to use Murray as their workhorse running back. Why else do they make a deal for him? It only makes sense.
Because of this, Murray should jump back into the top 10 of running backs. At the moment, it looks like Thomas Rawls, Mark Ingram and LeSean McCoy are filling out the bottom of the top RBs.
Despite his injury issues, Murray should be getting drafted with those guys. He’s going to get the touches in an offense that should have a better offensive line and a quarterback going into his second season.
Some will think to put Murray above Doug Martin at No. 7 as well, and that’s fine. But there’s no way Murray should get drafted any higher. This isn’t Chip Kelly’s offense and Murray should have a better overall season as long as he’s healthy. For now, put him teetering on the edge of the top-10 running backs.
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