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DeMarco Murray Left Meat on the Bone, But So Does Everyone
By Jim Adair
Published:
Joseph Randle made headlines a few weeks ago when he stole underwear again said DeMarco Murray “left a lot of meat on the bone” in his rushing attempts last year. That’s certainly one thing to say about the NFL’s rushing leader (and the guy who was ahead of you on the depth chart), but did now-Eagle Murray make some wrong decisions and leave yards on the field? Andy Benoit at MMQB thinks so.
Using two other screenshots like the one above, Benoit says that Murray “doesn’t [hit the hole] with nearly the regularity a man of his build and skill set should.” His hips are stiff and his feet are heavy. And for Randle’s part, he “averaged 6.7 yards a carry off the bench in 2014. He can average well over 5.0 getting 20-plus carries a game as a starter as long as he plays with the discipline that Murray sometimes lacked.”
Sure, but here’s the thing. Benoit used three carries as examples. Murray ran the ball 392 times. Every running back — and I mean every one who carries the ball 20 times in a season — is going to miss some holes and make the wrong decision off the handoff and make the wrong cut. Every single one. Every running back in the league left meat on the bone last year, the positive about Murray is that he didn’t really leave enough to get him booted from Wing Bowl.
Kyle: Totally agree. And Murray, despite any flaws, falls forward better than any player I’ve ever seen. He might miss a hole, but then he’ll get tackled and fall seven yards forward before he hits the ground. He’s essentially the anti-McCoy, who also left meat on the bone when he danced around in the backfield. Murray can get four yards per carry without even trying. This seems to be exactly the type of back Chip prefers.
When he's not writing about sports here or ranting about them on Twitter, Jim is probably watching X-Files on Netflix or drinking a beer somewhere. Jim has nothing against hockey, it's just not his style. He once met Duce Staley at a Sixers game.