When the Tennessee Titans swapped fourth-round picks in this year’s draft for Philadelphia Eagles running back DeMarco Murray, it was a bit of a shock to those around the NFL.
Why would Philadelphia give up on Murray after just one season? Was Tennessee in position to take on Murray’s absurd contract?
What the trade did do was rid Philadelphia of one of Chip Kelly’s big mistakes in his one year as the team’s general manager.
It also gave Tennessee a proven running back after the team ranked in the bottom eight of the NFL in rushing offense a season ago.
Now taking part in his first OTAs as a member of the Titans, it appears that the 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year is impressing his coaches and teammates.
“I certainly liked some of the cuts I saw,” head coach Mike Mularkey said, via The Tennessean. “Even without pads on, those were cuts he wasn’t going to get touched on. It was going to be an explosive run. You can tell when a play is going to work and not work.”
People want to point to Murray’s ridiculously low 3.6 yards per carry average last season with Philadelphia and conclude he lost a step. That’s surface-based thinking in its truest form.
While that’s fine and dandy, it’s important to note that Murray averaged just 1.6 yards prior to contact per rush. For comparison’s sake, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles averaged 3.0 yards prior to contact in the five games he played.
This tells us a story of an Eagles offensive line that struggled a great deal in terms of run blocking.
If, as Mularkey indicates, Murray looks good cutting and changing directions, it’s going to bode well for the running back’s outlook in 2016.
“He made a few cuts today that were pretty special,” second-year quarterback Marcus Mariota said. “To have someone of that talent back there, it will not only open a lot of run-game stuff, but also play-action stuff and passing game. It will really make our team that more dimensional.”
This is also something people didn’t take into account. Whether it was Sam Bradford or Mark Sanchez under center last season in Philadelphia, the team didn’t have a real threat at quarterback. This enabled defenses to stack the box against the run.
On the other hand, Tennessee’s lack of a running game enabled defenses to hone in on Mariota, who was attempting to navigate his way through a rookie season without much help on the ground.
Tennessee did pick up reigning Heisman winner Derrick Henry in the second round of last month’s draft. He surely will be competing with Murray for touches this upcoming season.
While that could impact Murray’s overall performance, it tells us a story of a rushing attack that’s going to be vastly better in Nashville than what we saw last season.
If the team’s praise of Murray is any indication, the former Pro Bowler will be more than capable of helping out.