Oakland Raiders: Latavius Murray Overrated, Must Replace Him Now

Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray had a breakout year in 2015, yet some are still calling for the team to draft Ezekiel Elliot to replace him as the team’s featured back.

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The Oakland Raiders‘ ground game in 2015 was – adequate. Though it was vastly improved from the 2014 version, it wasn’t spectacular, by any stretch of the imagination. But third year back Latavius Murray, getting his first crack at becoming the team’s starter, turned in a solid performance, breaking the 1,000 yard mark – the first time a Raiders back has done that since Darren McFadden back in 2010.

And yet, despite Murray’s breakout season, there are some who can’t seem to appreciate his performance, labeling him “overrated” and calling for the team to draft a running back like Ezekiel Elliott out of Ohio State to replace him.

Such is the case with writer Carlin Hertz FoxSports’ Engage Network. In his piece which begins with a very Fox News-worthy title, “Oakland Raiders Running Back Latavius Murray… Overrated?” Hertz goes on to “examine” whether or not the Raiders should drop Murray down the depth chart and replace him with Elliott or Alabama running back Derrick Henry.

According to Hertz, Murray is, “… talented, but will never be more than a decent running back in the NFL.” He of course, backs up that incredibly sharp insight by stating that Murray will never be more than a decent running back because – wait for it – he only ran for 100 yards in two games last season.

Wow. With that sort of scintillating insight and astute assessment, maybe we’ve all been wrong about Murray having what it takes to be Oakland’s bell cow in the backfield and the Raiders should just trade him to the Browns for a pack of hot dogs and a case of Dr. Pepper – the Browns always need quarterbacks and running backs, right?

First of all, the number of times a back goes over 100 yards in a season isn’t necessarily the best way to judge their worth to a team. Yes, he only broke the century mark twice, but his season average of four yards a carry seems much more valuable to the offense. If Murray is banging out four yards every time he touches the ball, he’s giving the offense a lot of shorter fields on second and third down.

But since Hertz seems to like numbers, let’s throw this one at him – Murray is just one of seven running backs in the NFL last season to break the 1,000 yard barrier. He also had the second most rushing yards in the AFC last season – behind only Chris Ivory – and the sixth most yards of any running back in the entire league.

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And let’s not forget that all of Murray’s efforts last season did net him his first trip to the Pro Bowl — the first of what could be many.

One other thing about this whole “overrated” claptrap — Murray was a sixth round pick in 2013. Sixth round. The Raiders didn’t select him with a first or a second round pick. He didn’t come in with a lot of fanfare. He was a late round pick who had to battle just to make the team.

So how can somebody who came from such a humble beginning be “rated” highly enough to actually be “overrated?”

Oakland’s running game certainly left a little something to be desired in 2015, that’s for sure. But a lot of that can be put on the vanilla, conservative play calling of OC Bill Musgrave. Rather than using Murray’s speed and power to its fullest advantage, time after time, Musgrave had him dive straight ahead, trying to simply keep the defense honest and set up the pass. On plays where he allowed Murray to stretch it out and get to the corner, he often did with terrific effect. But it was done far too frequently.

There can be no question that Murray had a pretty fantastic 2015 campaign. To argue otherwise defies logic – not to mention, statistics. And labeling him as being overrated is absolutely ridiculous. No, he’s not Adrian Peterson – but then again, nobody ever claimed he was.

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What Murray is though, is a very good running back who had a very good season. And behind this beefed up, mauler of an offensive line, we can – and should – expect Murray to build upon his standout 2015 season and have an even better 2016 campaign.

Overrated? Please.