Of course those factors can be attributed to such a big drop off.
Have you not watched the games? How many times has he been tackled behind the LOS? And again, he's always running sideways. Did you not see what happened to Randy Moss and how huge his drop off was when he went to Oakland? These things can and do happen.
And what are the younger, better options you speak of? Lamar Miller? When has he ever looked as good as Murray?
He was used heavily for ONE season. Some of you guys act like this is is Larry Johnson with multiple years of 400 carries. The guy isn't going to cost much if he hits the market and given his chemistry with this line, we absolutely should be after him.
He shouldn't be the ONLY guy we bring in to improve the position, but he should be one of the options. I have zero doubt that he'd come back and be a productive runner again.
Ooooookay. Where to begin?
Let's start with whether I watch the games. You know full well that I watch the Eagles more than you do. Probably much more. Much to my chagrin.
Did it ever occur to you, that maybe marry his hid behind the lines so much, in part because he is slow to get to the line? Its funny how Sproles and Mathews Don't seem to be hit behind the line as much.
I am NOT saying that scheme isn't a factor. But what I am saying is, scheme alone cannot account for this big of a drop off. It just isn't the case that Murray is so one dimensional that he can't play and be at least effective in this scheme. He isn't just not as good, he is completely ineffective.
It wasn't that long ago that he was a five yards per carry runner. Last year he was in the upper 4s. Suddenly he is in the mid threes I believe. I'm sorry but that's more than just scheme. That's more than just offensive line.
Next. Randy moss. Not germane. He's a WR and therefore QB dependent. He can't throw the ball to himself. He's also had personality issues that don't apply to Murray. Further, WRs don't take the physical pounding RBs do, and thus are generally still able to be effective later in their careers. It's not an apt comparison.
Next. Funny you bring up Larry Johnson, because he's the perfect demonstration of why we should avoid Murray. You're actually wrong about Johnson: he topped 400 carries in his career exactly once. Around the same age as Murray (26 or 27 I think?). Johnson also had only one other season above even 300 carries (325 or so I think), the year prior to 400. His workload was actually pretty similar to Murray's and the spike came at a similar time as Murray.
In his 300 something carry season Johnson averaged 5 ypc. In the following season, Johnson had 400 carries and a still good 4 something ypc. The following season Johnson was toast and never came close to recovering. At about the same age as Murray now. Johnson's career actually mirrors Murray's pretty closely.
To be clear, it's not JUST the carries that concern me with Murray, it's that combined with his age and the fact that we are seeing a huge drop in production. We'd be fools to ignore all that.
Next. When has Miller been better than Murray? THIS YEAR. And he's a couple years younger, and he's got a lot less mileage.
Why in the world would you go with a seriously declining RB at 29 over a lightly used 26 year old in his prime? It's a no brainer.
It's not that Murray is definitely toast. But he probably is. All of the warning signs are there.Why take that risk, considering Murray's age?
If you don't like Miller, fair enough. But that doesn't mean you turn to Murray. Trust me, I want a bell cow. I think it is important for this team. But we have to face facts. Murray is not that guy anymore. Why wouldn't we just move on to younger, Better options?
Even if you don't factory in the huge amount of carries from last year, Running backs across-the-board decline right around Murray's age. Smart teams move on. Especially when you can see it happening right in front of your face.