WHO IS DeMarco Murray (RB/DAL)?

Call the doctor because DeMarco Murray is a very sick man. Living in Big 12 country (or is it 9 or 11 now?) I’ve had the painful pleasure of watching a lot of good Sooner football. From early on in his collegiate career, I coined him a “poor man’s Darren McFadden”. This is because Murray has that slashing upright running style with a good blend of size, power, speed, and receiving skills. Not to mention he has big acceleration and can hit the homerun.

Coming in as a freshman on the heels of the legendary Adrian Peterson, Murray had some rather large shoes to fill. Never quite reaching the full potential you felt like he had, DeMarco did not disappoint as he displayed impressive talent and blazed his own trail through the illustrious OU record book and received numerous collegiate accolades. He was a big time 4 yr. player on one of the most NFL like squads in the country.

At OU, DeMarco did it on the ground and through the air against top level competition and the numbers spoke for themselves: 16 TDs/yr., 2 x 1,000+ yd. rushing seasons, almost 5 yd/carry career avg., 2 x 500+ yd. receiving seasons, 71 receptions his Sr. year, and he did work in the return game.

The concern with Murray at OU was it always felt like durability was an issue. He had some injuries late in seasons and missed some big games early in his career. It also never really seemed like he assumed the work-horse role you would like to see out of an NFL RB-to be.

This may explain why Murray, who at times displayed elite talent, slipped to the 3rd rd. of the 2011 draft. Jerry Jones and his old SWC ties made sure to snatch him right up at a tremendous value at a time when the Cowboys long term RB situation was far from settled.

What is His Fantasy Relevance?

Well after the monster performance Sunday, the cat is definitely out of the bag.  So lets take a step back and look at the dynamics of Murray’s situation: The Cowboys have a prolific offense, even before this season Felix Jones never displayed anything close to the ability to be a lead back- if anything he demonstrated the opposite, DeMarco Murray is really good, and Jones spent a high draft pick on him.

These are the reasons I saw preseason for drafting Murray as a keeper in my fantasy football league. I figured he was the best RB in DAL and by next year he would take the starting job. Well, things progressed a little quicker than expected with the Felix Jones injury. DeMarco Murray literally took the opportunity and ran with it. After setting a work-horse like Cowboy’s single game rushing record with an explosive 253 yards on only 25 carries it will be hard for the Boys to put Murry back on the bench. I think he has carved out his role as the lead back  moving forward barring a string of crappy games or an unforeseen injury. Felix will cut in to his production some upon his return but do not be disappointed. If you happen to own Murray you have a season changing gem on your hands.

Can You Trade for Him?

Probably not now. Unless of course you play in a league full of donkeys you take advantage of year after year. If you do happen to have an owner in your league who thinks Murray was a one hit wonder and think they are “selling high” on him; go for it if you can do the deal for compensation you feel is reasonable. Guys I would trade for Murray: Big Ben, Matt Schaub, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Marshall, Steven Jackson, DeAngelo Williams, Cedric Benson, etc…