Eagles’ DeMarco Murray Continues to Struggle, While Ryan Matthews Performs Well

The Philadelphia Eagles’ acquisition of DeMarco Murray this past offseason had many living both inside and outside the City of Brotherly Love excited about the future of their home team’s running game. If you’ve spent any amount of time following the Eagle’s woes this season, however, you know this to not be the case. Simply put, DeMarco Murray has made Dallas Cowboys’ General Manager Jerry Jones look more like Nostradamus than anything else, letting Murray walk, as opposed to giving him a new contract.

In last night’s Week 7 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Murray managed to rack up 65 total rushing yards on 18 carries and caught 2-of-4 targets for an additional five yards. Though starting the game and getting the majority of the team’s carries, Murray struggled to find running room behind an Eagles’ offensive line that lost left tackle Jason Peters to lower back spasms in the first half.

Sure, Murray was able to rush for over 100 yards for the first time this season last week, butt it appears he’s back to his old self, yet again. Even worse, Murray had two carries inside the Panthers’ 10-yard line, but—much to the displeasure of hopeful fantasy owners—couldn’t break the goal line. Unless Chip Kelly decides to adapt his team’s running scheme to more fully play to Murray’s strengths, any sort of mid-season turnaround appears to be unlikely. Until changes are made, Murray will remain a mid-range RB2 option for fantasy enthusiasts.

Ryan Matthews, on the other hand, was able to accomplish a great deal with the little opportunity given him by Kelly and the rest of the Eagle’s offensive staff. Rushing for 97 yards on just six carries and catching three passes for an additional 24 yards, Matthews was able to score a touchdown in the Eagle’s losing effort.

As far as fantasy value is concerned, reports Yahoo.com, “The Eagles aren’t likely to increase Mathew’s role coming off their bye, but he has RB3/FLEX value in favorable matchups.” During the Eagle’s Week 9 contest against the Dallas Cowboys, Mathews will be seen as a low-volume fantasy option.