Remember when Cowboys running back Joseph Randle said DeMarco Murray "left some meat on the bone"?
Of course you do.
Randle may have been on to something, according to Monday Morning Quarterback's Andy Benoit, who broke down film of the Cowboys from 2014 with Ryan Silverfield, a former assistant NFL offensive line coach with the Vikings and current offensive consultant for Arizona State.
After the film session, the main takeaway was something we already know: The Cowboys' offensive line is really, really good.
From Benoit:
Chip Kelly just spent $21 million in guarantees to bring Murray to Philadelphia because Kelly wants a runner who will just hit the hole. Murray does that—certainly more than LeSean McCoy, anyway. But Murray doesn’t do it with nearly the regularity a man of his build and skill set should. Murray’s strength is his ability to get square downhill, even off contact. His weakness is in his hips, which are a little stiff, and his feet, which are sometimes too heavy to maintain balance when changing direction. But based on some of the decisions Murray made last season, you wonder if he even knows these things about himself.
Benoit posts three screen shots of Murray appearing to "miss the hole," but as Philly Voice's Jimmy Kempski points out, those runs weren't really that egregious.
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According to Benoit's analysis, Randle or former Raiders running back Darren McFadden should have little issue running behind Dallas' offensive line. For that matter, pretty much anyone can run for 1,500 yards behind this line.
"Randle’s only obstacle to 1,500-plus yards is Darren McFadden, a fascinating wild card in this backfield equation," Benoit wrote. "In Dallas, McFadden won’t have to make people miss. Because it’s not a question of whether the Cowboys have the best run-blocking O-line in the league, it’s whether they have the best run-blocking O-line of this century."
Murray set the single-season rushing record for a franchise that boasts alumni like the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, and Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett . Smith and Dorsett combined to rush for over 1,500 yards four times in their careers. The only other running back to run for 1,500 yards in Cowboy history was Herschel Walker.
If Randle pays for all his merchandise, Benoit seems pretty confident in his ability to replace Murray.
"Let’s hope that Randle’s lesson learned from skipping the Dillards checkout line helped teach him the virtue of patience and discipline," Benoit wrote. "If he runs with that in 2015, he’ll keep McFadden on the bench and contend for a rushing title."
That's some serious hype for a guy with 507 career rushing yards.