One is the defending NFL rushing champion, a guy who averaged a staggering 25 carries per game last year.
The other is a two-time 1,000-yard rusher, a guy who averaged 18 carries per game in his last full season.
Both are used to carrying the load. Both are used to being The Guy. Both have been to the Pro Bowl.
And both are now part of a running back committee that could severely curtail their stats.
And both say they couldn’t care less.
How exactly will the workload between DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews be split up? Nobody knows. We’ll get our first taste of the backfield rotation Monday night, when the Eagles open the regular season against the Falcons at the Georgia Dome.
“We’ve all got one common goal and that’s to be in that last game of the season and I think we all know what it’s going to take to get there, and it’s going to take everybody,” Mathews said at his locker on Friday.
“We’ve all got to be together. You’ve got to be unselfish I think and we’ve got the guys that are like that.”
Mathews and Murray are both stars, both gifted, decorated tailbacks. But neither has ever won anything, and that goes a long way toward explaining why they are putting team goals ahead of individual goals this year.
They’ve both been to the Pro Bowl, but they’ve each only made the playoffs once in their career and been a part of one postseason win apiece.
Why share the load and the glory with another running back?
“Because it’s all about winning,” Murray said. “At the end of the day, no matter how you get it accomplished, for me it’s always been about winning, whether it’s high school, college or the pro level.
“Obviously you want to be out there as a competitor and you want to go out there and lead the group and you want to work as hard as you can work, but at the end of the day this is a top-bottom league.
“The only thing that matters is wins. Not yards, not records, none of that stuff. You know, at the end of the day, it’s that one column, and that’s wins and losses.”
Darren Sproles gives the Eagles a third Pro Bowl running back, but he’s essentially a returner, receiver and spot runner, so Murray and Mathews will get most of the carries.
The Eagles do run the ball a ton under Chip Kelly, so there is plenty of work to go around.
In fact, LeSean McCoy led the NFL with 626 carries over the last two years, and no other Eagle had even 100 carries during that span.
Kelly wanted to change to a two-back model for a number of reasons. To reduce the wear and tear on the backs, to have a viable lead back in case Murray or Mathews gets hurt and to make life difficult for defenses that now have to prepare for two stud runners with different skill sets.
“I think Duce [Staley, running backs coach] always does a really good job, depending on who is available to him, in terms of rotating those guys in,” Kelly said. “The biggest thing for us is we just want to keep someone fresh in the game. So if it takes getting you out for a couple of plays, just to get your wind and get you back, it takes a toll on the defense.
“That’s kind of what we have been trying to build toward here and those three guys obviously give us the opportunity to do that.
“They are all really good football players and they can run, catch and pick up in pass protection. That’s what we always want in a running back. Guys that can do all three things, not just do one really well.”
Murray got more than 90 percent of the carries the last two years in Dallas. The Cowboys other backs averaged just four carries per game during that span.
Murray's life is about to change.
“As a competitor, you want to be the guy,” Murray said. “I know what I’m capable of doing. I know I have 100 percent confidence in myself and the other running backs on this team. I know what I was brought here to do and be.
“But this is a great situation to be a part of. Not just the running back core but just the team in general. You’ve got a lot of weapons, a lot of guys who’ve worked extremely hard, a lot of guys who’ve had success. This is a team that’s won twenty games the last two years.
“Obviously, (Mathews) is going to get his touches and I’ll get mine, and then Sproles is a great running back and you can do a lot of different things with all of us. I think we all bring something different to the table, so it’s going to be hard for opponents to kind of key in and work on one guy, so I think our rotation and our tempo is something that’s definitely an advantage for us.”
Mathews shared the workload with Mike Tolbert during his 1,000-yard season in 2011 and with Danny Woodhead during his career year in 2013. He got 55 percent of the carries in those years combined.
So his adjustment won't be as great as Murray's.
“I’m not worried about that,” Mathews said. “The only thing I’m worried about is when I get my chance to get in, doing my best, knowing my assignment and giving it 110 percent. Like the rest of these guys.
“We are really going to feed off each other and really push each other. I’m not worried about carries or anything like that. When my number’s called, I just gotta go.”
Over the last four years, Murray, McCoy and Mathews rank third, fourth and eighth in the NFL in yards per carry among backs with at least 750 carries during that span. Murray is at 4.9, McCoy at 4.6 and Mathews at 4.4.
During the same span, Sproles leads all running backs in receptions, McCoy is sixth, Murray ninth and Mathews 22nd.
“I’ve never been part of three backs that have all been to the Pro Bowl and have had a lot of success in college and at the pro level,” Murray said. “They’re great guys and it’s one of the hardest-working groups that I’ve ever been a part of, so I think that speaks volumes.”
None of the backs played much in the preseason, so Monday night will be the unveiling of what should be the Eagles’ first real running back rotation since 2003, when Staley, Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook each had between 96 and 126 carries.
Westbrook said being part of a rotation isn’t the easiest thing for a running back.
“It is tough,” he said. “And especially with these guys. Ryan Mathews was a starter out there in San Diego. DeMarco was starting, so they're used to being on the field for most of the game. It's going to be a little tough.
“For me, it was different because I was coming from not playing very much to playing a little bit, which felt pretty good. And you weren't as hungry to play as much because you were kind of working in the system.
“But these guys have been playing 75, 80 percent of the time so it's a little bit different if they get that knocked down to 50. It's going to be a learning process for them, but they will stay fresh. It's hard to stay involved in the game when you're on the sidelines for some of the plays when you think you should be out there.
“It becomes frustrating just a bit, but I think over time they'll figure it out. They'll run enough plays here to make sure everybody gets their opportunity.”
Murray, who had the ninth-most carries in NFL history last year, said he's beyond worrying about touches.
He just wants to win.
“It’s part of who I am as a selfless individual, a selfless person. This culture, this team, this organization, that’s what attracted me the most. There’s a lot of selfless guys. You look around across the board, you see all the Pro Bowl players.
"But at the end of the day, guys are coming in to work hard and to build camaraderie, and that’s what attracted me the most and the short amount of time I’ve been here that’s what I see on a daily basis.”