Nick Piccone
If there’s not a running back controversy already for the Eagles, there probably will be soon. Talking on the NFL Network, Howard Eskin said that he would like to see Ryan Mathews get the bulk of the carries when DeMarco Murray returns.
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“I would rather see Ryan Mathews get the bulk of the carries for the Eagles, assuming that DeMarco Murray’s gonna be back this week. I would think after Mathews’ game, I think he’s [Murray] gonna feel a little bit quicker – not that he wasn’t hurt, I don’t mean to imply that. Mathews just seems quicker to the hole, faster to get around the edge, which I didn’t see a lot of from Murray. And, again, the offensive line had some of the issues, but just by my eye test, Mathews is a little quicker and a little faster. So, I would like to see Mathews get the bulk of the carries. So, is he better for the team? Right now, I think he is.”
He then goes on to say Andrew Gardner was the weak link of the offensive line, which is to blame for Murray’s struggles, and then said the line played better this past week in Murray’s absence. So, which is it? Murray or the offensive line? Can it be both? You can listen to the rest of Eskin’s interview here.
It was clear that the running game was working better for the Eagles on Sunday, but there’s no way to know for sure that Murray would have had his best game of the season if he was suited up. I’m surprised it took only three games for Eskin to jump off the Murray bandwagon.
There’s no doubt in my mind that more than a handful of Eagles fans agree with this sentiment. I’m not one of them. I know Sean isn’t one of them. In fact, I think the jury’s still out on Murray. But, Eskin’s point may just be that for this offensive line, which isn’t impressive at all so far this season, Mathews might be better suited because he’s a quicker runner than Murray.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments or on social media.
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