Adrian Fedkiw
Brian Orakpo wasn’t wrong.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line was trash in 2015 and DeMarco Murray’s disappointing season was attributed to that coupled with the fact that he simply wasn’t a fit for Chip Kelly’s scheme.
Here’s what Orakpo had to say via The Tennessean on Monday in defense of his new teammate Murray.
There’s a lot of factors that may play into (why Murray had a disappointing year. Wrong style, not getting along with the coaching staff, offensive line being garbage. I mean, it’s a lot of things that can be attributed to the way he performed or the way he didn’t perform as well as everybody wanted him to. But I really feel like the Titans is the team for him, and like I said, he’s been great so far.”
Football Outsiders ranked the Eagles’ offensive line 30th last season, although Pro Football Focus had them at No. 2. I have no idea how they came up with that number.
Murray averaged a measly 3.6 yards per carry and ran for just 702 yards last year after leading the league in rushing with 1,845 in 2014. Ryan Mathews gained 5.0 yards per tote, Kenjon Barner 4.4 and Darren Sproles 3.8.
Murray just simply couldn’t get to the boundary on the signature Kelly sweep as quickly as Mathews, Barner and Sproles could and didn’t hit the hole as hard on the inside zone as that trio either.
Philadelphia revamped its offensive line during the offseason, signing mammoth guard Brandon Brooks to go along with center/guard Stefen Wisniewski. The Eagles then picked up guard Isaac Seumalo in the third round of this past NFL Draft.