Oakland Raiders: Latavius Murray Not Getting Enough Carries

By Jonathan George | Oct 23, 2015

The Oakland Raiders will be playing in a game against the San Diego Chargers Sunday that will very likely chart the course for the rest of Oakland’s 2015 season. It is an understatement to say that it is a “must win” division match-up; falling to 2-4, and more importantly 0-2 in the division, would dash their hopes of making the playoffs. To win this week, Oakland needs to get the ball to Latavius Murray a lot more than they have been through the 1st 5 games.

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So far this season Murray is averaging under 20 touches a game, and more importantly only about 16 rush attempts per game. Seeing this statistic would make most people assume that it is probably because his YPC is low or he has fumblitis. But Murray is averaging 4.2 yards a carry and hasn’t lost a fumble this season. Because he is only averaging about 16 carries a game, he has only one 100+ yard rushing game in 2015 (all statistics courtesy of profootballreference.com).

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Oh, by the way, he went for 139 on the ground that game with a TD on 26 carries.

It did help that the opponent was the Cleveland Browns, but the fact remains that the more carries Murray gets the better he runs; a fact backed up by his 5.35 YPC in that game. Murray does not thrive in a 10-15 carry role, as he seems to be the kind of back that gets stronger as the game goes on. Throwing him out there as a complement to the passing game won’t work, and Oakland’s passing attack, ranked 15th in the league in passing YPG, is evidence of that.

I can understand the dilemma offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave is in; he possesses one of the most exciting corps of young quarterback/receiver talent in the NFL. Derek Carr and Amari Cooper look to be an emerging dynamic duo, and Michael Crabtree has been an underrated star. But the Raiders offense is passing 3 times to every rush attempt, and that won’t work in the long run. They need a better balance both early and late in games.

Giving Murray more carries is undoubtedly the key to the next 11 games for the Oakland Raiders.

Sure, if you are trailing 10+ points late in the 4th quarter, running the ball usually isn’t an option. Part of that is the defense struggling to stop the pass, as it’s currently tied for last in the NFL in yards given up through the air. But one way to control that is hogging up the time of possession, and even though the Raiders are rushing for 4 yards a carry as a team they are currently 18th in the league in T.O.P.; this seems to indicate that Oakland is just too pass happy.

Holding onto the ball with Murray eating up chunks of yardage is the perfect antidote to an opposing teams passing attack, while saving your own secondary from unnecessary exposure.

This week, the Raiders face a team in the Chargers that, if nothing else, have been deadly through the air. Quarterback Philip Rivers threw for over 500 yards against the Green Bay Packers last week, and that was against a Packers team that was only giving up about 186 passing yards a game. If the Raiders want to win they need to find a way to keep Rivers off of the field; rushing the ball with Murray is that way, especially with Oakland’s recent pass rushing injuries and struggles.

Murray needs 25-30 carries this week, and if he gets them Oakland’s chances of winning will go way up. If the Raiders get into a passing competition with the Chargers, don’t be surprised if they lose.

Giving Murray more carries is undoubtedly the key to the next 11 games for the Oakland Raiders.

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