Sad news if you consider yourself DeMarco Murray fan boy. The former Cowboys-Eagles-Titans running back announced his retirement this past week. Now time will tell if he’s really retired. With LeSean McCoy’s sudden legal woes, he could easily get picked up by the Bills or any other team that finds itself in a running back pinch. Yet, for now, he’s done and although he had a short seven-year run, he left a big impact on the Robioland Fantasy Football landscape.
Drafted in the third round by Dallas in the 2011 NFL draft, the former Oklahoma Sooner was a juicy sleeper, despite the fact he would be backing up projected starter, Felix Jones. While it was Jeff, who took Jones in the second round of our draft, it was me with the homer pick in round 13.
Yet, most of us have our thing in this league. Bob is winning. Griff is losing in the title game. Masterson is starting hot and fading late. Colby is constantly disappointing us all. Me…I draft late studs, cut them early, while others enjoy their success.
Murray was off my roster by week two, replaced with tight end, Jermaine Gresham. The Cowboys RB would remain on the wire untouched until week six, until he replaced an ineffective Felix Jones and exploded for 253 yards rushing in week six. Despite this performance, Murray only cost Calderon $15 to remove from the wire and over the next seven weeks, he would look like one of the best backs in football, averaging 245 fantasy points per game. Unfortunately for Rich, Murray’s stat stuffing wasn’t enough to prevent a three-game losing streak to end the season and he missed the playoffs. Yet, he had a nice keeper late in the draft, who despite not starting most of the season, finished 16th among all backs.
In 2012, Calderon looked like a guy who could set the world on fire. He snagged LeSean McCoy early in the first round and placed him next to Murray in his starting backfield. Yet, after a solid week one where he rushed for 131 yards, Murray suffered through a sophomore slump, producing a combined 106 rushing yards in his next three games, before getting hurt in week five. He would miss six games. By the time he came back, Calderon didn’t need him. Rich was on pace to win 10 games and Murray was now behind McCoy and Bryce Brown on the depth chart, although he did start for Rich in his quarterfinals loss to Bob. On the year, he finished as the 37th best back.
The 2013 season would be Murray’s last as a round 13 keeper for Rich, but boy, did he get his money’s worth. However, it didn’t appear that way at first. Through nine games, the Cowboys back was average at best, breaking 100 yards rushing just once (in week two), getting to the end zone only four times.
However, in week ten he broke out with over 100 total yards and three scores. He would then keep piling on the stats. Over the last six weeks that featured three regular season games and three postseason contests, Murray would average a stunning 317 fantasy points per game, leading Calderon to his first ever championship. In the title game against Griff, he scored 292 fantasy points. On the season, he finished as the 9th best back. Not bad for a $15 pick up in 2011.
It was official, Murray was now an elite back and in 2014, his last year under contract with the Cowboys, great things were expected, which is why Colby, with the 8th overall pick in the first round of the 2014 draft, grabbed Murray. It proved to be a wise decision.
With a stunning 3,870 fantasy points, Murray finished the season as the league’s top back, earning Colby his first ever league MVP award. On the year, he rushed for over 100 yards in 11 of his 13 regular season games. Unfortunately, there is only so much one man can do and Murray was not able to prevent a nine-win #2 seed, Colby team from losing in the quarterfinals, despite scoring a stunning 516 fantasy points.
Yet, despite all the great things that Murray accomplished, when he left Dallas for a crowded Philly backfield in 2015, Colby decided he wasn’t worth a mid-first round pick and opted not to keep him. Instead, Don scooped him up with the fourth overall pick. That decision proved to be a good one for Colby and a bad one for Don. Outside of a month’s worth of football, Murray never got it going in Chip Kelly’s offense. Despite never being hurt, he never sniffed 1,000 yards rushing, finishing 17th among all backs and by the end of the season, Don had his first-round pick sitting on the bench if a non-playoff team.
Well, when all else fails, one should find their way home. Of course, Murray couldn’t go back to Dallas, instead opting for Tennessee, but in 2016, he did end up back with Calderon, who took the new Titans running back in the third round. It proved to be a great decision.
Murray would end up earning second-team All-Robio as the league’s fourth best fantasy back. He would total 100 yards in seven of his first nine games, scoring at least one touchdown in seven of eight games, starting in week three. Yes, his numbers dipped at the end, as Derrick Henry stole some carries, but Murray still averaged 283 fantasy points for the regular season and came through for Calderon when it mattered most, producing back-to-back 240-point efforts in the quarterfinals and finals. While he only produced 120 points in the title game, for the second time in four years, he was a starting running back on a Calderon championship squad.
Heading into what would prove to be his final season, Calderon obviously kept Murray in round three in the 2017 draft (he also draft his handcuff later). However, they proved to be a major headache in 2017. Rich was forced to keep rotating him and Derrick Henry in and out of the starting lineup, but more often than not, he guessed wrong. Murray, who had over 1,600 total yards in 2016, failed to sniff 1,000 total in 2017. He rushed for over 60 yards in a game just twice and was a non-factor in Tennessee’s passing game. Calderon still managed to win nine games, but in the quarterfinals, when Rich just needed a decent performance, it proved to be asking for too much. Murray got 50 total yards (100 points) in a 29-point season-ending loss to Eric.
And that would be it. In seven seasons, Murray would earn two All-Robio awards (a second team and a first team) and one league MVP. He would lead five teams to the postseason as a starter (or part-time starter), twice leading Calderon to two championships.
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