The Facts: Barring an unforeseen disaster in Oakland, Murray will roll into the season as the No. 1 running back for the Raiders. He "has a chance at a huge year" in new OC Bill Musgrave's offense, one team source told ESPN's Adam Caplan, "because he is smart, physically a freak."
Diehards Line:
Murray came to life down the stretch during his second NFL season, pumping out all but 11 of his 424 yards over the final six games of 2014. His 5.17 yards per tote trailed only four other backs across the entire league. As for Musgrave, the play-caller brings a history of coaching up runners after guiding Adrian Peterson and Michael Turner to massive campaigns. As NFL.com's Marc Sessler pointed out, Oakland must believe in Murray considering the dearth of competition they acquired this offseason. Beyond Roy Helu vying for third-down duties, only little-used George Atkinson, undrafted Michael Dyer and the hyper-underwhelming Trent Richardson stand in Murray's way. The key for Murray is his 4.38 speed, which is better than guys like Peterson, DeMarco Murray, Eddie Lacy, Marshawn Lynch and Le'Veon Bell. With ESPN.com's Bill Williamson noting that Richardson "has shown no explosion," Murray is on tap to see high-volume work in Oakland.