The 8 Best Remaining Offensive NFL Free Agents
DeMarco Murray, Running Back
With the Cowboys' decision to franchise tag Dez Bryant, the departure of DeMarco Murray seems more and more likely. Sure, he can sign with the Cowboys if he'd like, but it's probable that teams pursue one of the best running backs from the 2014 season.
DeMarco, for all of his fantasy football success, didn't pan out as well in our NEP ranks.
His Rushing NEP of 10.48 ranked ninth among the 60 backs with at least 75 carries, and his Rushing NEP per carry of 0.03 ranked 13th. 392 attempts to move the ball in a statistically inefficient manner (i.e. running the ball) will do that to a per-carry average, and as for his cumulative Rushing NEP: he lost all five of his fumbles.
I'm not saying Murray was overrated, and I'm not saying that our metrics indicate that either, but his penchant for fumbles diminished his overall effectiveness and took points off the board for the Cowboys.
Murray just turned 27 in February, so he still has some tread on him before he gets to the dreaded 30, but the market for running backs, his fumbles, and the fact that he saw nearly 400 carries might impact his bottom line.