The new and improved Legion of Zoom was inked in and finalized. It all started with Ryan Mathews touching down in Philadelphia with a contract deal in place. It seemed that everything was figured out at the running back position in this high powered fast paced offense, then an earthquake hit Philadelphia, PA. With news of DeMarco Murray also landing in Philly, it threw everyone for a loop, and why wouldn’t it? Why bring in two running backs? Was Mathews just a backup plan if Murray’s visit fell through? We’re going to label them the Legion of Zoom 2.0 since last season, the original Legion of Zoom consisted of LeSean “Shady” McCoy and Darren Sproles.
Let’s breakdown this Legion of Zoom 2.0 and how it should fair behind a very good healthy offensive front. DeMarco Murray headlines this backfield as last years rushing champion as a Dallas Cowboy. The man ended up with 1,845 yards on 392 carries and 13 touchdowns that breakout career season. A lot of Eagle fans tried their best to deny Murray’s record breaking season, but denial wasn’t enough to deny his talents. He had a whopping 4.71 yards per carry last season. He was the workhorse of the Dallas offense, but he won’t have to carry that kind of workload this season in Chip Kelly’s offense. As this offense has the best 3 headed monster in the backfield the NFL has possibly ever seen. Ryan Mathews signed with the Eagles just hours apart from DeMarco Murray. Mathews was hurt last season and missed 10 games total for an ankle injury and knee injury. Last season, he only had 330 yards on 74 carries with 3 touchdowns. That isn’t much of a season, however if you look at his yards per carry, you’ll think differently as it was a staggering 4.46 yards per carry. Darren Sproles is a returning member from last season’s Legion of Zoom. He wasn’t a huge contributor in the running game, however he was electrifying on special teams. Last season, he only carried the ball 57 times for 329 yards with 3 touchdowns. Those numbers don’t look too great, but again look at the yards per carry and you’ll think otherwise. 5.77 yards per carry is enough to impress anyone.
As far as their careers, they’ve all had a great careers thus far. Murray is 27 years old and entering his 5th season in the NFL. He’s played 53 of his 64 career regular season games, which is better than a lot of people think. A majority of his carries came in the 2014 12-4 season, but he’s gotten a lot of carries throughout his 4 year career, averaging 233.5 carries throughout that span. He has 934 career carries for 4,526 yards and 28 touchdowns. That’s 4,85 yards per carry, those are some insane numbers.
Ryan Mathews is entering his 6th season and is, like Murray, only 27 years old. He’s played 60 of 80 regular season games, half of those missed games came last year for the San Diego Chargers. He’s only averaging 184.6 carries per season. His career numbers are pretty good also, not as good looking as Murray’s but again, DeMarco Murray is the premier running back for the Eagles. He has 923 carries for 4,061 yards with 23 touchdowns. That’s a respectable 4.4 yards per carry!
Now, on to Darren Sproles entering his 11th season. The 31 year old veteran running back who played in this offense last season with McCoy. He was a bigger part of the special teams than the running game, but he was pretty productive in the running game as well. He’s played 137 of 160 regular season games. He was hurt the entire 2006 sophomore season with a fractured fibula, so there’s 16 of the 23 games he’s missed in his career. He has 494 career carries for 2,550 yards and 17 touchdowns. In a 10 year career, he’s racked up an unheard of 5.16 yards per carry!
Now that it’s been put into perspective individually how the stats looks, let’s combine them and see what the Legion of Zoom 2.0 look like as a whole. Keep in mind, Ryan Mathews only played 6 games during the 2014 season. In the 2014 season, these running backs combined for 523 carries for 2,504 yards and 22 touchdowns. Those numbers add up to a 4.79 yards per carry and 0.04 touchdowns per carry. Those are both above the league average. As far as a career standpoint for these guys, they rack up 2,351 carries for 11,137 yards and 68 touchdowns. That’s pretty consistent of the 2014 season as far as yards per carry and touchdowns per carry. Career wise, they average out to 4.74 yards per carry and 0.03 touchdowns per carry, both also are above the league average.
Now Chip Kelly may have lost LeSean McCoy, but he also saved a ton of money making the moves in the backfield without losing the production, plus he added an extra starting caliber running back to rotate out. LeSean McCoy was owed just south of $12 million himself in the 2015 season. Darren Sproles is owed $4 million, so that would have added up to a whopping $16 million spent between 2 players in the Eagles backfield. As I said before, Sproles is owed $4 million this season, add that to Ryan Mathews $3,8 million and DeMarco Murray’s $8.4 million and they’re spending $15.2 million total for 3 starting caliber guys.
Chip Kelly has been proving he’s a football mastermind throughout his 2 year tenure in Philadelphia. He is going to continue making big moves, and he hasn’t made a wrong move yet. He has filled all of his voids on the team while saving a ton of cap space. Once he fills in the void left by Jeremy Maclin, no one can doubt his ability to make big moves that only benefit the team. Some people have labeled him a “mad scientist,” and he has showed why he’s been labeled that time and time again throughout his tenure at Philadelphia.
Main Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images
