Latavius Murray had himself one heck of a sophomore NFL season. The big, bruising Oakland Raiders ballcarrier finished 2015 with a trip to Hawaii after he collected 1,066 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground. Murray, a former sixth-round pick for the Raiders out of UCF, looks to be firmly entrenched as the starter for the silver and black going forward.
Despite that though, talk has swirled this offseason that the Raiders will add another running back to the mix sometime before the start of the 2016 regular season, with Oakland head coach Jack Del Rio recently adding his voice to the chorus calling for another back in Oak Town. And while that's an advisable position, the truth is the biggest upgrades to the Raider run game are already in place, and it's not just Murray's expected development that should have the Raiders pounding their way to victory next season.
Del Rio, speaking to reporters at the NFL's owners meetings last week, said that the team will add to the running back position, adding that Murray's ascension to 1,000-yard back lessens the need to acquire an immediate impact player.
"We would like to add somebody in the backfield at some point, but it's not like it's a glaring need," Del Rio said. "We do have a good player there."
Murray, that "good player," did break the 1,000-yard plateau, doing so on just 266 carries, but the Raider running game as a whole left something to be desired by the end of the year. The rushing attack finished the season ranked just 28th in the league, averaging only a little over 91 yards per game.
In fact, Murray, while taking 79 percent of the Raiders' offensive snaps during the final seven games of the season, averaged less than three yards per tote in four of those contests.
In short, the need to add another running back to the Raider stable may not be "glaring," but it should be something Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie pulls off in the next month or so.
But really, the biggest additions - literally and figuratively - to the Raider run game have already been made - the free agent acquisition of Kelechi Osemele and the re-signing of Donald Penn.
Osemele, a guy touted for his ability to play both guard and tackle, should be able to kick inside full-time to guard with Penn re-upping. What that means is, the Raiders have what Pro Football Focus dubbed "a powerful run-blocker who can be outright dominant at times" in Osemele at guard, playing alongside Penn, who PFF believes is wildly underrated considering he's earned positive run-blocking grades every season since 2007.
The Raiders, McKenzie and Del Rio know that building a strong team means working from the lines out. Add Osemele and Penn to a group that was already one of the better units in the league in 2015 benefits Oakland by both further protecting ascending franchise quarterback Derek Carr and opening holes for Murray and whoever else they add, and creating a balanced offensive attack that should keep defenses on their toes in 2016 and beyond.
And considering the 6-foot3, 230-pound Murray is, as Del Rio noted, only just "scratching the surface" of his full potential, it makes for a potentially lethal combination that could make the Raiders one of the better offensive teams in the NFL next year.
