There's simply no doubting the absolutely integral nature of running back DeMarco Murray for the Dallas Cowboys offense last season.
Even considering the strength of the Cowboys offensive line, not every NFL running back could have racked up over 1,800-yards rushing - a figure which led the league - over 400-yards receiving and 13 total touchdowns like Murray did in 2014.
Still, a strange sequence of offseason events led Murray, last season's leading rushing in the NFL, to the rival Philadelphia Eagles and left the Cowboys and GM/owner Jerry Jones with little in the way of an answer for replacing him for the 2015 season.
While from the outside that would seem to make running back the team's most glaring need and Murray the most difficult player for Jones to replace, Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News believes that it's actually wide receiver/return specialist/special teams maven Dwayne Harris that will prove the bigger loss for next season and beyond.
Harris signed, what at the time seemed to be a completely out-of-whack, five-year, $17.5 million, $7.1 million of which is guaranteed, free agent contract with the New York Giants at the outset of the latest league year.
"If you honestly believe special teams constitute a third of the game, this was a titanic hit to the Cowboys. Not of the magnitude of Murray's departure to Philadelphia - but not far behind," writes Gosselin.
"In luring Harris out of Dallas, the Giants signed the best kick returner, the best punt returner, the best kickoff coverage ace and the best gunner on the punt team away from the Cowboys."
While Harris has nabbed just 33 receptions in four NFL seasons, he has continually graded out as one of the NFL's best overall special teams players, directly aiding a Cowboys unit that finished fourth in 2013 and 13th in 2014. The Giants, on the other hand, finished ranked 28th in 2013 and 25th in 2014.
"Harris led the Cowboys in special-teams tackles in 2014 with 18 and finished second in 2013 with 13. He also finished second in the NFL in punt returns in 2012 with a 16.1 average and second in the NFL in kickoff returns in 2013 with a 30.6 average."
Perhaps just as importantly, Harris, despite his low career catch total, was able to contribute on offense and did so in a manner not easily replicated despite being buried on a depth chart boasting players like Dez Bryant, Murray, Jason Witten and Terrance Williams.
"In his four seasons, Harris gave the Cowboys 29 plays of at least 30 yards or more," writes Gosselin. "He is one of only three players in NFL history with both a kickoff and punt return of 85-plus yards in one game. He returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown against Washington in a 2013 game and ran a kickoff back 90 yards that same day."
In the end, losing Murray to the Eagles was a bigger blow in that the offense is unlikely to operate in the same manner as it did last season, but finding a player able to contribute to the Cowboys winning effort on a weekly basis in the myriad of ways that Harris did is a much, much more difficult proposition.
