Latavius Murray was never going to be the Saints RB2 over Mark Ingram
After a standout performance for the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Latavius Murray is now a member of the Denver Broncos. This was a decision the Broncos made after Javonte Williams tore his ACL and is now out for the season.
The #Broncos are signing RB Latavius Murray off the #Saints’ practice squad, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 4, 2022
With Javonte Williams out for the season, Murray now joins Melvin Gordon and Mike Boone in the Denver backfield.
Murray played well for the Saints in his return to the team after they parted ways with him last offseason. He had looked slow that preseason while Tony Jones Jr. impressed and, therefore, won the job over his older teammate.
Once Alvin Kamara was deemed out, the Saints knew that Murray would be their RB2 in London and he got a fair amount of playing time after Mark Ingram got dinged up. So much so, that after the game, fans were clamoring for Murray to be the RB2 over Ingram. This was clearly a case of "What have you done for me lately?", as Mike Triplett pointed out on Twitter.
Two weeks ago, Mark Ingram had 10 carries for 58 yards against one of the best run defenses in the league vs. Tampa.
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) October 4, 2022
Yesterday Murray had 11 carries for 57 yards. And suddenly Ingram is “washed” based on the flood of comments in my timeline.
What have you done for me lately?
Saints were probably never going to make the switch to Murray over Ingram
With Murray still technically on the practice squad, the Broncos were able to sign him off of it and Murray probably had a decision as to which team he wanted to play for. He clearly has more opportunities in Denver due to Williams' injury and Melvin Gordon's fumbling issues so it made sense for him to go there.
In New Orleans, Murray might not have even been RB3, as that position is usually dedicated to playing special teams, which wouldn't have been an ideal role for him.
Here's what it basically comes down to for the #Saints.
— RevDeuce (@RevDeuceWindham) October 4, 2022
Ingram vs Murray for RB2 (Can't have both because RB3 needs to do ST. 32 year old RBs aren't doing that)
Pass Pro: Ingram
Rec: Ingram
Yards After Contact: Ingram
Missed Tackle: Ingram
Fumbles: Murray (as in, he has less)
As Deuce Windham notes in the tweet above, Ingram is still more qualified than Murray in all but one category (well, I guess he technically is more qualified in fumbling). This means that while Murray did have an awesome performance on Sunday, once Kamara returns as the starter, there wouldn't have been a spot for Murray on this team.
Yes, it sucks that as soon as the Saints found something good on offense, that player is now elsewhere but let's also look at it this way -- Murray wasn't signed this offseason and there was a reason for that. He looked pretty washed up last year too so while this one game was a good one for him, he isn't going to look like that every week.
Next. All-Time Leaders in Rushing Yards. dark
Hopefully, I've made you feel better about Murray leaving.