First 12 games of the season Murray averaged 4.97 ypc, last 4 games he averaged 3.98 ypc - and that included a monster game 13 vs Chicago. And coincidentally, his total touches after 12 games was exactly 300. Murray was good for about 340 touches before he really started to look slower.
I sincerely hope that we don't run Zeke into the ground the way we did Murray. I'm sure the coaches noticed Murray's drop off at the end of 2014 as well, and with reliable guys behind him I can't imagine they're going to be getting Zeke 25+ touches per game. Everyone needs to remember that a big part of the reason Murray got so many carries is because Randle was behind him and couldn't be counted on to pick up the blitz or follow instructions. With DMC behind him on the depth chart Zeke won't have that problem.
For every Emmitt and Eric Dickerson, who could handle 375 touches and come back exactly the same, there are dozens of guys who fell off sharply after being overworked. Emmitt was a freak of nature, and in his first five seasons even Emmitt averaged right around 25 touches per game. That's an inhuman workload, but the biggest reason Emmitt owns the all time rushing record is that he could maintain that outlandish workload year in and year out. The odds that Zeke can do the same are almost nil. So why run the kid into the ground trying to find out?
