RADIO
There has to be something special about sharing a football field on a day where families across the country are sharing a dinner table, passing plates of stuffing, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Every year it seems like an individual or team shines on Turkey Day, and this season, two Philadelphia Eagles running backs can head home to their families already full on carries, targets, receptions, yards, and touchdowns, ready to stuff their face with more.
The Eagles face off against the Detroit Lions in Thanksgiving's traditional matinee game. Both teams haven't played entirely well in the 2015 campaign, but at 4-6, the Eagles still find themselves one game out a first place. Lucky for them, the Lions are 3-7, their towel all but thrown in, and have one of the worst run defenses in the league.
According to ESPN.com, Detroit has given up 116.7 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry.
Enter first, DeMarco Murray.
Murray is coming off a subpar performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, carrying the ball 13 times for 64 yards. He has only rushed for over 100 yards one time this season, Week 6 against the New York Giants, but has definitely turned his season around after beginning with only 11 rushing yards through the first two games. Even if recent events prove otherwise.
According to Philadelphia Inquirer, an anonymous teammate questioned the effort of Murray after a quarterback-like give-up slide against the Miami Dolphins two weeks ago.
"Well, when you see DeMarco sliding before getting hit, you tell me. Was that giving full effort?"
Fantasy owners have understandably questioned the same thing, as Murray has seemingly taken weeks off and has only shaken the stat sheet in PPR leagues. But amidst the controversy and inconsistency, Murray remains an RB1 in any league against the Lions. If he is ever going to assert himself as the running back the Eagles thought he could be, this is the game.
According to ESPN.com, Detroit has relinquished 15 rushing touchdowns thus far.
Next, hand the ball off to Darren Sproles.
With Ryan Mathews set to miss another game this week, Sproles' fantasy value remains high. The Eagles have an exceptionally bad red zone offense, scoring inside the 20 only 36.8% of the time, visiting only 3.8 times a game. They will need to get Sproles more involved and exploit Detroit's leaky defense. Sproles has been a role player his whole career, but now with Mark Sanchez at the helm, he needs to step up and become a play-maker.
Sanchez starting definitely benefits both Sproles and Murry as Sanchez simply doesn't have the arm strength and precision of other quarterbacks. It would be surprising if the Eagles didn't attempt to establish the run initially and take the pressure out of Sanchez's inconsistent, unsteady, and turnover-happy hands. The Eagles will need to keep the pass-game short in order to protect a lead they should have against the Lions. Sproles has 32 receptions on 53 targets this season. Murray has 39 receptions on 48.
Sproles is certainly a handcuff to Ryan Mathews, although, even with Murray set to carry the majority of the load, will still have plenty of value in a favorable matchup. Sproles is a RB2/Flex option in deeper, 12, 14, 16 team leagues, especially those of PPR format.
