The Dallas Cowboys suffered a blow watching the NFL's leading rusher defect to their division rival this month.
Making his first comments since DeMarco Murray signed with the Philadelphia Eagles, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett acknowledged that the running back's production will be tough to replicate.
"DeMarco is a great football player and a great young man,'' Garrett said, per the Dallas Morning News. "What he was able to do for our ball club last year was phenomenal. He had a huge impact on the success that we had.
"We wanted him to be a Cowboy not just for this coming year but for many years to come. ... Unfortunately that didn't work out. Now we have to move on and make the next best decision for our team.''
When pressed about whether the Cowboys will be able to replace the tough yards Murray picked up, Garrett didn't waver.
"Absolutely,'' he said. "It has to be replaced.
"It was a good style of football for us to play. We will try to continue to do that.''
It's good to hear the Cowboys insist on continuing to utilize a bruising running game behind the best offensive line in football. That style allowed Tony Romo to have one of the best seasons of his career, but it would be easy for play-caller Scott Linehan to fall into a chuck-it-to-Dez Bryant rut.
However, to execute that ground-and-pound game plan Dallas will likely be in the market to select a running back high in the 2015 NFL Draft. Their current corps of Darren McFadden, Lance Dunbar, Joseph Randle and Ryan Williams does not instill confidence, nor does it contain a workhorse.
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