Who is Latavius Murray and why does he deserve your attention?
By David Lee
Editor | Beckett Football
The Oakland Raiders’ home is known as The Black Hole. For a long time, it has been an accurate description of how it has sucked away talent and resulted in losing season after losing season. But young offensive weapons may be finally escaping the pull of mediocrity coming out of Oakland.
Third-year running back Latavius Murray looks to be one of them. And collectors should start paying attention to this guy and his cards.
It’s easy for Murray to get lost in the shadow of QB Derek Carr and rookie receiver Amari Cooper. He totaled just 424 yards last year and averaged more than five yards per carry. This after not recording any carries in 2013.
Darren McFadden’s departure to Dallas opened an opportunity for Murray. After just three games this season, he is fifth in the NFL in rushing. He has improved every week, finishing with 26 carries for 139 yards and a touchdown last week.
The Raiders are at winless Chicago this Sunday. If Oakland wins and moved to 3-1, they will face the Broncos next weekend in what could be a big AFC matchup. I’m not saying Murray is this year’s Le’Von Bell, but he certainly deserves attention. He will get more of it if the Raiders keep winning and he continues to become a bigger part of the offense. Now’s a great time to jump on Latavius Murray cards. Since he was an obscure rookie, the same photo is used on many of his 2013 cards.
As a sixth-round pick out of Central Florida, Murray has 206 cards and ten Rookie Cards listed in the Beckett.com Online Price Guide. All of his RCs are from Panini. Just four of them are autographed, but can be found for less than $30 right now.
Top Latavius Murray Rookie Cards to Look For:
- 2013 Panini Contenders #158A AU RC
- 2013 Panini National Treasures #301 AU RC
- 2013 Totally Certified #178 AU/499 RC
- 2013 Panini Spectra #161 AU/299 RC
Murray’s Contenders Cracked Ice parallel (numbered to just 21), lists for $80. After those four, prices drop to just a few dollars. The 2013 Limited #193 RC is just $5. He has 2013 autographed cards from SAGE, SAGE Hit, Select, Totally Certified, Absolute, Panini Black and a few other brands.
Interestingly, Murray did not have any cards produced in 2014 products. He has 71 cards so far in 2015, including nine autographs from Score, Prestige and Certified. Intrigued? You can shop for Latavious Murray cards in the Beckett Marketplace.
