Fantasy Football's Polarizing Players: Latavius Murray

(Editor's note: From now until the start of the season, VICE Sports will look at some of fantasy football's most polarizing players.)

Imagine I told you there's a 6'3", 225 pound 25-year-old running back who ran a 4.38 40 at his Pro Day. Imagine he illustrated his borderline-insane size/speed combo in a nationally televised NFL game last year with a 90-yard touchdown scamper that had tongues wagging. And imagine I told you this particular player didn't have much competition on his NFL team's depth chart, and was therefore apparently locked in as a true starter.

You'd want this RB for your fantasy football team, right?

Now imagine I told you this player's name is Latavius Murray, and he's on the Oakland Raiders.

Murray has sky-high upside in 2015, and if he labored for a different NFL organization, my guess is he'd be getting top-10 consideration. But we look at the Raiders—who didn't produce a top-40 fantasy RB last year and who haven't produced a top-20 fantasy back since Michael Bush in '11—and we rightly think, "How good can their running game legitimately be?"

I don't know the answer to that question, and that's what makes Murray a pivotal player this season. It's easy to list the things that could go wrong with Oakland's attack. Derek Carr's rookie game film was awful; he probably should've thrown 20 interceptions, not 12. The offensive line is injured (starting right tackle Menelik Watson tore an Achilles' this weekend) and shaky in spots (is J'Marcus Webb really starting at right guard?). And let's just say new offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave isn't my nominee for the most creative coach in the NFL.

But it's just as easy to see sprinkles of hope. Maybe Carr got his worst play out of his system last year; it's not like a quarterback can't get better in his second season. The offensive line has budding star Gabe Jackson at left guard and the Raiders signed big-ticket center Rodney Hudson from the Kansas City Chiefs, so there could be some nice middle push if things gel. And Musgrave may not be my favorite play caller, but he did preside over some seasons during which Adrian Peterson went nutty for the Minnesota Vikings. Things aren't hopeless for Murray.

In fact, as a player, I like Murray quite a bit. You don't find big men with straight-ahead, game-breaking speed like Murray's very often. Think of it this way: He's got Eddie George size and Jamaal Charles speed. That's quite a package.

Now, I don't want to get carried away. Murray isn't a "hard cut" player who'll wrong-foot defenders and zip around them, nor has he proven that his vision finding holes as they slide open is anything special. He also has a troubling injury history just two years into his pro career. He missed his entire rookie season with an ankle problem, and suffered a concussion late in '14.

Still, my mantra for fantasy football tends to be: draft talent, not situations. No, I don't anticipate that the Raiders will be particularly good this year. And no, I'm not sold that they're ready to support a high-volume back who'll approach double-digit touchdowns. There will be many runs where Murray is stuffed—indeed there have been many such runs already this preseason. But there will also be games where he breaks free and nobody will catch him.

To me, that sounds like a No. 2 RB for fantasy, and that's where I rate him: 17th among rushers, and 34th overall. In a 12-team league, that makes Murray a third-round pick. Of course, there have been many seasons where we've taken the bait on former Raiders rusher Darren McFadden and been burned badly. That's what makes Murray such a pivotal player for '15. He's got breakout potential written all over him, but if the worst-case scenario happens, you could wind up owning a latter-day DMC. And nobody wants that.

Christopher Harris is a six-time Fantasy Sports Writing Association award winner. He has a daily fantasy football podcast that you can find on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn and most other podcast apps, as well as at www.HarrisFootball.com.