RBs BACK IN VOGUE
NFL TEAMS NOT AFRAID TO NAB RUNNERS EARLY
It has been more than two decades since a running back went No. 1 overall in the NFL draft.
Could this be the year that drought ends?
It seems unlikely, but not impossible, that the Browns could select Penn State’s Saquon Barkley No. 1 overall on April 26. He would be the first running back chosen No. 1 since the Bengals took Ki-Jana Carter in 1995, also out of Penn State.
It would be a sign the league is taking a different view on drafting running backs early after the recent success stories of Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey.
“If he’s a good football player and he plays the running back position, I’d love to have him on my team,” Browns general manager John Dorsey said.
Though it still seems more likely the Browns will take a quarterback No. 1, Barkley won’t have to wait long. The Giants could take him at No. 2 (no back has gone that high since Reggie Bush in 2006) or the Browns could take him with their second pick, the fourth-overall selection.
There was a time in NFL history when running backs carried as much value as quarterbacks. Between 1977-81, running backs went No. 1 overall four times. But the days of Ricky Bell, Earl Campbell, Billy Sims and George Rogers soon faded. The league became more pass happy, and running backs began to be seen as easy to find in the later rounds.
No team did more to popularize that philosophy than Mike Shanahan’s Broncos. Between 1998-2000, they had three different running backs rush for more than 1,000 yards. Terrell Davis (sixth-round pick), Olandis Gary (fourth r ound) a nd Mike Anderson (sixth round) all excelled. That began to make teams question taking a running back at the top of the draft.
Early in this decade, it became rare to see a running back taken early. In 2011, ’13 and ’14, no running backs were selected in the top 10. The Browns’ selection of Trent Richardson at No. 3 overall in 2012 became a cautionary tale about taking a running back too early.
But recently, teams have shown running backs can be worth those premium picks. Gurley has excelled for the Rams and Elliott helped the Cowboys to the playoffs as a rookie. Fournette and McCaffrey each played key roles for playoff teams last year with the Jaguars and Panthers, respectively.
“The bottom line is: Is the guy a football player?” said Giants general manager Dave Gettleman, who took McCaffrey when he was with the Panthers. “This whole myth of devaluing running backs, I find it kind of comical. At the end of the day, if he’s a great player he’s a great player. It doesn’t matter what position it is.”
The new philosophy seems to be that maybe one or two backs are worth taking early, but you still can find value at the position in the middle rounds. Are Fournette or McCaffrey any better than the Saints’ Alvin Kamara (Rookie of the Year) or the Chiefs’ Kareem Hunt (the league’s leading rusher), who were both selected in the third round last year?
“If they’re rated high, they’re going to go high,” ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. said. “They’re not getting forced up. These guys were all highly rated players coming out, so they weren’t any surprises. The surprises were the third-round picks of Kareem Hunt and Alvin Kamara based on where they went. They played like top-10 guys. So, that’s why I always say: Running backs you can find.”
So, Barkley likely will hear his name early this year, but don’t expect a rush on running backs after that.
“You don’t have to get them in the first round, more like you do a tackle or an elite pass rusher,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “But still, if there’s a running back there that you think is going to be like some of those guys I mentioned, then that guy is worth the first pick in the draft just like anybody else would be.”