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YOUR BALANCE
Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back
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Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 8, 2021, 6:19 PM

position has become in the modern NFL? I have seen many a mock rating that has Travis Etienne as the top rated running back. And yet, he is listed as a probable high SECOND round draft choice. Here are the RBs that actually were drafted #1 overall in the last 52 drafts, believe it or not.

1995: Ki-Jana Carter (BUST)
1977: Ricky Bell (Out of the league in five years, DIED two years after that from heart failure.)
1986: Bo Jackson (Never played for Tampa Bay, the team that drafted him, we all know his tragic story.)
1981: George (Ol' Coke Nose) Rogers (He had a good pro career, got used up by Bum Phillips)
1980: Billy Sims (Great for 4+ years, then a horrific knee injury ended his career.)
1978: Earl Campbell (Quite simply one of the best to ever do it. Also used up by Bum Phillips.)
1969: OJ Simpson (One of the greatest on the field, a wife killer (at least in civil court) off the field.

And, that is the short list of ALL the running backs ever taken #1 overall in the draft. Ki Jana Carter must have really soured the league in that manner, 25 years and counting since an RB went #1 overall. It surely won't happen this year, either.

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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 8, 2021, 6:24 PM

That was when the QB wasn't protected.

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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 8, 2021, 6:28 PM

Hindsight is 20/20 but he would have been better off going early to the nfl. He lost a year of pay and struggled last year due to the poor blocking. Even though he was a better runner.

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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 9, 2021, 8:04 AM

Etienne wanted to graduate. Kudos to him.

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"It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers any more than it is to make sheep ferocious."
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Absolutely wrong....he actually helped himself by showing


Mar 9, 2021, 9:07 AM [ in reply to Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back ]

that he is a threat receiving while still putting up good numbers. His career speaks for itself...ever heard of Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffery?

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I disagree completely


Mar 9, 2021, 9:11 AM [ in reply to Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back ]

You can't just look at Etienne with no context; consider the RB classes of last year and this year. The 2020 draft was absolutely LOADED with RBs (CEH, Swift, Jonathan Taylor, Dobbins, Akers, AJ Dillon, Antonio Gibson) and only one went in the first round, with the LAST pick when the Chiefs took CEH. Etienne would have been the third or fourth RB taken, which would have put him middle of the second round.

Fast forward to now, and the scouts aren't idiots: they know Etienne's rushing struggles were due to a lackluster O-line with four new starters, and they say he improved his stock by showing improvement in the passing game, both catching and in pass pro. He and Harris are also a coin flip for the #1 RB, giving him the chance to go in first or high second. There are several RB-needy teams in the back half of the 1st round who know he and Harris won't be there in the 2nd.

He made the right choice for several reasons.

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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 9, 2021, 9:15 AM [ in reply to Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back ]

I'm going to respectfully disagree. Last year he was projected as a late second rounder, early third. The highest he could have possibly gone would be Green Bay at pick 62. Currently I have seen a lot of projections for Buffalo at 30 or teams trading into that last pick of the 1st round to get him. With that info, The top second-round pick will sign a deal estimated to be a four-year, $8.68 million contract which includes a $3.87 million signing bonus, while the last pick of the second round has a four-year, $5.24 million contract with a $1.37 million signing bonus. That will have his total contract at 12.55 million vs $6.61 million. Only 19 NFL running backs make over 4 million a year so unless he established himself as an above average quality starter he was better off for returning.

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Hoping you are right


Mar 10, 2021, 5:34 PM

I just don’t know how ETN is going to be at the pro level. Hope he gets into a good situation with a team. That itself is worth a chunk of money.

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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 10, 2021, 9:10 PM [ in reply to Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back ]

He wanted to play college ball. Something he loves. Money is not always the end all be all.

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Nah....***


Mar 8, 2021, 7:47 PM



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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 8, 2021, 8:59 PM

I get your point. The NFL has evolved through many different rule changes which affect different positions and offensive and defensive strategies. I'm just so glad to have seen ETN enjoy a wonderful career at Clemson. I'm sure he will find his place in the league and I know we all wish him the best.

Go Tigers! Go ETN!

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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 9, 2021, 7:36 AM

I heard somewhere once the average tenure of an RB in the NFL is 4 years. The NFL basically considers running backs to be disposable. There's always someone else willing to step in and put their bodies through hell for 2 seasons with a team, even if they're not that great.

I don't follow the NFL like I used to, but when I pulled up last season's starting RBs I only saw 3-4 names that I even *recognized*, one of them being Adrian Peterson who I swore retired years ago.

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Peterson is a huge exception to the rule. However, in one


Mar 9, 2021, 8:08 AM

aspect, he reinforces the trend. He is more than capable of still toting the rock, even at his advance age. But, due to the "disposable" view on running backs in the league now, no team is going to make him a primary back, no matter his skills.

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Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back


Mar 9, 2021, 9:20 AM [ in reply to Re: Isn't it amazingly depressing how devalued the running back ]

I bet the Cowboys regret Zeke Elliot's contract.

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Totally agree there. Jerry the GM didn't do Jerry the


Mar 9, 2021, 9:31 AM

owner any favors with that one. :)

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Re: Totally agree there. Jerry the GM didn't do Jerry the


Mar 10, 2021, 11:16 PM

Zeke was the best runner in the league up until the minute he signed the big Cowboys contract.

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The NFL has evolved over the years


Mar 9, 2021, 10:16 AM

It doesn't actually devalue RBs. However, there are two big issues working against them:

1 As already mentioned, the lack of durability makes it very risky to invest high draft picks in the position.

2 The difference in performance on the field between the best RB in a draft vs. the 4th or 5th best often is very little. Therefore, why invest a high pick at RB?

Great QBs, edge rushers and WRs are in the best position to earn lifetime money in today's NFL.

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Teams routinely find good value in rounds 4-7****


Mar 10, 2021, 7:00 PM



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Yes, and the biggest reason is because the rules now favor throwing


Mar 10, 2021, 7:26 PM [ in reply to The NFL has evolved over the years ]

the ball. OL can hold, the QB is untouchable, and WRs can hand-fight all the way down the field and pushoff at the last second to create separation. A big physical WR/TE is almost impossible to stop.

Most teams now only run the ball occasionally, to keep the defense honest... to freeze a LB or S for a split second... a setup for the next pass. Nobody builds their offense around running the ball.

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A drunk will run a STOP sign, but a stoner will wait for it to turn green.


Re: Yes, and the biggest reason is because the rules now favor throwing


Mar 10, 2021, 11:18 PM

+1 ... but Derrick Henry creates mismatches as soft Defenses are afraid to tackle him.

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Derrick Henry was drafted at #45


Mar 10, 2021, 11:29 PM

which proves my point. When it's relatively easy to get a good RB later on, why waste a 1st round pick on one.

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