RBs could get a boost in this year’s draft thanks to Saquon Barkley’s success

The days that they are the headliners on the NFL design are in the past long, with the shift from the competition to more death to Quarterbacks, pass and Passblockers Domein every year the top of the design.

The ingredients can change this year with a little in one of the deepest class of running in years after a season in which game-changing backs such as Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry became the biggest free-free agent hits.

“When I was a child, running back Argulay was the most important position on the field,” said Ravens General Manager Eric Decosta on the [NFL Scouting Combine]. “I grew up with a Cowboys fan-Tony Dorsett, Immitt Smith, boys such that were my idols. We have held the last five or 10 years through this audience, where the analyzes have certainly emphasized the position. The sum of these guys had.

“I think (running) are considered a Probabry who is replaceable by submersen, but if you have a great one, you have a historical one, you just can’t replace boys.”

The big question imposed on Thursday is whether teams view outlooks such as Ashton Jeanty from Boise State and Omarion Hampton from North Carolina as that kind of backs it is worth taking a premium pick.

Jeanty was projected in the last AP Mock Draft to go sixth to Las Vegas, which would be the highest choice for a running declining since Barkley was taken second Ovell in 2018 by the New York Giants.

[MORE: Cowboys take RB, but not Ashton Jeanty, in Colin Cowherd’s 2025 NFL mock draft]

“We just saw Saquon Barkley change the Eagles in a year,” said Raiders GM John Spytek. “Now they had a great team around him and it added an elite player. [are] Certain ways to build a team, and I don’t know where we have come in a place where we don’t feel like running back are appreciated. I eat from the University of Michigan to my core, and those guys were certainly really appreciated there, so it’s hard for me to get away with it. “

Only one that went back in the last six concepts was taken in the top 10, with Bijan Robinson going to Atlanta in eighth in 2023. Five races were top 10 picks from 2015 to 2018, with two that were taken in 2017 in 2017 when Leonard Fournet Wente Fourth and Christian McCaffrey became eighth.

It is far removed from previous eras when running backs were the best everywhere Pick, including four times in five seasons from 1977 to 1981. No declining returning since Ki-Jana Carter in 1995.

Teams waited later and later to run back, with Jonathan Brooks the first to go to Carolina at number 46 last year. There are only one average of two runs in the top 50 in the last six concepts, against a peak of 12 in 1990.

[MORE: Broncos HC Sean Payton: Running back will be a ‘focus’ in 2025 NFL Draft]

This year’s Running Backs Class is one of the deepest in recent memory, after Jeanty and Hampton is expected to have Eithher late in the first round or on day two of the Draft, Belly Ohio State’s Duo by Treveyon Henderson and Quinchon Judkins; Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson; Cam Skattebo from Arizona, Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson; Bhayshul Tutten from Virginia Tech; and UCF’s RJ Harvey.

[MORE: NFL Draft RB matchmaker: Best team fits for Ashton Jeanty, Skattebo, top 10 backs]

The shift from a running to a passing competition began with rule changes in 1978 that made passing easier and you have continued for more than four decades.

The running percentage fell from a post-merger height of almost 58% in 1977 to a layer of just over 40% in 2014 before he underwent a slight increase in 43.4% to 43.4% last season.

But the bell cow-back was usually disappeared when teams went to a backfield per commission. The competition contained 13 players in 2003 who had at least 300 in a seasonal coherence of the nine-year-old combined total of 2015-23.

Six players hit the 300-Carry Mark last season, led by Barkley and Henry for the most in a season since 2010.

“For a while the market might be suppressed,” said Bills GM Brandon Beane. “People didn’t look at them as weapons. I look for them a bit as someone adding you to your attack. What do they bring? You put a run back in the first round?

With the reduced role of the recommended back, the wage in the position is also subbed, with Josh Jacobs’ running back $ 48 million deal with Green Bay Ranking bound for 159th among all players. The franchise day of $ 13.6 million.

The Rookie-wage scale that is introduced in the Collective Negotiation Agreement of 2011 determines the salaries for the first four seasons exclusively in the concept position, as a result of which teams use Premium Picks in high-quality positions such as Quarterback, Tackle, Pass Rushers and Reiversive to save money in comparison with money compared to money.

[MORE: NFL Draft: Which positions are most and least valued over the past decade?]

That is a big factor that is difficult for Submams to make more.

“It is an interesting conversation, because the concept choice is about potential ceiling, the ability to play at a certain level, while you have Tose years under contract under the market level of the free agency, your ability to subscribe to a second contract,” said Vikings GM Kwesi. “There are all tohele questions that eat in that fear before you pull the map.”

Reporting by the Associated Press.

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