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Good WaPo article on devaluing of RB position


dave mcbride

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Unfortunately, the NFL brought this on themselves. IMO RBs have been a huge ratings draw for decades. People want to see special athletes. RBs are the most electrifying part of football. A league without the truly special RBs and where all QBs succeed just does not sound like a long term winning formula. When all teams look the same, where is the intrigue?

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4 minutes ago, Troll Toll said:

Unfortunately, the NFL brought this on themselves. IMO RBs have been a huge ratings draw for decades. People want to see special athletes. RBs are the most electrifying part of football. A league without the truly special RBs and where all QBs succeed just does not sound like a long term winning formula. When all teams look the same, where is the intrigue?

 

Plenty of pot-addled, xbox playing millenials into no defense games. Don't worry.

 

:lol:

 

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7 minutes ago, Troll Toll said:

Unfortunately, the NFL brought this on themselves. IMO RBs have been a huge ratings draw for decades. People want to see special athletes. RBs are the most electrifying part of football. A league without the truly special RBs and where all QBs succeed just does not sound like a long term winning formula. When all teams look the same, where is the intrigue?

 

.....almost thinking the Seahawks signing Shaun Alexander to that big deal may have been the initial eye opener......and then he fizzled......when Shanahan coached Broncos, think he became synonymous with system "plug 'n play" for RB's............

 

By DANNY O'NEIL, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm PST, Sunday, March 5, 2006

 

Alexander has agreed to re-sign with the Seattle Seahawks, agreeing to an eight-year contract worth $62 million. In terms of total money in the contract, it is the largest ever signed by a running back; $15 million is to be paid in the first year.

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Running backs have adapted to improve their overall value by becoming a greater part of the passing game. A true do it all back like Barkley or Bell have tremendous value. They are a threat to run it between the tackles or catch it out of the backfield (And if these backs can pass block that improves protection and makes the playbook completely open when they are on the field.)

 

So the idea of running backs being cheap and fairly dispensable is just no longer the case because there are so few running backs that can have a high level of running between the tackles, catching the ball, bringing speed in space, and pass blocking. Which makes having a complete threat like a Barkley, Gurley, or Bell super valuable to an offense. That's why you have seen the return of Return of backs being drafted up high. 

 

But the beatings the position takes makes it somewhat of a shorter term investment and likely that even an elite back will be lucky to a big contract let alone try to get 2. 

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This doesn’t mean the RB position is being devalued...

 

in fact the past few years has seen a resurgence of young talent at The RB spot...

 

I’ve see crouch play, he isn’t a high level NFL RB prospect. He was 225 as a sophomore in HS . He was bigger and stronger than everyone. He doesn’t have the speed or vision to be a top end back in the NFL

 

He always played both sides, and was a gifted athlete but I don’t see a good NFL RB

 

hed be a great college back but really wouldn’t translate 

 

the real reason he is 100% switching is because he’s been told that he has a better chance as a pro as a LBr not RB

 

 

 

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28 minutes ago, billsfan89 said:

Running backs have adapted to improve their overall value by becoming a greater part of the passing game. A true do it all back like Barkley or Bell have tremendous value. They are a threat to run it between the tackles or catch it out of the backfield (And if these backs can pass block that improves protection and makes the playbook completely open when they are on the field.)

 

So the idea of running backs being cheap and fairly dispensable is just no longer the case because there are so few running backs that can have a high level of running between the tackles, catching the ball, bringing speed in space, and pass blocking. Which makes having a complete threat like a Barkley, Gurley, or Bell super valuable to an offense. That's why you have seen the return of Return of backs being drafted up high. 

 

But the beatings the position takes makes it somewhat of a shorter term investment and likely that even an elite back will be lucky to a big contract let alone try to get 2. 

Mostly agree.  The running backs who will be drafted high (and have their fifth-year options picked up) are the ones who bring a lot to the passing game, like Elliott, Barkley, Hunt and Kamara.  But even these guys aren't going to be worth as much as dynamic number 1 WRs like Antonio Brown, Julio Jones and Tyreek Hill, for two reasons:  1) They don't have the ability to force the defense to play the entire field, thereby opening things up for everyone else in the offense, and (2) it has been proven over and over again that even the best RBs in the league can be readily replaced without a huge dropoff.  LeVeon Bell is only the most recent example.     

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Running back is one of the coolest positions in sports.  It’s also kinda insane to play.  I remember all the rbs I played with just covered in ice after games.  

 

If I was an agent, I would hold out a good rb early in their career to maximize their value.  I bet we see more of the Bell type holdouts for young rbs.  These teams just run them into the growth and then want to move on.  

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2 hours ago, dave mcbride said:

 

Multi-dimensional RBs are as integral and important as ever in today's NFL with RBs such as Kamara, Gurley, and Hunt critical to their respective team's offensive success.   That said I get the point of longevity being an issue, but it depends on what kind of back we're talking about. 

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1 minute ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

Multi-dimensional RBs are as integral and important as ever in today's NFL with RBs such as Kamara, Gurley, and Hunt critical to their respective team's offensive success.   That said I get the point of longevity being an issue, but it depends on what kind of back we're talking about. 

What's kind of ironic is that while Reggie Bush was bustISH, in some ways he changed the way the league views the position. He never lived up to the hype, but he was a pioneer of sorts.

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19 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

What's kind of ironic is that while Reggie Bush was bustISH, in some ways he changed the way the league views the position. He never lived up to the hype, but he was a pioneer of sorts.


If he started playing today, he'd probably be a star. The league wasn't ready for him and tried to make him something he wasn't. kinda like Randall Cunningham.

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25 minutes ago, LSHMEAB said:

What's kind of ironic is that while Reggie Bush was bustISH, in some ways he changed the way the league views the position. He never lived up to the hype, but he was a pioneer of sorts.

Bush was one of the three best college backs I’ve ever seen (along with Herschel Walker and Tony Dorsett).  I thought he was going to be a STAR in the league...

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