Quote:
Originally Posted by miked
Maybe this will make you feel better. Here's a bunch of RBs selected in the 1st round in recent drafts, make your own conclusions.
1st (9) CJ Spiller
1st (12) Ryan Matthews
1st (30) Jahvid Best
1st (12) Knowshon Moreno
1st (27) Donald Brown
1st (31) Beanie Wells
1st (4) Darren McFadden
1st (13) Jonathan Stewart
1st (22) Felix Jones
1st (23) Rashard Mendenhall
1st (24) Chris Johnson
In fact, most of the top RBs around the league were higher picks. Rice, Forte, MJD, McCoy (all 2nds), Gore, Greene, Charles (all 3rds), and let's not forget Turner and Foster (and Brashaw for the Giants fans). It seems the best thing for the Browns to do is get a WR for their shitty QB to throw to, a new QB, or perhaps some OL to help their former 2nd round pick Hardesty succeed.
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This post is exactly where I was going. Some of those 1st rd picks are very good players but were taken by reasonably competitive teams later in the round. But none of them can block and run the ball simultaneously, which is why I'm a bit old school when it comes to drafting as I think you do need to "win the trenches" before you even know how effective a RB can be (or even judge the value over replacement).
Put it this way...there will be plenty of RBs that go undrafted and/or available next season that are capable of doing an average job in the NFL. I just see a top-flight OT, DE, DT, or C as being the type of spot that helps you win more of the little battles. And when an OT or C wins their battle...anybody with average NFL talent can be an effective runner.