(04-28-2023, 11:33 PM)TheDuke007 Wrote:

(04-28-2023, 10:45 PM)Jaguarmeister Wrote: On a serious note, if Etienne were to go down for the season, would you feel ok with the other running backs still on the roster?  I'm a little surprised by the pick, but Tank looked good in clips.  I like the way he runs and if Etienne were to go down, I wouldn't say our running game is necessarily done for with a combination of Tank and Hasty or whomever else taking over.

First, yes, I feel ok with our other running backs.  Obviously, you hate any injury to a starter and ETN is a great player.  However, I think D'Ernest Johnson is a decent backup and has good potential.  He just got buried on a great depth chart in Cleveland.  Hasty is also a fine backup.  Snoop has never shown me anything, but he was a player who Baalke thought highly enough to trade up in the 5th round of the draft last year and let's not forget that he was a rookie.  Many rookies struggle in year one.  Additionally, no team is strong at all 53 roster spots.  Snoop is likely a game day inactive, barring injuries to other players and likely has little to no impact on the success of this team.  Yes, you can always improve depth, but I had no huge concerns with our running back depth.  

Second, you draft depth on Day 3.  You don't draft depth on Day 2.  You particularly don't draft depth on Day 3 at a non-premium position such as running back.  If you are truly trying to "build through the draft", you want to find starters here, aka, the core of  your team.  A tight end #2 and a running back #2 are not the core of your team.  Even if we feel our running back depth was lacking, we could still use one of our 10 draft picks on Day 3 to address it.

I agree with the 2nd part.  I would not be confident at all with our running game if Etienne were to go down.  Not sure what you see in the combo of Hasty/Johnson that gives you confidence in that hypothetical backfield.  Johnson had a stint where they leaned on him for a bit 2 years ago and performed well and then followed that up with 4 carries in 15 games last year and then was allowed to walk.

Perhaps they are looking for someone to be a bonafide RB2 that sees 30% or more of the carries/touches.  I would have to think that is the expectation with 3rd round draft capital.  An RB2 with the above expectation isn't just depth in this league.

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