(04-28-2023, 11:47 PM)Jaguarmeister Wrote:

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

To further the point, we're now in a 17 game regular season with playoff expectations.  You do need a solid RB2 to navigate that.  Giving Etienne the percentage of carries he was getting is asking to have your season derailed by an injury to him.  The two games they tried to lean more heavily on Hasty, he wasn't efficient at all. Not the pick I was expecting either, but that's the logic behind it.

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