(04-30-2021, 03:43 PM)Bullseye Wrote:

(04-30-2021, 03:13 PM)TheSchmidt Wrote: Seen Sproles and Corey Grant named as the type of guys we need to compliment Robinson. I agree and I bet a lot of the people against the pick also agree. Don’t think anybody dislikes Travis as a player. He’s a good talent.

But that type of skill set is so much easier to find later in the draft. The aforementioned Sproles and Grant were taken in the 4th and UDFA, respectively.

It’s gonna be real tough to find guys like Moehring, Barmore, Jenkins, etc later in the draft.

We have used big draft capital and spent lots in free agency to find a back and it has always blown up in our face. They haven’t learned, and that’s scary.

(Emphasis added)

You had me until the portion in bold.

I can't recall too many times we've utilized "big draft capital" on a RB and regretted it.

In 1995, we drafted James Stewart in the first round.  While Gator fans hated him, the fact is he was decent.  He had a 900 yard rushing season and had a 5 TD game.  In 1998, we spent a first round pick on Fred Taylor, and he wound up arguably the best player (certainly in the best 2-3) in team history.  In 2004 we drafted FB Greg Jones in the 2nd round.  IIRC he made a pro bowl.  In 2006, we spent a low 2nd round pick on MJD, and he wound up being an all time Jaguars great, and one of the most fun and exciting players in team history.   Id say the one time we spent high draft capital on a RB and regretted it was Fournette in 2017, in large part because we bypassed Mahomes and Watson to draft him.  But he had a 1000 yard rushing season and performed well in our playoff run.  His knuckleheadedness got him cut from the team, but Tampa did not hesitate to snap him up on the way to winning a Super Bowl, nor did they hesitate in re-signing him.  It hasn't always blown up in our faces.

I can't recall any large free agency expenditures on RB.  We got Natrone Means on waivers fromt he Chargers, and he led our 1996 playoff run with two huge playoff games.

I always hated the "Gator fans hated Stewart because he was a Vol" narrative.  As a Gator fan, I hated the pick, not because he was from Tennessee, but because after watching every minute of 4 years of Gator/Tennessee games he was a part of, I didn't know who the heck he was!  That, and I wanted Napoleon Kaufman.  if Stewart had torn us up in those Gator games, I would have liked the pick just fine.

Fournette is freshest in all of our minds and was a terrible waste of draft capital.  If we had traded back and taken him at 25, he probably would have been much better received.  Even so, it was a great draft for running backs that year.  He was probably the 6th or 7th best in his draft and it pretty much put a stranglehold on the 'don't draft a RB in the first round' argument.

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