(02-20-2022, 07:29 PM)flsprtsgod Wrote:

(02-20-2022, 01:32 PM)Bullseye Wrote: But if you evaluate them properly and still draft them high, you aren't wasting draft capital (Derrick Henry, Adrian Peterson, Jonathan Taylor).  You are far more apt to get a quality RB in the first three rounds of the draft than you are UDFA.

Prove me wrong.

Sure, you get a quality running back, maybe. And those you named have how many championships between them? The difference between a great running back and a serviceable running back in the NFL is negligible and rarely does the running back make a difference in winning a championship. Just look at the last two Super Bowl winners, Tampa and the Rams had backs that they drafted high (Jones, Akers) that were supplanted by guys that were either claimed off the street or traded for late round picks. This isn't the '60s or even the '90s anymore, running backs are almost fungible commodities in the modern game.

First, my list was in no way designed to be an all inclusive list, just long enough to illustrate that a RB picked in the top three rounds of a draft isn't necessarily wasted draft capital.

But if winning a championship is the criteria to determine whether a pick on a RB is a wasted one, then you have to acknowledgethe numerous Rbs taken in the first three rounds of the draft that have won championships like:
Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung (SB I & II and other NFL championships)
Matt Snell (III)
Norm Bulaich (V)
Duane Thomas and Calvin Hill (VI)
Larry Csonka and Mercury Morris (VII and VIII)
Mark Van Eeghen (XI)
Franco Harris (SB IX, X, XIII, XIV)
Walter Payton (XX)
Tony Dorsett (XII)
Marcus Allen (XVIII)
Roger Craig (XIX, XXIII, XXIV)
Emmitt Smith (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX)
Ricky Watters (XXIX)
Marshall Faulk (drafted in the first round by the Colts, but won a title with the Rams who traded at least a 2nd round pick to get him; XXXIV)
Jamal Lewis (XXXV)
Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott (XXXVII)
Jerome Bettis (orig drafted by the Rams but traded to Steelers for 2nd and 4th round pick; XL)
Joseph Addai (XLI)
Rashad Mendenhall (XLIII)
Reggie Bush (XLIV)
Ray Rice (XLVII)
Shane Vereen (XLIX)
Sony Michel (LIII)
Ronald Jones (LV)
Darell Henderson (LVI)

By my count, that's 26 RBs drafted in the 3rd round or higher that have won a combined 40 Super Bowls between them.

Keep in mind, this doesn't incude RBs drafted below the 4th round (Terrell Davis).  Nor does this include RBs originally drafted in the 3rd round or higher who were not traded but won a Super bowl with a subsequent team (John Riggins, Ottis Anderson, Marshawn Lynch).

I welcome you to compile a more extensive list of UDFA RBs who were key contributors to Super Bowl championship teams.

I'll even spot you Willie Parker.

That aside, I submit your paradigm of winning a championship being a prerequisite for not wasting a draft pick on a RB to be extreme, considering such a standard would render the following players to be wasted picks:

Gale Sayers
Chuck Foreman
Earl Campbell
Eric Dickerson
William Andrews
James Brooks
Bo Jackson
Barry Sanders
Adrian Peterson
LaDanian Tomlinson
Fred Taylor
MJD
Eddie George
Chris Johnson
Derrick Henry
Thurman Thomas
Curtis Martin
Shaun Alexander
Edgerrin James

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