(10-10-2023, 10:47 AM)The Real Marty Wrote:

(10-10-2023, 08:24 AM)flsprtsgod Wrote: It's not about single handedly, it's about largest impact, so why spend valuable draft capital on the one least likely to do it and for the shortest amount of time with the cheapest replacement cost? It's simply about value and running backs don't have it. It's the same reason why they're [BLEEP] about their contracts, because they are at the bottom of the value list in this League and now they're getting paid like it.

You said running backs don't make bad teams good, therefore they should not be selected where Etienne was, which was late in the first round.  And my question for you is, what other single player (other than getting lucky on a QB) would make a bad team good?  There aren't any.

And besides, the choice isn't do we pick a RB or do we pick another position.  The choice is, do we pick THIS player or do we pick THAT player.  If we go by your rule, we'd pass on Barry Sanders and take some other guy, just because he plays a different position that you consider more impactful.

Great example! Barry Sanders is perhaps the best running back, and maybe the best football player, to ever play the game. He was a one man weapon and did things on the field we'll probably never see again. He also won no championships and only one playoff game in his illustrious career, at a time when RBs were substantially more valuable than they are today. It took the Lions 3 seasons with Barry to make the playoffs the first time, they went 5 of those next 7 years, but only won one game and then he retired shortly thereafter. Also interesting is that unrestricted free agency became a thing in 1993 in the middle of his career and he got 2 contract extensions, something we just don't see anymore. Now, were the Lions better or worse off in the long run with Barry on their team? Probably better since they hadn't been to the playoffs in 8 seasons and didn't make the playoffs but one more time in the between his retirement 1998 and 2012, but do we have to take a top 5 all-time player from 35 years ago to make your case? That article I posted yesterday did a nice job presenting the much more common outcome of the RB going to a bad team not doing much, I think it more than offsets the historic career of Barry Sanders. We should also note that Sanders retired because of his frustration with Lions ownership and management not putting a good team around him or acquiescing to his request for a trade.

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