Welcome to the light side!
In all honesty, I think RBs are just very, very east to get excited about cause it’s a glamour position that gets talked about a lot and carries fantasy football teams, and cause they tend to hit the ground running as rookies. It’s just a deeper dive shows that even if they are good, they don’t actually have nearly as much of an effect on winning as most other positions.
That was a good point. But have we all forgotten about Millens fetishism of wrs.
At the same time I have been debating if we would be better off with an offensive draft. Ceedee in the first. Dobbins in the second. Then a guard.
Hey, if you can score 30 points a game you will be hard to beat no matter how bad your defense is.
All that just proves one thing it’s a team sport. A great RB won’t make you win if the rest of the team sucks. Just like the QB position. But I’m sure most football people will say a great RB is beneficial in many ways.
A great running game is beneficial, for sure. More than that, it’s key. But the best ones are the product of so much more than the running back (as I mentioned above, scheme, adjustments, offensive line).
Kansas City agrees with you till this past SB win.
But doesn’t everyone know that ? Kinda like the QB play it doesn’t work as well when your running for your life. Nevermind your right not everyone does get it.
It’s called selective stats. There’s always exceptions to the rule.
However look at who made the playoffs over the last 5 years and where they ranked in rushing offense.
I did this last year and it was something like 86% of playoff teams ranked in the top 10 in rushing offense.
It’s well established that it is difficult to consistently win without a quality run game.
2020 Playoff teams vs rushing offense rank.
BAL - 1st
TEN - 3rd
NE - 18th (was ranked 5th the year before)
KC - 22nd (was ranked 15th the year before)
HOU - 9th
BUF - 7th
SF - 2nd
GB - 15th
SEA - 6th
NO - 16th (they were ranked 9th the year before)
PHI - 11th
MIN - 8th
Only 3 teams ranked in the top 10 rushing offense didn’t make the playoffs. However two of those 3 teams were ranked top 10 the year before.
Notice that out of these 12 teams. 9 were ranked as a top 10 rushing offense in the last two seasons.
KC and GB are the only real outliers but both teams actually run the ball with some level of efficiency.
For example: KC ranked 8th in rushing TD’s and 12th in rushing 1st downs. This shows that they had an effective rushing offense.
GB ranked 6th in rushing TD’s. They were also 2nd in rushing yards per attempt in 2018. They can and do run effectively.
In comparison. Lions over the last two seasons ranked.
Rushing offense: 21st and 23rd.
Rushing TD’s: 24th and 29th.
Yards per attempt: 22nd and 28th
Rushing 1st downs: 26th and 22nd.
The above stats show that if the lions rushing offense can get into the top 10 the odds are high we can make the playoffs and win the division.
I wasn’t trying to insinuate that a quality running game was overrated, in fact I think quite the opposite. It’s just I think it’s a product of scheme, adjustments and blocking far, far more than the skills of any one running back.
I mentioned all of those good running games in my post to illustrate this point. Here’s what I said:
“ Meanwhile, KC and SF made the Super Bowl with a pu pu platter of low round picks and UDFAs at RB. The Packers made the title game with a 5th rounder starting over a 4th rounder. The Seahawks start a 7th rounder (and surely regret drafting Penny high). The Ravens had the best record in the league with a cheap vet (they stole Ingram for $5M/year), a UDFA and a 4th rounder who hardly played. The Texans almost beat the Chiefs with Carlos Hyde and Duke Johnson ffs. Latavius Murray was just as productive as Kamara for the Saints this year (and neither one cost much). The Falcons finished 6-2 and won in SF with virtually no running game at all. Sure they all had help but that’s exactly my point.”
I’m well aware that you need a good running game to have success in the NFL. Which is why I advocate for drafting better linemen, hiring better coaches, and adopting better schemes. We’ve already tried having a great RB on our roster - some might say the best RB in history - and look where it got us. Let’s try it a better way.
No thoughts on Jason Huntley?
Oh, sorry. Got lost in all the other stuff. Anyway, I like him. He’s got legit jets, really good pass-catcher, and he’s a willing blocker at least. He’s thin and I don’t think he’s got the frame to get much thicker, he’s got almost Kerryon’s lean, long-legged build, except on an even smaller frame (only 193). He could be a real hit in a one-cut zone system like SF’s. I don’t love his vision, and I think he’d be pretty much useless in the red zone, but as a late-round flyer, we could do a lot worse. He’d be a consistent threat from everywhere on the field. Actually McKissic might be a decent comp for him.
I was thinking of him as our Mckissick replacement. He’d be more of a game breaker though. Elite as a KR too to the extent that even matters anymore.
If not for his pro day I doubt anyone would even know who he is. I do not trust hand timed results either. However it’s obvious the kid has speed and good hands.
He very easily could go undrafted and I doubt he goes before round 6.
I think most likely his best chances are as a kick returner / receiving back.
I think he’s pretty likely to go undrafted. I think he would’ve been drafted late as a KR if this were a decade ago.
My favorite RB in the draft.
PFF speaks highly of Moss:
Swift, Taylor, CEH, Dobbins, Akers, Moss. In that order for me.
DeeJay Dallas is an interesting one that never gets brought up. Not a gamebreaker but really useful in the passing game (both in pass pro and as a WR) and a hard and efficient runner.
Exactly how I see it too.
