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Bill Polian is high on first-round running backs


cenj

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Sounds accurate to me.

http://profootballta...-running-backs/

Polian said today on Mike and Mike in the Morning that, contrary to the opinion of those who believe running backs have been devalued and aren’t worth a first-round pick, it’s actually just the opposite. Polian believes that as teams are increasingly finding that they need to replace their running backs often, that means the time to get a good one is when he’s young.

“I think that’s an urban legend and I don’t know where it got started,” Polian said. “Here’s the real scoop: Running backs have short careers. They burn out very quickly because of the pounding they take, and in today’s game you really need two of them. So where do you get the best value on a running back? When he’s coming out of college. You don’t get value for him as a free agent, or very few, because the bottom line is he doesn’t have much tread left on his tires, especially if he’s played a lot. The best time to get a running back is in the draft.”

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Here's an interesting factoid: none of the NFL's top six rushers last year were former first round picks.

1) MJD - 2nd round

2) Ray Rice - 2nd round

3) Michael Turner - 5th round

4) Lesean McCoy - 2nd round

5) Arian Foster - UDFA

6) Frank Gore - 3rd round

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I think he means in general you want to look for RBs with the least amount of wear and those come through the draft. Not necessarily the first round. Of the top 6 rusher 9 listed, only MT wasn't drafted his current team but he had very low mileage backing up LT.

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contrary to the opinion of those who believe running backs have been devalued and aren’t worth a first-round pick, it’s actually just the opposite.

Considering Polians recent draft record, I would take this with a micro grain of salt. Depending on the offense you run, there are plenty of productive RBs in later rounds. Especially now with all the pass happy offenses and teams moving to smaller faster running backs by committee.

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Considering Polians recent draft record, I would take this with a micro grain of salt. Depending on the offense you run, there are plenty of productive RBs in later rounds. Especially now with all the pass happy offenses and teams moving to smaller faster running backs by committee.

He drafted Edgerrin James in 1999

Joseph Addai in 2006

Donald Brown in 2009

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Not surprised a GM thinks this. They don't drink ESPN cool-aid. Most of the time.

Since when does espn promote the opinion that RBs are devalued?

They do the opposite of that.

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