The 2017 NFL Draft is over, and there are a lot of analyses, news, rumors and everything that goes with it at the moment. Many people are currently looking at the future, their respected teams with the new additions and in what way these rookies will affect the game and improve their squad. But let’s take a quick look at the past, shall we?
Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey are two running backs selected by Jacksonville and Carolina at number four and eight respectively. In the second round, even three tailbacks were drafted, one of which is the controversial Joe Mixon that went to the Bengals as a 48th pick overall. The other two are Seminole Dalvin Cook who went from Florida State to the Minnesota Vikings and Curtis Samuel who can play both RB and WR, and he will join McCaffrey in Carolina. In case you didn’t notice all of these players are RBs and they were taken in the first two rounds.
In previous five years, only three RBs have been selected in the first round, and the names of these two must be familiar to you – Ezekiel Elliott and the infamous Trent Richardson. After Richardson, who was drafted third overall, the teams stopped picking running backs unless they were “freaks of nature” and even the Steelers selected Le’Veon Bell in the second round, and we all know who Le’Veon Bell is. What is our point? After Elliot was drafted fourth overall and after his successful season, Cowboys managed to make drafting a running back cool again.
We cannot overlook the fact that Zeke rushed over 1,600 yards plus he had 350 receiving yards – all of this in his rookie season. Yes, the Cowboys’ offensive line is one of the best, if not the best, in the league, but Elliott has done his part, there is no doubt about it. He also did little things, such as blocking and simply making the right plays for the team. He did have a glorious season, and that helped to rejuvenate the running back position.
