NFL Draft: Three Best Running Backs on the Board Part 1

BY ADAM GREENE

There are three problems with running backs in the NFL and this past season delivered glaring examples.

The first is, the truly elite RB is rare, there are only so many in the league at a time and we need to all really appreciate them while they’re healthy.

The second is, when they’re not healthy, there’s no real coming back from it.

And the third is, the guys that aren’t really elite are still pretty good.

There’s a glut at the position coming out of college every season and it’s just one of the reasons guys like pre 2019 Todd Gurley and 2016 David Johnson are so precious. It’s why the Carolina Panthers ignored the examples set by both those guys’ contracts and the fallout from both and still gave Christian McCaffrey the biggest running back contract in NFL history.

If he stays healthy, he’s absolutely worth it. So were Gurley and Johnson. We all see how that turned out.

Meanwhile the San Francisco 49ers made it to the Super Bowl last season with a running back, Raheem Mostert, that was cut by seven teams. They were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs, who were fielding a running back, Damien Williams, on his second team and he didn’t even get drafted. In fact, you have to go back to Super Bowl ILVIII in 2015 for a team with an elite runner to hoist a Lombardi Trophy when Marshawn Lynch and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Denver Broncos.

Looking at this slate of runners coming out this season, any one of them could be the next Mostert or Williams. But that doesn’t mean you want to skip out on a chance to add a Gurley, McCaffrey or Ezekiel Elliott if you get the chance. You’re just probably not spending an early first rounder on him.

From what I can tell, there are only three Zeke-Todd-Christian potentials in this draft. Everyone else is fine, maybe even great. But these three are clearly separated from the rest.

So let’s talk about them.

1. JONATHAN TAYLOR, WISCONSIN

2019: 320 carries, 2,003 yards, 21 touchdowns, 26 catches, 252 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns, 5-11, 219 pounds

In three seasons with the Badgers. Taylor has rushed for 6,174 yards and scored 55 touchdowns combined. I like how he keeps the gear shift down as he’s working his way through the first hole, then turns it on the second he senses daylight.

None of these guys have been used enough in the passing game at their respective schools, but what I like is that each of them has put on a film a downfield pass reception where they’ve had to run a tight end route. That’s what you need to be if you’re going to be an elite running back, a guy that can be on the field all three downs.

If there’s a worry with Taylor it’s that he’s had a TON of carries in college, but frankly I’m not sure how much he got touched. I mean, you can negate 50 of those carries right there because the dude scored TDs with barely a mit on him.

Where he will be picked: Second round, and don’t be shocked to see the Los Angeles Rams pull the trigger here since they cut Gurley loose.

We talk about the other two elite RB prospects in Part 2.

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