With Foster being done. Let's draft that young man with our 1st round pick. Get a QB in the second. Sign a veteran QB in the offseason (Brees).
In my dream scenario, James Conner comes out. We pick a quarterback in the first, best defensive player available in the second, Conner in the third, and find a steal of a tight end in the fourth. There's four opening day starters right there. I don't think Conner comes out though. And I can't imagine drafting a running back in the first when you need a quarterback. If you need both, you have to take the more scarce option first. Impact backs can be found in later rounds.
You're more likely to find a franchise QB in the 1st and a franchise RB in the 2nd (or later) than vice versa. Look at the top rushers so far this year. Matt Forte - 2nd round Devonta Freeman - 4th round Carlos Hyde - 2nd round Chris Ivory - undrafted Justin Forsett - 7th round Too small a sample size? Look at last year. Demarco Murray - 3rd round Le'Veon Bell - 2nd round LeSean McCoy - 2nd round Marshawn Lynch -1st round Arian Foster - undrafted Eddie Lacy - 2nd round Marshawn Lynch is the lone exception on that list. In general, not a lot of RBs go in the first anymore. Only 2 have gone in the first round in the last 3 drafts. If you want a top QB prospect, you almost need to get them in the first round. If you want a top RB prospect, you can usually wait until the 2nd. But what might be more important than the RB is the OLine. Ours is trash right now. Arian actually looked OK to me but the OL has been getting pushed back and the holes aren't there. I don't care who you put behind our OLine right now, they're not going to run effectively. I'd be more inclined to go into next year with Blue as the main back and spend our 2nd rounder on an OLineman.
I agree. We definitely need a running back to take the pressure off our QB who will inevitably suck anyway.
Cook/Goff/Lynch will probably all go in the first round to Buffalo, Washington, NYJ, SF, Houston, Chicago, and Cleveland. The Texans need to grab theirs as soon as they can.
Instead of wasting a pick on a first round running back, maybe they can go blast from the past? Kijana Carter only has 395 career attempts. He's a first round talent with miles left in the tank...