I get what you are saying and I would be fine with line help in the first -either line, and a RB in the 2nd or 3rd, but there have been a TON of first round backs that have had substantial impacts on their teams - Smtih, Dickerson, Bo Jackson (man if he would have never been injured - possible GOAT), Campbell, Sanders, Thomas, Allen, ect...
I think in this day and age, there is a value on certain positions and like it or not, the rb value has changed. Most reasons is that it has the shortest shelf life and its easier to fill. To top that off the rules are designed to push the ball downfield. Think about this, a guy like Chester Taylor leaves Baltimore and sign for 4yrs 11mil with 5.6 up front and runs for 1200 yds. Check this out: 1 LaDainian Tomlinson, SD 16 348 1815 5.2 28 85 2 1 2 Larry Johnson, KC 16 416 1789 4.3 17 47 2 2 3 Frank Gore, SF 16 312 1695 5.4 8 72 5 5 4 Tiki Barber, NYG 16 327 1662 5.1 5 55 3 1 5 Steven Jackson, StL 16 346 1528 4.4 13 59 2 1 6 Willie Parker, Pit 16 337 1494 4.4 13 76 6 4 7 Rudi Johnson, Cin 16 341 1309 3.8 12 22 6 2 8 Brian Westbrook, Phi 15 240 1217 5.1 7 71 1 1 9 Chester Taylor, Min 15 303 1216 4.0 6 95 4 3 10 Travis Henry, Ten 14 270 1211 4.5 7 70 3 1 11 Thomas Jones, Chi 16 296 1210 4.1 6 30 1 1 This is basically 80yds per game at 1200 yds. LT went 5th and Jones after being on his 3rd team went 7th that same yr. What else do you see? 20ish LJ,Jackson.2nd rd henry,4th rd Rudi,Westbrook,Taylor,3rd rd Gore and Barber, and undrafted Parker. So what i'm saying if the Texans can move down and get peterson or lynch, cool, if not take Okoye and get a back in the 2nd or 3rd rd.
outside of maybe Bush and Pittman(both with pretty big question marks) the rb class sucks outside of the top 2 this year. Might as well just stick with what the texans have rather than draft one of those bums.
Once the defense started to play better and stay in games, the running game actually performed pretty well. The key is still the defense. Stopping the run 1st then defending the pass and getting off the field. The Bears had 80 pass plays against the defense than the Texans. That means they were either ahead or caused a to or something.
Don't get me wrong I would be VERY happy with Okoye, Branch, Adams or if for some unknown reason Joe Thomas fell into our laps, and the icing on the cake would be getting Michael Bush in the second. I also think Darius Walker could be an above average pro RB - but I am an admitted ND fan. DW could be had in the 3rd to 4th. I do think AP has the potential to be a true stud though, and if he is there at 8 it would be hard for me to pass him up. IMHO he has tremendous vision and balance which is very underappreciated in a RB - not too much he has excellent speed and runs with authority.
How much college football do you watch? Marshawn Lynch is better than either of the two that you mentioned. Pittman has virtually no question marks. He's a what-you-see-is-what-get player. Kenny Irons was one of the best running backs a year ago, and was still productive with a gimpy ankle all year this year. And the RB class is (as always) really deep. With most college teams going to two-back systems, there are tons of good, but not great, running backs every year. I think Selvin Young could be a pretty good Domanick Davis replacement and would be available on the second day.
Guys, he said outside of the top 2, I'm pretty sure referring to Peterson and Lynch. He was saying that Bush and Pittman are the only other potential impact backs besides the elite two that are always discussed.
After watching the Super Bowl.......... I have come to the conclusion that you have to build the defense to stop Peyton. Those guys won with the WORST run defense in the whole league, the worst. That tells you right there how good they are offensively. And they are going to be dominant offensively for the next 5-6 years at least. You have to build the defense to stop Peyton and Brady. Because you are not going to be able to out offense them. They just totally took the Bears apart and the Bears are a very good defensive team. But they bashed their helmets in with that 7 minute drive in the 3rd quarter. In my opinion........... We've got to get at least 6 top quality defensive linemen that can pass rush for 50 plays a game. We've got to have another linebacker like Demeco that can flat get to the ball carrier. We've got to get some shutdown corners and defensive backfield people. You have to have a team that can get Peyton and Brady off the field. You have to have a defense that can make those guys go through some 3 and outs. You have to have a defense that causes the offense to have to react, not a defense that is reactionary to Peyton. He's too smart, he's too good. You have to force him out of the pocket and give him consistently very little time to throw and that all starts with the pass rush. I think we've got to get Okoye. As tempting as Peterson is. Peterson could make us a playoff team. But we won't get by Indy, New England, and San Diego as long as their offensive units are healthy. Sorry, but we need defensive line, a corner and safeties more than we need a back.
Just to play devil's advocate--what happens when Peyton, Brady, or Rivers get right back onto field after *our* three-and-out? Or after DCarr's 3rd fumble or 2nd INT of the game?
I know lynch is better, he's one of the top two, but he isn't falling past the 1st, which is what I was addressing in the post I quoted. The 2nd tier rbs all have pretty big question marks this year imo, and it is a weak year for rbs. The strength of this class is the wrs. On offense anyway. Bush may be special, but he may be another big back bust in the lines of Eric Shelton, Ron Dayne, and TJ Duckett. Irons and Hunt put up some good numbers, but neither are game breakers and I doubt either end up as feature backs. Lorenzo Booker looks good but he'll probly go higher than he should. Pittman is the one I'm optimistic of in the 2nd/3rd round. I'd rather gamble in the 2nd day with someone like Brandon Jackson, Gary Russell, or whoever. The 2nd tier rbs in this draft just don't seem like an upgrade at all imo. And if it's not an upgrade, then use the pick elsewhere.
See, that's it. We already know DC ain't playin if he's turning it over. We are going to somebody else. Sage, for being the mediocre qb he has been will step in and not turn it over. Jake the Snake. We'll get a QB if Carr don't get it. But we ain't at that stage yet. We replace the QB and we still have a mediocre offensive and defensive lines and horrible defensive backfield and we still get toasted. Build the D-line, build the O-line. Then get playmakers to play behind those lines on both sides of the ball. But we need speed. Speed on the d-line, speed at the outside backers, speed at the corners, speed at safety.
I have to disagree w/ this. I think the Super Bowl showed that even one of the best defenses (if not the best defense) can't completely stop Peyton alone. You say you need to force him out of the pocket and give him little time to throw, but that's much easier said than done, Peyton rarely gets sacked by any team, so I hope we don't pin our hopes that our defense will be any different. I think the best way to stop Peyton is to keep him off the field. You would think this would be the defense's assignment, but it's more of the offense's. Look at the Bear's offensive numbers lastnight, they were absolutely horrendous and they were bascially giving Peyton and the Colts a chance to score every 3 downs. If you look at the stats on our win vs. the Colts, the key was our time of possession and just keeping Peyton off the field. No defense can stop Peyton alone, no matter how good they are.
Exactly. Had the Bears given their defense any time at all to rest, the game would've been much different. That's why I'm so excited about the Texans next season. Imagine what our record would've been had Carr had the same season as Grossman? For how bad Grossman played in certain games this season, his best games far eclipsed David Carr's. With the way our defense was playing at the end of the year (not to mention Mario being completely healthy), I think any improvement in our offense, which I have to say is a foregone conclusion at this point, will result in an entire team improvement exponentially.
Peyton did almost nothing for almost 6 playoff quarters, the whole game at Bmore (no TDs) and most of the NE 1st half. The last three playoffs with even better offenses around Peyton the Stealers and Pats largely contained them. The Bears defense at the end of the season wasn't close to the best defense in the league (SD or Bmore probably), let alone historically great.
That's some high class to stick Young in. IMO, he isn't near there yet. Till something happens.....in the NFL...and isn't against the Texans. .......
