RBs could get a boost thanks to success of Barkley

NFL DRAFT

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Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty runs a drill during the school’s pro day held on March 26 at the Caven-Williams Indoor Facility in Boise, Idaho. KYLE GREEN — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By Josh Dubow

The Associated Press

The days of running backs being the headliners at the NFL draft are long in the past with the league’s shift to more passing leading to quarterbacks, pass rushers and pass blockers dominating the top of the draft each year.

The ingredients could be in place for a bit of a change this year thanks to one of the deepest classes of running backs in years following a season when game-changing backs such as Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry became the biggest free agent hits.

“When I was a kid, running back was arguably the most important position on the field,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said at the scouting combine. “I grew up a Cowboys fan — Tony Dorsett, Emmitt Smith, guys like that were my idols. Then we went through this period over the last five, 10 years, where the analytics certainly de-emphasized the position. I think last year, you saw the impact that some of these guys had. ... I think (running backs) are looked at as probably replaceable by some people, but if you have a great one, you’ve got a historic one, you just can’t replace those guys.”

The big question headed into the draft Thursday is whether teams view prospects such as Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton as those types of backs worthy of being taken with a premium pick.

Jeanty was projected in the final AP mock draft to go sixth to Las Vegas, which would be the highest pick for a running back since Barkley was taken second overall in 2018 by the New York Giants.

“We just saw Saquon Barkley just change the Eagles in one year,” Raiders GM John Spytek said. “Now they had a great team around him and it was adding an elite player. I think when you sit where we sit, I mean the idea is to add elite players at any position. I don’t try to devalue any certain position. ... There’s certain ways to build a team, and I don’t know where we got to a place where we don’t feel like running backs are valued.”

Only one running back in the past six drafts was taken in the top 10 with Bijan Robinson going eighth to Atlanta in 2023. Five running backs were top-10 picks from 2015-18 with two being taken that high in 2017 when Leonard Fournette went fourth and Christian McCaffrey went eighth.

It’s a far cry from earlier eras when running backs were often the top overall pick, including four times in five seasons from 1977-81. No running back has gone first overall since Ki-Jana Carter in 1995.

This year’s class of running backs is one of the deepest in recent memory with several players after Jeanty and Hampton projected to be picked either late in the first round or on day two of the draft including Ohio State’s duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins; Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson; Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson; Virginia Tech’s Bhayshul Tuten; and Central Florida’s RJ Harvey.