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Factoid

Bishop Sankey: First running back drafted

The Titans made Bishop Sankey the first running back drafted on Friday, and those in dynasty leagues with rookie drafts coming up will have a choice to make. Is he the running back poised to have the best NFL career?

Things look good for him having an excellent rookie season, anyway. Not only have the Titans taken steps to upgrade their offensive line, and released Chris Johnson (leaving only Shonn Greene ahead of him on the depth chart). But Greene is coming off knee surgery, so Sankey will have a shot to make an early impression in the preseason.

First running backs drafted have also been pretty successful over the last 20 years, at least as rookies. Sixty percent of those running backs (12) have put up at least 1,000 total yards in their rookie season. It's a pretty strong history.

Rookie numbers for the first running back selected over the last 20 years, sorted by total yards, are presented below.

ROOKIE NUMBERS, FIRST RUNNING BACK DRAFTED, 1994-2013
YearPlayer, TeamPickRunRecTotalTDs
1999Edgerrin James, Ind.41553586213917
1994Marshall Faulk, Ind.21282522180412
2000Jamal Lewis, Balt.5136429616606
2007Adrian Peterson, Minn.71341268160913
2001LaDainian Tomlinson, S.D.51236367160310
1997Warrick Dunn, T.B.1297846214407
2012Trent Richardson, Clev.3950367131712
2006Reggie Bush, N.O.256574213079
2013Giovani Bernard, Cin.3769551412098
2009Knowshon Moreno, Den. 1294721311609
2005Ronnie Brown, Mia.290723211395
2002William Green, Clev.1688711310006
2004Steven Jackson, St.L.246731898624
2008Darren McFadden, Oak.44992857844
1996Lawrence Phillips, St.L.6632286605
2011Mark Ingram, N.O.28474465205
1998Curtis Enis, Chi.5497205170
2010C.J. Spiller, Buff.92831574401
2003Willis McGahee, Buff.230000
1995Ki-Jana Carter, Cinn.10000

--Andy Richardson

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