Teams don’t like spending first-round picks on running backs anymore. The position has become undervalued, and the preference is to fill that with players selected in later rounds. So a lot of guys selected in the second round are now guys who would have been selected in the first round back in the ‘80s or ‘90s.
So far in this century, 37 running backs have been selected with second-round picks. About a third of those guys went on to be very good. Grading is subjective, but I would say for about 12 of those guys, the vast majority of teams wished they had selected them a lot earlier. I’ve got those guys in bold.
Another approximate third (10 players) at least had some value. Maybe they didn’t hit it out of the park, but they were at least functional players. I’ve got those guys tagged with black dots, and in that group I’m also including players who’ve still got a chance to be good – like Bishop Sankey and Christine Michael.
The remaining approximate third (the 15 remaining players) simply didn’t pan out for various reasons – injuries, lack of talent or whatnot. Those guys are in plain type.
For the 2015 draft, there are a pair of runners who are considered first-round possibilities, Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon. But with the way teams seem to value this position, there’s a good chance both of those guys will last into the second (certainly Gurley, who’s coming off a knee injury).
SECOND-ROUND RUNNING BACKS SINCE 2000 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | Run | Rec | Total | TD |
2001 | LaMont Jordan | 292 | 44 | 336 | 2 |
2001 | Travis Henry | 729 | 179 | 908 | 4 |
2001 | • Anthony Thomas | 1183 | 178 | 1361 | 7 |
2002 | Clinton Portis | 1508 | 364 | 1872 | 17 |
2002 | Ladell Betts | 307 | 154 | 461 | 1 |
2002 | Maurice Morris | 153 | 25 | 178 | 1 |
2002 | DeShaun Foster | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2004 | • Tatum Bell | 396 | 80 | 476 | 3 |
2004 | • Julius Jones | 819 | 107 | 926 | 7 |
2004 | Greg Jones | 162 | 13 | 175 | 3 |
2005 | J.J. Arrington | 370 | 139 | 509 | 2 |
2005 | Eric Shelton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2006 | Maurice Jones-Drew | 941 | 436 | 1377 | 16 |
2006 | • LenDale White | 244 | 60 | 304 | 0 |
2007 | Chris Henry | 119 | 53 | 172 | 2 |
2007 | Kenny Irons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2007 | Brandon Jackson | 267 | 130 | 397 | 1 |
2008 | Ray Rice | 454 | 273 | 727 | 0 |
2008 | Matt Forte | 1238 | 477 | 1715 | 12 |
2009 | LeSean McCoy | 637 | 308 | 945 | 4 |
2010 | • Ben Tate | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2010 | • Toby Gerhart | 322 | 167 | 489 | 1 |
2010 | Montario Hardesty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2011 | Shane Vereen | 57 | 0 | 57 | 1 |
2011 | Mikel Leshoure | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2011 | Ryan Williams | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2011 | Daniel Thomas | 581 | 72 | 653 | 1 |
2012 | Isaiah Pead | 54 | 16 | 70 | 0 |
2012 | LaMichael James | 125 | 29 | 154 | 0 |
2013 | Giovani Bernard | 695 | 514 | 1209 | 8 |
2013 | Eddie Lacy | 1178 | 257 | 1435 | 11 |
2013 | LeVeon Bell | 860 | 399 | 1259 | 8 |
2013 | • Christine Michael | 79 | 0 | 79 | 0 |
2013 | • Montee Ball | 559 | 145 | 704 | 4 |
2014 | Jeremy Hill | 1124 | 215 | 1339 | 9 |
2014 | • Bishop Sankey | 569 | 133 | 702 | 2 |
2014 | • Carlos Hyde | 333 | 68 | 401 | 4 |
—Ian Allan