What are suck year for running backs in the draft. The best prospect landed in an underwhelming spot, and only two others went in the first three rounds.
At least Jeremiyah Love is a run-catch guy. That makes him look like a good candidate to finish with some top-5 seasons at the position during his career. He could be another Bijan Robinson.
But Love lands with a lesser team, and one that’s already got plenty of talent at the position. James Conner’s contract suggests he’ll be around for another year, and Tyler Allgeier should have a meaningful role for the near future (just ask Bijan about Allgeier’s TD vulturing ability). Maybe they can even get something out of Trey Benson, who’s played fine in his first two seasons but has struggled with injuries.
Love’s teammate, Jadarian Price, went at the end of the first round. With Zach Charbonnet maybe not getting on the field until November, Price will get plenty of opportunities to have a solid role from the jump. No complaints there.
After the two Notre Dame backs, no other running backs were selected until Kaelon Black 90th overall. Kyle Shanahan likes drafting running backs. He’s taken one between rounds three and five in five of his last six drafts, including Trey Sermon, Tyrion Davis-Price, Isaac Guerendo and Jordan James. Black looks solid enough to me, but I’m not promising he’ll be beating out James and Guerendo for the coveted No. 2 tailback spot in the offense.
And that, oddly, was all we saw in the top 100 overall picks. Just three running backs. That’s the fewest ever. It’s a declining position. Twice in the previous five years, there were only four selected in the top 100.
Most likely some lesser backs selected in the later rounds (or not at all) will step up and make an impact at some point, but they weren’t going early this year. That comes from a combination of it being a down year talent-wise, and NFL teams simply not valuing the position like they did in the past.
Back in the 1967, 1969 and 1977 seasons, there were 21 running backs among the first 100 players chosen in those drafts. Times change.
| RUNNING BACKS IN THE TOP 100 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Top 100 |
| 1967 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 21 |
| 1968 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 13 |
| 1969 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 21 |
| 1970 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| 1971 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 19 |
| 1972 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
| 1973 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 1974 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 18 |
| 1975 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| 1976 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 14 |
| 1977 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 21 |
| 1978 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| 1979 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 19 |
| 1980 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 1981 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| 1982 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| 1983 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 1984 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 10 |
| 1985 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| 1986 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 15 |
| 1987 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 15 |
| 1988 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 1989 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| 1990 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 15 |
| 1991 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 12 |
| 1992 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 1993 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 13 |
| 1994 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 15 |
| 1995 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 1996 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| 1997 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1998 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 1999 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 2000 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 11 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 2002 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 2003 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 2004 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 2005 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 2006 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 2007 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
| 2008 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| 2009 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2010 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 2011 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 2012 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 2013 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 2014 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 2015 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 2016 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2017 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 2018 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
| 2019 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 2020 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2022 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 2023 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 2024 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 2025 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 2026 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
—Ian Allan
