How come RBs are the first picks in Fantasy drafts?

[Gopher]

... Westbrook has CLEARLY shown that he's not a short-yardage back. That leaves LT, Portis, Gore, Forte, and Jackson as guys that I could see getting not only the majority of their team's carries/touches, but also the majority of their pass plays AND goal-line or short yardage plays.

 

You can agree or disagree with my assessments... that's not really the issue. I'm not intending to get into an argument over whether Michael Turner or Brian Westbrook is an every down back. Clearly, they are both very valuable, no matter how many touches they get. But, it's definitely clear that the "every down" running back is becoming a thing of the past in the NFL.

 

 

I agree with some of your points, BUT I can't agree with the Westbrook and him clearly not being a short yardage back. Take a look at this year and all past year.... how many 1-3 yd TD runs have been taken away from Westbrook? I think you would be hard pressed to find 10 in the last 3-5 years. He might not be ideal, but it isn't like the last days of Jerome Bettis in Pittsburgh where as soon as they are inside the 5 or 4th and 2 or less in comes Bettis. Westbrook is by far the most elite player on the Eagles. His production is down a little because he has been slowed by the 400 injuries he has had this year. That has limited Philly's ability to split him out and use him as a WR like they have down a lot in the past. I would say their struggles this year with running the ball were due to playcalling #1 and being unhealthy #2(both Westbrook and the Offensive Line)

 

As far as LT.... I'm not sure he belongs in that category this year....maybe in the future, but he spends a lot of time on the sidelines on 3rd downs. Sproles has proven to be a much better pass catcher currently then LT

 

I think one thing people don't put enough stock in is having a guy on a GOOD RUNNING SCHEME TEAM. Guys like Forte/CJohnson/LWhite didn't get the value they deserved. They all over achieved way beyond what was projected, but they are all on teams who value a good run game and who strive to run 1st.

Fair points, for sure. As far as Westbrook is concerned, I agree to an extent. I think he's clearly an elite player who is most effective when paired with another more typical run-between-the-tackles kind of back. I'm not saying he's best suited as a "change of pace" back, necessarily, because he is definitely a player that you would want to get as many touches as possible, to a certain degree. But, just like with Barber (and a lot of other backs), Westbrook's health has suffered over the years, particularly when the Eagles rely on him to take on the entire work load.

 

I think he HAS had plenty of short-yardage carries taken away over the past few years by Buckhalter, etc. However, the reason he hasn't had many short TD carries taken away is mainly due to the fact that the Eagles might be the most likely team to throw on "short and goal" situations, of any team in the NFL. It's not uncommon to see the Eagles spread out five-wide on 3rd/4th and 2-3 yards to go, especially in a goal-to-go situation... situations where a lot of other teams with a stronger running game might still leave a back in the backfield, keeping the defense honest and aware of the possibility of a run.

 

Agree with LT as well... he's definitely become less of a full-time back as well. Like I said, though, my intention isn't really to debate who are and are not the every down backs, as much as to emphasize the point that there are definitely becoming less and less of them in the NFL as a whole. The days of assuming that, just because you draft a starting RB, he will get 25 touches per game, are over. Years ago, you could pretty much assume that all of the "starting" RB's would be gone by the 4th-5th round of a draft. Now, 30-40% of the teams in the league don't really have a defined "feature" back (or at least it has changed during the course of the season), which makes things more interesting... You can snag productive backs in the later rounds of drafts, instead of just drafting WR's and backup/handcuff RB's.

[Chargerz]

Lots of good posts in this thread, especially Professor BC.

[Avernus]

in my local I went QB and WR with my 1st 2 and I wish I hadn't...because I drafted Brees and Cutler and could have had Barber instead of Brees....

 

but umm...the dropoff after the 1st 12 RB's or so (or less) is much more severe than any dropoff at WR or QB which has the least amount of a dropoff and is also the safest pick...