Would You Draft a Running Back in Round 1?

Harris is leaving because he was 'square peg, round hole' in A Smith's offense. His best rushing was on inside zones. A Smith wants to run outside zones. Warren was better at those runs. In fact, Warren's YPC was better on 7 out of 10 rush concepts. It's why he stays and Najee goes.

 

Now you are catching on

 

In some games it might have been injuries, but Patterson was used when Warren was available, and often to frustrating results. IDK if it was Smith's being comfortable with CP, stubbornness, but CP was not the guy he once was. The play calling and line play was also suspect, not picking out any particular thing, but over all Warren fit's this scheme.

 

Smith runs a DEI offense. It was the complaint about him in ATL when Allgeier was getting a bunch of touches even though Robinson was clearly the better back.

 

Good luck with that

 

Oddly, he didn't do it Tennessee. (Well, not exactly 'odd' when Henry is your lead back.) Maybe Vrabel shut it down, but after the mixed results and heat he took in Atlanta you'd think he'd rethink on the concept.

 

Hopefully they cut Patterson, so we don't have to watch his slow ass try to play RB.

 

Repetition is a viable rhetorical technique. Using it while ignoring the evidence, not so much.

 

That option is still more than they are going to spend on Warren. The tender to Warren might only be half of what Harris's option would have cost. Your evidence relies on comparing apples to hand grenades. Mine can carry a heavy load because it is apples-to-apples comparing how the Steelers used Harris and Warren. They used Harris like a lead back for four years. They never used Warren that way, not even in the rare circumstance when Harris missed half of a game.
I’m right. Accept it.

 

No, I am not under the impression that Harris carried the ball 25 to 30 times per game. Please don't imply that I'm basing my posts on incorrect statistical information. You've known me long enough to know better.

More even isn't even. Harris carried the ball 106 more times than Warren in 2023. He was still the lead back. Warren was the third-down back, but sometimes he wasn't even that. Remember the clutch drives late in the game against the Raiders and Ravens at the end of that season? Harris was out there, even though it was a passing situation both times. That told us a lot about who they trusted.

They like Warren in his current role, but everything we've seen indicates that they don't see him taking on Harris's old role. Even when he was healthy this past season, his role was limited.

 

True. I don't know much about Jeanty's ability to block, but I know we'd be drafting him to run the rock. He might just be good enough at running for it not to matter early on and just have him figure it out. Or we just play Warren as a more traditional 3rd down back mostly plus a few series to himself. If we draft Henderson this wont matter, since he's an excellent blocker and really would thrive in all situations. Judkins isn't quite on Henderson's level, but the want to and ability is there to block so I think he could take that on pretty early too.

Yeah, I don't know what to think of Skattebo. He's fairly explosive, but he doesn't pick up speed out of his cuts and lacks the long speed to be a home run threat IMO. He definitely runs hard, but he's a bit smaller that I would want for someone that runs that way. He kinda gives me Payton Hillis vibes. It wouldn't shock me to see him have a breakout year or two, but I find it hard to imagine that he would be a successful long time starter at the NFL level. Seems like a back up with short yardage specialty. I could be wrong of course, just my feeling.

 

Gotta admit, I really like him after seeing his film. I know others would say there are better options, but I like the kid. Lunch pail guy with excellent contact balance, good receiver, too. Not the fastest, just keeps going bouncing off defenders like a pinball on his way upfield.

 

He runs with so much desire. Reminds me a TON of Toby Gerhart from Stanford in the late 2000's. I think he backed up Adrian Peterson for a few years. Career back up but a decent career nonetheless.

 

I will tell you they chose the cheaper option, not the one they thought was best. They started Harris over Warren and gave him the ball more than Warren for three years. That tells you who they think is better.

 

I never said they loved him. I said they are going as cheap as possible. You are also assuming they will put the second-round tag on Warren, which hasn’t happened yet. I have explained why they might keep Warren and let Harris go for reasons other than which they think is a better back. You haven’t explained why they started Harris over Warren and gave him the ball more for three years. You haven’t explained why they gave Harris’s snaps to Patterson, not Warren, when Harris had to leave the game against the Bengals. Those are the facts that tell us the truth you don’t want to accept.

 

That is a stretch for a supposedly run based offense. You keep the best back on your roster, not let him walk away. Said before, Harris was not a good scheme fit in A Smith's offense.