I think you highlight what my response would be perfectly. It depends. I think as a blanket statement RB in the first ~20 picks is an absolute waste. For the past 7 years only 3 teams have made the Superbowl Spearheaded by a ferocious run game (hawks twice winning once, LA once and losing) and only the Rams spend significant capital and cap space on their guy, Hawks stole Beastmode, I cant speak on further back teams because I was quite young and wasn't as into football at the time. But point being looking at the last 7 Superbowls none of the teams had sunk high draft capital or lots of cap space into a RB.remedy29 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:07 pmWhat do you mean by premium draft capital? Top 15 rookie pick? If so, by a rebuilding team, like the Giants and Barkley, I agree.
What about early 2nd round by a good playoff bound team building their team with a strong run game? I think the Colts used their draft capital perfectly fine to draft Jonathan Taylor.
Regarding paying RBs, I really don't care what they make, as long as any players contract doesn't prevent teams from signing other players. When Taylor is ready for a contract, the Colts resign him, because he is a very good player.
Now you get into the last handful of picks in the first, if there is a really really talented guy that is head and shoulders above the rest at RB and that is the piece you need to really unlock the offense (you already have a top 10 Oline, solid to spectacular QB, Quality WRs that are reliable) go for it (especially in today's NFL where investing in defense outside of a couple of positions isn't as impactful because of the rule book and refs handcuffing defensive players).
As you highlighted, Colts taking JT was an amazing pick, it really was exactly what they needed, they had below average QB play but youre not getting a quality QB in the 2nd. They had this great Oline, and saw an opportunity to really maximize it at a reasonable cost. On the other side of the coin Dallas wasting a top 5 pick on Zeke was absolutely a waste, he was by in large a product of the Oline IMO (still very talented, but to be vaulted into the elite tier was the work of the Oline, he has been on a steady decline ever since the the Oline started to fade after his 3rd year and is now a TD dependent RB2). Contrasting the two scenarios, idk if the Colts could have drafted a guy that added more value to their team, JT is single handedly winning them games and masking a lot of shortcomings of the offense (passing attack lead by a below average-average QB and meh WRs). Dallas on the other hand could have had the best CB in the NFL who has been elite for 6 years now, and gotten comparable production out of other options at RB (possibly even better results had they taken Henry in the 2nd). I dont know the caliber of players taken around the top of the second in 2020 nor do I know the Colts well, but I know that Dallas could have gotten more value out of that draft than they did by not selecting Zeke, and not paying him mucho bucks to get an instant decline in production. I dont know if I could say that about the Colts not taking JT.
And dont even get me started on Barkley. You could have had a top tier CB in Ward/Alexander, top tier guard in Nelson, (assuming the correct dev like in BUF) a top tier QB in Allen, a top tier safety in Fitzpatrick/Derwin James. I said when Barkley was drafted, he would need to put up 3k all purpose yards to be worth the pick, and low and behold he hasnt done anything of note outside his first two seasons because it is nearly impossible for RBs to have longevity just due to the job they are required to perform.