2023 RB class and “utter nonsense”

[gogobradyarm]

I told a league mate (patsfan86) that Bijan is the best player and only generational RB in the class and was told “that is utter nonsense”.

What does the DLF forum feel? Is it “utter nonsense” to say Bijan is the only generational back? I said the other guys were Josh Jacobs level talents. Let’s talk!

[honcho55]

It’s kinda hard to come to a consensus on what all these ‘terms’ mean. Generational, elite, etc. I’m general I’d guess the majority of this forum would agree with me that Generational gets overused. The word seems pretty clear that it means something along the lines of “once in a generation”. Well, what’s a generation? 15-20ish years if you go by Gen X/boomer/millennial method, I think that works.

Is Bijan the once in 15-20 years prospect? There’s an argument for it. I think I’d take Barkley, but that’s just me.

Are there other guys on top of that? Nah, abusing the word imo.

Also of note, even a generational level prospect can fail, or disappoint, particularly when injuries happen.

[gogobradyarm]

It’s kinda hard to come to a consensus on what all these ‘terms’ mean. Generational, elite, etc. I’m general I’d guess the majority of this forum would agree with me that Generational gets overused. The word seems pretty clear that it means something along the lines of “once in a generation”. Well, what’s a generation? 15-20ish years if you go by Gen X/boomer/millennial method, I think that works.

Is Bijan the once in 15-20 years prospect? There’s an argument for it. I think I’d take Barkley, but that’s just me.

Are there other guys on top of that? Nah, abusing the word imo.

Also of note, even a generational level prospect can fail, or disappoint, particularly when injuries happen.

Fair. I could see Bijan being a prospect on the level of Saquon and Zeke. Which to be fair, is much higher than Jacobs was. There are usually 1-2 Jacobs prospect quality players on a draft. A Bijan comes along every 3-5 years.

So yes, Generational to me is probably closer to a 3-5 year window.

[Cameron Giles]

We really have to stop using the word "generational" in dynasty. Gurley was supposed to be "generational" as were Fournette, Barkley, Zeke, and some others, and none of them are. Derrick Henry might be the closest thing to a generational RB we've seen in the last couple of years.

Bijan is very good, but generational? No. It's extremely likely that there will be better RB talents than him in the next 20-30 years.

[ericanadian]

Generational running backs are Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, Walter Payton. Inner Circle Hall of Famers. Bijan could become that, but he’s certainly not that right now.

[gogobradyarm]

I should have said generational prospect

[natjjohn]

It’s kinda hard to come to a consensus on what all these ‘terms’ mean. Generational, elite, etc. I’m general I’d guess the majority of this forum would agree with me that Generational gets overused. The word seems pretty clear that it means something along the lines of “once in a generation”. Well, what’s a generation? 15-20ish years if you go by Gen X/boomer/millennial method, I think that works.

Is Bijan the once in 15-20 years prospect? There’s an argument for it. I think I’d take Barkley, but that’s just me.

Are there other guys on top of that? Nah, abusing the word imo.

Also of note, even a generational level prospect can fail, or disappoint, particularly when injuries happen.

So yes, Generational to me is probably closer to a 3-5 year window.

Generational talent and 3-5 year window are quite different I think for most people.

[Shcritters]

The last RB before Barkley that I thought was ‘generational’ was Adrian Peterson. He had the hype building from his freshman year. Bijan is like that… but my gut says every 3-5 years another of those comes along.

FWIW, Zeke wasn’t really considered amazing until he fell into the perfect spot on the Boys. As soon as he was drafted there it was all systems go, but if I remember correctly he wasn’t automatically assumed to be a generational RB. If he wasn’t drafted there I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t even be in this conversation.

[ericanadian]

I should have said generational prospect

Probably any back drafted in the top three (maybe extend to top five to seven with current view on RBs) would qualify. While I don’t think Bijan is necessarily there, he’s the only guy even close to being in that conversation.

[remedy29]

Can a player be a generational prospect without being a generational player?

If he doesn't become a generational player, then he is just an overhyped prospect.

[FantasyFreak]

Not even sure Bijan is generational. He's a very good prospect, but I wouldn't put him on par with say, Todd Gurley, as a prospect. I thought JT was a better college player, too. Bijan is a really good back. Has power, and cutting ability. Lacks long speed. He's a "natural" RB, he just has the feel for it. I'd say there at most, one generational prospect in this class. The class looks very good at RB, but if people are claiming there are multiple generational prospects, that's not a accurate IMO. However, maybe the nonsense he was referring to, was the Jacobs comment.....A lot of these backs will likely have better profiles pre draft, than Jacobs.

[Orenthal Shames]

It's wild that Todd Gurley's face melting 17 & 18 seasons were already nearly half a decade ago. Having Gurley and Kamara paired those 2 seasons were the most fun I've ever had in fantasy football.

[ZakHH]

I wouldn't blame anyone for calling Saquon Barkley a generational talent in 2018. And he certainly rewarded owners who drafted him that year. Only to become unstartable after his rookie season.

I'll follow the college season, and then the NFL draft, and then I will decide how high I'll rank Bijan. Yes, talent will prevail. But for fantasy purposes, a solid talent in a workhorse role may be worth more than a generational talent stuck in an RBBC.

Think Javonte Williams vs. Najee Harris. Najee certainly isn't club-footed, but a case can be made for Javonte being more talented. Yet, if you were on the clock now and had to chose between Javonte and Najee, I guess that would be a no-brainer.

[Anteaters]

Just jumping in to give another angle of Generational RB

For fantasy, I'd say it's a RB who has the talent to regularly be a T8RB, flash T4 production for a couple or three seasons, and just as importantly, remain healthy enough to play at a RB1 level for 5-8 seasons.

For me, that eliminates Saquon, whom I think produced one of the best RB seasons of the decade. But it was only one season. That's not a generational talent - that's a flash-and-disappoint - also known as FAD. I don't like to chase FADs because there's a new one every couple of years.

I need one more great season to consider CMC a generational talent. Chris Johnson was a Generational Talent - he had seasons where he finished RB5, RB1, RB7, RB9, RB13, RB8, RB37 (played 16, started only 6) before fading sharply. But what helped make Chris just as valuable to his fantasy teams was that during his first six seasons that were the height of his powers, Johnson missed only 2 out of 96 games. THAT is a generational talent. CJ played most games in 8 consecutive seasons in a 10 year career - that was 8 years of at least some decent fantasy value. Saquon and CMC don't come close to being the dynasty asset Chris Johnson was.

IMO Gurley was close but no cigar as a generational talent. He had seasons of RB9, RB15, RB1, RB3, RB14, RB29 then faded into obscurity.

I agree that Zeke made it being a Generational talent for fantasy. Because of his p/t start, Henry probably needs one more year of T8 production to make the cut. It's painful for me to say that because I'm a big fan of Henry. The only young RBs I see with a chance to have multiple seasons where they produce stats worthy of being called a Generational RB are JT and Najee.

As for who has Generational Talent in the '23 draft, I honestly don't have a clue right now. Could be 1, 3 or none. And it has a lot to do with where the best runners end up.

[Mjvb5]

It really comes down to your definition of generational as others have said.
I'd say based of the colloquial use of the term bijan is a generational level rb prospect (checks every box to a great degree)
Gibbs and Evans are your najee/etn/akers/swift level prospects (should check every box)
Tucker, tank and potentially another guy or two are on your say Gibson, sanders, Royce, ceh pre draft (checks most boxes but has some minor red flags