Before you get bent out of shape, let me first drop some knowledge. Yes, Adrian Peterson and LeSean McCoy are absolute BEASTS with the ball in their hands. They are the best RB's in the league right now, sell a ton of jerseys, make a lot of money, have the shoe deals, and the smiles franchises like. And they will NEVER win a Super Bowl.
Peterson has over 10,000 yards rushing, 1,600+ receiving in 7 seasons in the NFL. He's averaged 1,687 yds from scrimmage each season, which is ridiculous. McCoy, in only 5 seasons, has amassed a grand total of 7,600 yds, or 1,520 each per season. They are both electrifying, studs for fantasy football owners, and make there teams better. But again, they'll never win a Super Bowl.
Peterson was drafted in the 1st Rd, 7th overall out of OU. McCoy was drafted in the 2nd Rd, 53rd overall. And according to Spotrac (www.spotrac.com), Peterson will count $14.4M this year, McCoy $9.7M, towards their team's cap this year, by far #1 and #2 respectively in the league. This won't help them win a Super Bowl.
There has been 22 different RB's in the last 35 years (1978 season was the first with 16 game schedule) lead the NFL in rushing. In this same time frame, there has been a RB rush over 2,000 yards only 6 times. Those were magical, fun to watch, and climatic seasons. They didn't win anything other than a cool trophy and a extra add to their signature on a football helmet. From 1978 until 1992, running the ball to control the game, win games, and win big games....just didn't go together. The 80's were controlled by the aerial attacks of the 49ers, and teams that were well structured on both sides of the ball, and great QB play. The Bears did have Walter in the early 80's but didn't necessarily use him to win the famed '85 Super Bowl. I think we all know that was Buddy Ryan and that ridiculous 46 Defense.
That changed in the early 90's and teams followed the Bill Parcells way of controlling the line of scrimmage, using the clock to your team's advantage, and wearing down teams to win in the 4th quarter. No team had been as good as the Cowboys of '92-'96 at this. Emmitt Smith led the league in rushing in the '92 and '93 seasons and again in '95. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl. The trend stayed that way with Terrelle Davis and the Broncos for the '98 season and they won their 2nd SB in as many years. The 90's could be looked at as a "Golden Age" for RB's as you had starpower, tremendous seasons, and HOF's aplenty. Emmitt and Barry would fight for the title of "Best Back in the League"; and shared the NFL rushing title from the 1990-1997 season, each winning 4 times. Barry had his amazing 2,000 yd season in '97 and Davis followed that up with his 2,008 yd campaing the next season. The late 90's also gave us Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James. Game changers, studs, beasts in many ways, and that would be the end of the "RB Era" as I like to call it. James led the league in rushing in '99 and since then, the rushing leader as not even made a SB. Since the 2000 season, 14 years now, there has been 12 different rushing champs. Why the drastic change? It's obvious that the change in defensive rules regarding passing, the 'wussyfied' changes to hitting the QB and the love and TV draw of the 5,000 yd passer. So this leaves me to my point, and "Jason's Rules for Drafting & Churning RB's."
1)NEVER draft a RB in the 1st Rd; especially if you run a team that is in Cleveland, Oakland, Jacksonville, Houston, Kansas City or Dallas. You have too many holes to fill and you will not EVER get a RB that will give you the extra 4-5 wins you need to get back to respectability.
2)ALWAYS draft a RB in odd years. Or even years. Just draft one every other year, in rounds 4, 5, or 6. You will find a stud, with whom has had carries and work in a nice college career and has enough left to have a decent 3-5 year career. You're not looking for a rushing champ remember, just someone who can get you 4.0-4.6 yds a carry.
3)If you have a RB that makes over $8M a season, time to cut bait (see Titans and CJ2K). Sure he'll sell a few jerseys and help your daytime talk radio shows, but he won't help you make the playoffs consistently. Instead, use that money to sure up your OL and get a nice, serviceable back.
4)If you can find a steal in the 2nd Rd, then go for it. But never, and I repeat, never, ever, give them a deal like the ones you saw Foster get in Houston, CJ2K get in Tennessee, or even McCoy in Philadelphia. You just can't win games like that anymore.
5)If you don't listen and draft a RB in the 1st Rd and something happens be it injury or bust, you could be set back 1-3 years (ex. Browns-Richardson; Cowboys-Jones; Dolphins-Brown).
No comments:
Post a Comment