For the better part of the past 10-15 years, no position in the NFL has been more devalued than the running back.
As teams took the approach that they were mostly interchangeable players and a product of the system around them, the top players at the position found it harder to get big paydays. Teams also did not use premium draft picks on them, and the position went from being one of the most prestigious in the league to one of the most insignificant. It almost became an afterthought in team-building.
But the success of free-agent signings Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles) and Derrick Henry (Baltimore Ravens) this season might start to reverse that trend as they showed how valuable a top-tier back can still be.
There is a danger with that, however, as teams might start taking the wrong lessons from the success of Barkley and Henry and their respective teams.
The most important thing that needs to be kept in mind with those situations is that a player like Barkley was the final piece of the puzzle for the Eagles.
He was not the starting piece.
That might be something that teams lose sight of as they prepare to enter the offseason and start building out their rosters.
For as good as Barkley has been for the Eagles by nearly setting the single-season rushing record, and as much of a game-changer as he has been, he ended up falling into the exact perfect situation that was going to allow him to shine. The Eagles were not only already a good team (one that was in the Super Bowl two years and won 11 games a year ago), they had several key positions on offense secured with top-end players. That includes an outstanding offensive line, an excellent quarterback and two No. 1 wide receivers.
It was the perfect environment for a running back to excel.
That is not to say the Eagles would have been just as good with any random running back in their offense. Barkley is obviously a different tier of player and one of the best players in the league. He has certainly elevated the Eagles to a level they would have never reached without him.
But he was not going to do that for a team that was lacking stars at all of the other positions on offense. We know that’s true because we saw what Barkley looked like as the centerpiece of a bad team with the New York Giants. It did not produce results on both an individual or team level.
That is the problem with running backs.
Even the very best ones need the right supporting cast around them to make that sort of impact.
Players like Barkley are still worthy of the big payday and can still be game-changing players in the right situation.
If teams go into this offseason trying to replicate the magic of Barkley in Philadelphia by trying to use a top pick — or spending big in free agency — when they don’t have the right team in place around that back, it isn’t going to produce the same results.
Your star running back needs to be the final piece of the puzzle that brings it all together — not the piece that starts the puzzle.
This content was brought to you by: Yardbarker: NFL
