Is Johnson capable of NFL brilliance? Burst will ultimately tell the tale.
by Matt Waldman
The 2015 running back draft class is a potential embarrassment of riches. It may test the collective sentiment of recent claims from football media that running back is no longer an early-round position.
To give full disclosure, I’ve often tried to justify these claims so I could wrap my head around the two-year drought of first-round picks at the position. I made the rationalization that the pool of available backs is so densely talented that the drop in demand for a feature back has created a parallel to NFL runners and NBA-caliber shooting guards: you can find one off the street and at least get reasonable short-term production.
We’ll ultimately see how the NFL regards this crop of runners, but at this stage of the process I think it could rival the 2008 class, which had 14 runners who at least flashed contributor-level talent.
| Best Season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Round | Seasons | Touches | Total Yds | Total Tds |
| Chris Johnson | 1 | 7 | 408 | 2509 | 16 |
| Jonathan Stewart | 1 | 7 | 239 | 1272 | 11 |
| Rashard Mendenhall | 1 | 6 | 348 | 1440 | 13 |
| Darren McFadden | 1 | 7 | 270 | 1664 | 10 |
| Felix Jones | 1 | 6 | 233 | 1250 | 2 |
| Matt Forte | 2 | 7 | 363 | 1933 | 12 |
| Ray Rice | 2 | 6 | 343 | 2068 | 15 |
| Jamaal Charles | 3 | 7 | 329 | 1980 | 19 |
| Kevin Smith | 3 | 5 | 277 | 1262 | 8 |
| Steve Slaton | 3 | 4 | 318 | 1659 | 10 |
| Tashard Choice | 4 | 6 | 112 | 657 | 2 |
| Tim Hightower | 5 | 4 | 206 | 1026 | 8 |
| Justin Forsett | 7 | 7 | 155 | 969 | 5 |
| Peyton Hillis | 7 | 7 | 331 | 1654 | 13 |
The second- and third-round picks have been at least as productive as those from the opening round, and 80 percent of those first-round options had at least one quality season as a starter. Note that I didn’t use the phrases “first-round or second-round talent” to describe these players. Scheme fit, personality, and off-field behavior all factor into the draft.