are this years RB's better than last years RB's?

[jlange]

do you think that the draft class of 2005 has better backs than the draft class of 2004? i dont think so. 2004 churned out Kevin Jones, Steven Jackson, and Julius Jones. i think these guys will be better than Benson, Williams, and Brown.

what position does this draft have that 2004 didnt have?

[dolfan11]

Originally Posted by jlange do you think that the draft class of 2005 has better backs than the draft class of 2004? i dont think so. 2004 churned out Kevin Jones, Steven Jackson, and Julius Jones. i think these guys will be better than Benson, Williams, and Brown. what position does this draft have that 2004 didnt have?

Well the difference is that the top 3 backs in this draft can carry the ball 20 times or more in a game and these backs are potenially 1500 yard backs last year 1000 yard back!more power and speed in this draft.

[jlange]

i think that this year, if not next, all of the 2004 running backs will be able to carry the ball that much. i think that Jackson and Jones have more power than any 2005 back. but there is prolly a lot more speed in this draft.

[dolfan11]

man i aint saying nothing but jones is more powerful then ronnie brown or cedrick benson.no way thats true the only back i really liked was stephen jackson hes good!

[gericault]

I think last years backs were in the shadow of a great WR and QB class.
Fitzgerald, RoyWilliams, Clayton, RegWilliams, Evans, Woods and QBs Manning, Rivers, Rothleisburger, Losman all demanded more attention. The general perception is that good QB's and WR's are harder to come by than RB's (often heard: stick any ole back behind a good line and he'll suceed). As such the RB's didn't get attention and were pushed down the draft board. Clearly the fact that they were later picks had nothing to do with their potential as Jones, Jackson and Jones when given the chance all played extremely well for rookies. J-Jones and K-Jones were also carrying the ball a lot (20+) by the end of the season. Furthermore, the teams at the top last year didn't need backs. San Diego had L.T., the Giants had barber, the Skins had Portis, and even Arizona had hopes for Shipp till he went down.

This year the QB and WR talent is thin, and as such promising backs like Benson, Brown and Williams are getting more attention atop draft boards, especially with teams like Miami, and TB sorely lacking in that department.

All this is to say that it doesn't seem clear to me that this years crop is going to be any better than last years. The proof of course is going to be in the pudding but the list of RB busts is long and infamous.

gericault

[jlange]

nicely said

[dolfan11]

Ok good comments but lets talk truth now.So are you saying in that kevin jones,julius jones,and stephen jackson gonna have better careers than Ronnie brown,cedrick benson and cadilac williams i say NO!
julious jones last year ran so many carries because bill parcells didnt wanna throw the ball with drew henson or let me see vinny testeverde.He wanted to run the ball.Julious jones wont run that much this year and for kevin jones hes too small to last in the nfl he's injury prone and he wasnt runing more than 20 carries a game!


maid a mistake

[jlange]

wow your right he did right that. good call!

[gericault]

Once K-Jones was healthy and the featured back (around week 10) he averaged about 22 carries a game. He also averaged 4.7 yards a carry.

Julius Jones was a workhorse when he got back from injury. He carried about 27 times a game. As for the QB's, from the time Jones was back in the lineup Testeverde averaged about 29 attempts a game...that sounds like a pretty balanced mix of run pass. While Jone's carries may decrease next season, it will probably be in the more normal low 20's range.

Injuries are always a worry, but something a lot of backs have to deal with. Yet after early setbacks both players showed they could handle a heavy workload and neither one had the kind of injuries that put them at risk of being permanent IR members.

I'm not saying that this years class is going to be worse. I'm suggesting that 1) Last years class proved they were a quality group of backs with a promising future. 2) as a result, there may not be as big a difference between this years group and last years as one might think. 3) The reason for the precieved difference is the differing contexts of this years draft and last years draft as I discussed earlier.

Maybe Brown Benson and Williams will all be perenial 2000+ runners someday, but that remains to be seen.

[Xavier]

Jackson, Jones and Jones can all carry the ball 20-25 times a game no problem. Benson, Williams and Brown will all probably go higher then those three because their are more teams in need of RB's this year then last. Miami didn't need a RB last year. Arizona was high on Marcell Shipp before he got hurt. Chicago had just signed Thomas Jones to couple with Anthony Thomas and Tampa Bay signed "whats his name" from Oakland. Needs matter people, keep that in mind. That whole "best available player" thing is a bit overrated.