Johnny Manziel to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated (along with a Mike Holmgren quote)
April 30, 2014Browns minicamp round-up
April 30, 2014
As we all learned last year, the NFL running back position has been de-valued to a huge extent. Where the position was once dominated by some of the biggest names in the game from Walter Payton to Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith. But now, it’s a passing league. The quarterbacks are kings and guys like Adrian Peterson are the exceptions that prove the rule that running backs just aren’t worth as much as they used to be worth.
That being the case, Browns new running back free agent isn’t bemoaning his position in life, but even Ben Tate admits that if he could do it all over again, he might choose safety instead of running back.
“I would’ve been something else, for sure. I’d have been a safety,” Tate told Robert Klemko of TheMMQB.com. “I had the opportunity to play it in college, but I wanted to be the guy to get the ball. I had no idea the position would be devalued, but hopefully I can break that trend.”
I hope he can break the trend too, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I also wouldn’t bet on him being the only one running the ball for the Browns this season, obviously. The Browns will bring back a healthy Dion Lewis and I also assume the team will draft at least one more. The numbers game will tend to devalue any position right off the bat.
5 Comments
I’m a huge proponent of the RB position!!!!
yep.
when everyone thinks it’s a passing league, that’s when it’s a good time to go smashmouth.
Exactly. It’s way better to set trends than follow them. In retrospect was there a bigger follower than Joe Banner? The sad thing is, he seemed forward thinking compared to Holms & Shurm.
The guys who drafted Richardson 3rd overall? Seems like they were looking a little too far forward on that one.
*traded up to draft Richardson 3rd overall