In recent years, much has been made of the demise of the running back position in the NFL. Devalued is the word you hear thrown around most often and, really, it's for good reason. Plenty of teams have found valuable contributors and some have even mined legitimate starters in the later rounds of the draft and undrafted free agency. And with the NFL being a copycat league, when several teams strike gold with less valuable assets, you can bet the rest of the league will follow suit quickly.
As a result, the number of running backs selected in the first round of the NFL draft has dropped considerably from the days when three or four would go within the first 32 picks. But that doesn't mean every team thinks a first-round running back is a mistake.
In fact, Eagles GM/not GM Howie Roseman, speaking at the NFL's annual owner's meetings on Monday, told reporters that the narrative regarding the devaluation of the running back position is flat out wrong. Why? Because the guys who end up leading the league in rushing aren't your fourth, fifth, sixth rounders - they're high picks who made good on their draft status.
"When you talk about that, there's a difference between a special player and a role player at that position," Roseman said. "Those guys are good players, but when you're talking about the guys who are 1,500-yard rushers, the guys people are game-planning [for], those are hard to get later in the draft."
Which brings us then to former Ohio State Buckeye and consensus top back in the 2016 NFL Draft, Ezekiel Elliott.
Elliott is the only guy set to be available in late April worthy of a first-round pick. Elliott isn't the physically imposing type at 6-foot, 225-pounds, but he's athletically gifted and brings both elite vision to his running style and a complete skillset to the position. He can pass protect, catch balls out the backfield, and even lead block when the situation calls for it.
In short, Elliott is one of the rare guys who looks like he's worthy of a first-round pick. Add that to the recent success of last year's No. 10 selection, Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (1,106 yards, 10 touchdowns), in just 13 games of work, and it really wouldn't be all that surprising to see the Eagles and Roseman rush to the podium with a card bearing Elliott's name come the No. 8 pick in the first-round next month.
But the question is - should they do it? Is it a smart allocation of resources, beyond reports of Elliott's off-the-field behavior?
The Eagles surely hope that this is the first and last time in a long time that they draft in the top 10, at least due to their own poor performance. It's a rare opportunity to add an elite talent and usually, when you draft that high, it's best to focus on certain positions that tend to sway the outcome of games and seasons.
Quarterback, for example, would be the preferred position to address for the Eagles, especially considering Sam Bradford's deal is for just two years and Chase Daniels has proven an intelligent, but ultimately limited NFL signal-caller. Should Carson Wentz or Jared Goff fall, Roseman will be hard-pressed to say no.
And should a tackle like Ronnie Stanley or, by some miracle, Lareny Tunsil make it to No. 8, again Roseman would probably find it difficult to justify taking Elliott instead.
Ditto defensive backs like Jalen Ramsey or Vernon Hargreaves.
But if the Eagles truly think that Elliott can be an impact player from Day One, his selection wouldn't be a poor one. Getting rid of DeMarco Murray was a coup by Roseman, meant much to the franchise not just because it improved the Eagles' fourth-round pick, but because it removed Murray's bloated salary from their books.
With Roseman declining on Monday to dispute rumors that back-up Ryan Mathews was potentially on the trade block, it makes for an interesting situation at running back in Philadelphia.
And Roseman can talk all he wants about Mathews being an "important part" of the team - especially while adding an "as we sit here now" caveat - but much like the Eagles' quarterback position, where the top two slots seem set, while the final spot remains conspicuously open, you can rest assured that Roseman will make one more addition via the draft.
And just as with quarterback, there's no knowing when that addition will come.
If it's the first round and Elliott, don't be surprised.
