00:00I don't know how you feel about it, but I, you know, it didn't feel like just not too
00:05long ago, the running back position was one of the most undervalued positions in all of
00:11football.
00:12Not so much for Bijan Robinson anymore, as he signs, what, a big three-year extension
00:20now with the Falcons, making him the highest paid running back.
00:25What do you have, almost 2,300 yards of scrimmage a year ago?
00:29Were you always a big believer in running backs at a dime a dozen, or do you believe there
00:35are certain ones you have to pay, and Bijan Robinson is one you should pay?
00:42I think we've had a cycle here with the running backs, Joe.
00:46I think there was a time where, and I remember covering the NFL, I've covered the NFL for
00:51a long time, and I remember walking in to locker rooms, and I tell the story all the time,
00:56is that, Joe, when you cover sports, sometimes you get a lot of generic answers, and that
01:01goes for all sports, but the most popular answer from any player in the NFL, and I remember
01:06walking into, like, the Dolphins locker rooms or the Buccaneers locker rooms, and on a Wednesday
01:11when the players are available, and then they always say, Joe, the same thing.
01:14What do we got to do to win?
01:15What do you got to do to win the game this week against the Steelers?
01:18You know, pick a team.
01:18We got to run the ball.
01:20We got to stop the run.
01:21That's what they would say.
01:22Every single one of them.
01:23That was, like, in the 90s and the 2000s, and all of a sudden, now you don't hear that
01:27anymore, because now it's all, we got to stop the pass.
01:30We can't let go big plays and defense.
01:33We just got to bend but don't break, right?
01:35So it's completely changed.
01:37But, Joe, you're right.
01:38I think we went through about a 10-year period where it felt like, you know, multiple running
01:45backs used on every team, not just one or two, but three, and no running backs drafted
01:51in the first round for a couple of years, too.
01:53And then all of a sudden, it felt like, to me, now, I don't know, it felt like two guys
01:59kind of brought running backs back a little bit.
02:01The first one, to me, is Derrick Henry.
02:04Now, not Derrick Henry of now, but Derrick Henry of, you know, five years ago.
02:08And then the other one was two years ago when Saquon Barkley rushed for 2,000 yards.
02:12And I kind of feel like that's coming back a little bit.
02:16Not all the way back, but I feel like if you have a special guy like a B. John Robinson,
02:21like a Jameer Gibbs, who's now looking at this going, ooh, I'm getting ready to go here now
02:26with seeing that money back, seeing that money, I think they're there.
02:30So I do value the top guys, and I'm glad to see that some guys still go in the first
02:35round
02:36and still get taken.
02:37But, Joe, look, for every positive, there, you know, is a negative a little bit.
02:42And you can honestly say that the Raiders, you know, they're wondering,
02:45did they do the right thing last year, taking Ashton Gentry?
02:48They're not sure.
02:49We're all not sure right now.
02:50I saw Ashton Gentry play in college.
02:52I thought he was a star.
02:55But, you know, it did stop Arizona from taking Jeremiah Love,
02:58and it won't stop some team next year for doing that as well.
03:00But the elite guys, I absolutely value, and I think they deserve to be paid.
03:05And so I'm happy that Jameer Gibbs got paid.
03:07But I don't think we're all the way back, Joe,
03:10but I think we've made some progress back in that value.
03:14Well, I think, and if you look at the guys who are making the most money
03:17in the running back position now, Greg, right?
03:20So Bijan, he's only 24 years old, right?
03:24This is now, forget about his rookie, this is now the second payday for him.
03:28And these guys need to get paid.
03:30I'm a big believer.
03:31And get your money when you can get your money.
03:34And the fact that you've already gotten this contract now, Bijan, at 24,
03:38you're going to be in line for another one, too,
03:41if they can keep you healthy enough here.
03:44But Bijan, Saquon Barkley is right behind him now.
03:49And then, of course, Christian McCaffrey.
03:51And what do these guys all have in common?
03:53They can catch passes out of the backfield as well, Greg, right?
03:57Derek Henry was just the, he was that old school guy where, yeah, I'll get 1,600 yards
04:05and 1,500 of them are going to be by running you over.
04:08But he's 32.
04:10He's got 15 million.
04:11So I think there is levels to it.
04:14But I am with you.
04:15I think the more offense that you can be on the field for, the Jameer Gibbs,
04:20he might overtake all of them with Detroit.
04:23But I do think it's the catching, the ability to catch passes out of the backfield
04:28that really was a big catalyst in saying, yeah,
04:33these guys are more than just handed off three or four.
04:36They are part of the offense here.
04:39And the top paid guys, they're all a bigger part of the offense
04:42than just running the ball.
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