Written by Albert Breer at MMQB.com
The Titans, built sturdy and tough up front, rushed for 195 yards on the vaunted Seahawks defense on Sunday. The Ravens spent the last two offseason getting younger and quicker on defense, and that group kept the Bengals and Browns out of the end zone in Weeks 1 and 2. Then in London, a Jaguars offense reworked this offseason with size in mind ran for 166 yards on them.
This is how the NFL works. Teams spent the last decade building around quarterbacks and receivers, and defenses are now stocked with 220-pound linebackers and 250-pound pass rushers. And now we’re getting the zig to that zag—personnel czars like Jacksonville’s Tom Coughlin and Tennessee’s Jon Robinson capitalized by building jackhammer offenses to run at those defenses, while creating better environments for their young QBs.
“That’s been going on since the 1970s,” said one NFC personnel exec. “It’s not a new trend, it’s the same cycle. New people rise in the football world, history repeats itself.”
Enter Saquon Barkley. In the four drafts between 2011 and ’14, only one running back, Alabama’s Trent Richardson, went in the top half of the first round. In the last three drafts, five tailbacks—Todd Gurley, Melvin Gordon, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey—have gone within the top 16 picks. And Barkley might be better than any of them.
Moreover, he’s coming along at the right time. Teams are considering retro looks offensively, which can prop up young quarterbacks, help the defense, and exploit opponents built to combat high-end passing attacks. So where the value of running backs may have recently declined, it seems now demand for a 230-pound, three-down, 21st-century style bellcow, a la Elliott or Joe Mixon, is on the rise.
“You can build an offense around him,” said one AFC exec of Barkley. “He’s so f—ing good. Zeke is solid in all areas. Fournette is a special athlete for the position. This kid? He’s way better than both of them . . . He’s a step above Zeke in all categories, and has much better hands and feet and vision than Fournette does. He’s special. I haven’t seen a better college football player.”
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