The Dallas Cowboys selected Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott, an exciting mix of the draft's top rookie running back with the NFL's top offensive line. If that weren't enough, there's the recent history of running backs selected in the top 10. Teams seldom bring such players along slowly.
Over the last 20 years, there have been 16 0ther running backs drafted in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. More than two-thirds of those backs (11) put up 1,000 total yards in their rookie seasons; nearly half (7) rushed for more than 1,000 yards, and 6 scored double digit touchdowns. And few of them went into as favorable a situation as Elliott seems to.
Dallas has other backs (for now), but it's likely Elliott will be the lead dog right away, and put up big numbers as a rookie.
Running backs drafted in the top 10 over the last 20 years, sorted by total yards their rookie season, are shown below.
RUNNING BACKS DRAFTED IN THE TOP 10, 1997-2016 | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Pk | Player | Team | Att | RuYds | Rec | ReYds | ToYds | TD |
1999 | 4 | Edgerrin James | Ind. | 369 | 1553 | 62 | 586 | 2139 | 17 |
2000 | 5 | Jamal Lewis | Balt. | 309 | 1364 | 27 | 296 | 1660 | 6 |
1998 | 9 | Fred Taylor | Jac. | 264 | 1223 | 44 | 421 | 1644 | 17 |
2007 | 7 | Adrian Peterson | Minn. | 238 | 1341 | 19 | 268 | 1609 | 13 |
2001 | 5 | LaDainian Tomlinson | S.D. | 339 | 1236 | 59 | 367 | 1603 | 10 |
2012 | 3 | Trent Richardson | Clev. | 267 | 950 | 51 | 367 | 1317 | 12 |
2006 | 2 | Reggie Bush | N.O. | 155 | 565 | 88 | 742 | 1307 | 9 |
2015 | 10 | Todd Gurley | St.L. | 229 | 1106 | 21 | 188 | 1294 | 10 |
2005 | 5 | Cadillac Williams | T.B. | 290 | 1178 | 20 | 81 | 1259 | 6 |
2005 | 2 | Ronnie Brown | Mia. | 207 | 907 | 32 | 232 | 1139 | 5 |
1999 | 5 | Ricky Williams | N.O. | 253 | 884 | 28 | 172 | 1056 | 2 |
2008 | 4 | Darren McFadden | Oak. | 113 | 499 | 29 | 285 | 784 | 4 |
2000 | 7 | Thomas Jones | Ariz. | 112 | 373 | 32 | 208 | 581 | 2 |
1998 | 5 | Curtis Enis | Chi. | 133 | 497 | 6 | 20 | 517 | 0 |
2010 | 9 | C.J. Spiller | Buff. | 74 | 283 | 24 | 157 | 440 | 1 |
2005 | 4 | Cedric Benson | Chi. | 67 | 272 | 1 | 3 | 275 | 0 |
2016 | 4 | Ezekiel Elliott | Dall. | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
--Andy Richardson