I was just putting together some Experts Poll stuff for the magazine. That’s the feature where we featured 20 other analysts. And I notice that they are giving wide receivers a lot more respect in the overall portion of the poll. Antonio Brown winds up No. 1, and Odell Beckham Jr. and Julio Jones are in the top 5.

But is that the correct call? Has the time comes for us all to start selecting wide receivers rather than running backs in the first round?

The bust rate was certainly high with running backs last year. Most of the ones selected in the top 10 didn’t pan out.

But there is something to be said for landing a great running back (if you can find that guy).

In fantasy we often talk about relative values. You look at the production of the top player at a position, and compare him to what you might get after 10, 20 or 30 picks.

And I will offer this on the running back vs. wide receiver debate.

In each of the last 16 years, the stat difference between the No. 1 and No. 24 (the last starter in a typical 12-team league) has been greater at running back than at wide receiver.

It was closer last year, with Antonio Brown outscoring T.Y. Hilton by about 114 points in a standard league (6 points for TDs, 1 for every 10 yards). But that still falls just short of the 122-point different between Devonta Freeman and Jeremy Langford.

Of course, this is just one dimension. Freeman wasn’t even a first-round pick in leagues last year, while we all agreed Brown would be very good (which he was).

But there’s still value with running backs – you’ve just got to pick the right one.

SPREAD BETWEEN BEST RUNNING BACK AND NO. 24
YearBest RBPoints24th-best RBPointsDiff
2000Marshall Faulk378.9James Allen159.1219.8
2001Marshall Faulk342.7Maurice Smith135.0207.7
2002Priest Holmes372.7Edgerrin James154.3218.4
2003Priest Holmes373.0Anthony Thomas142.0231.0
2004Shaun Alexander306.6Chris Brown157.4149.2
2005Shaun Alexander363.8DeShaun Foster143.1220.7
2006LaDainian Tomlinson426.3Warrick Dunn161.0265.3
2007LaDainian Tomlinson306.9Reggie Bush141.8165.1
2008DeAngelo Williams285.6Jonathan Stewart148.3137.3
2009Chris Johnson348.9Jerome Harrison150.2198.7
2010Arian Foster330.0LeGarrette Blount138.1191.9
2011Ray Rice300.8BenJarvus Green-Ellis148.6152.2
2012Adrian Peterson311.4Willis McGahee121.2190.2
2013Jamaal Charles312.0Rashard Mendenhall132.1179.9
2014DeMarco Murray304.1Steven Jackson121.5182.6
2015Devonta Freeman247.4Jeremy Langford125.6121.8
SPREAD BETWEEN BEST WIDE RECEIVER AND NO. 24
YearBest WRPoints24th-best WRPointsDiff
2000Randy Moss236.2Derrick Mason125.6110.6
2001Marvin Harrison242.7James Thrash137.0105.7
2002Marvin Harrison241.2Curtis Conway132.5108.7
2003Randy Moss267.0Andre Johnson120.6146.4
2004Muhsin Muhammad238.0Lee Evans146.891.2
2005Steve Smith Sr.236.8Jimmy Smith125.3111.5
2006Marvin Harrison208.6Larry Fitzgerald130.678.0
2007Randy Moss287.3Shaun McDonald130.5156.8
2008Larry Fitzgerald215.1Laveranues Coles127.987.2
2009Andre Johnson212.9Anquan Boldin133.679.3
2010Brandon Lloyd209.0Johnny Knox126.282.8
2011Calvin Johnson265.2Torrey Smith130.0135.2
2012Calvin Johnson226.4Torrey Smith134.492.0
2013Josh Gordon227.4Michael Floyd134.193.3
2014Antonio Brown261.1Julian Edelman136.6124.5
2015Antonio Brown256.2T.Y. Hilton142.4113.8

—Ian Allan