We've been hearing for years about the devaluation of the running back position. It shows up in free agent contracts most running backs get, and it shows up in the draft. Fewer are selected in the early rounds than used to be. That was definitely the case in 2016.

There were only four running backs selected in the first three rounds: Ezekiel Elliott in the first, Derrick Henry in the second, and Kenyan Drake and C.J. Prosise in the third. Go back 20 years, and there haven't been fewer than 6 runners selected in the first three rounds in any of those seasons. In 13 of the 19 previous years, there were at least twice as many (8). Overall there were 155 running backs drafted in those rounds the previous two decades, so 8 per season.

It's a downward trend. From 1997-2008, there were double-digit backs selected five times. Since 2008, no more than eight have been drafted in the first three rounds of any year.

Arguably, what this means is that later-round running backs might be just as talented as early-round running backs used to be. That is, fourth- and fifth-rounders like Kenneth Dixon, Devontae Booker and Paul Perkins might be just as good as second- and third-rounders five to ten years ago. So no reason to think those guys won't turn out well just because they were selected later. Teams just don't covet those running back prospects as much as they once did.

The year-by-year count of running backs selected in the first three rounds is shown below.

RUNNING BACKS, FIRST THREE ROUNDS, 1997-2016
Year1st2nd3rdTot
199724410
199841510
199926311
20005049
200133410
20022428
20032046
20043306
20053249
20064228
20072338
200852411
20093126
20103306
20111438
20123227
20130516
20140358
20152248
20161124

--Andy Richardson