Question

Saquon Barkley went head-to-head against Leonard Fournette last week, and tonight he gets Ezekiel Elliott – back-to-back matchups of running backs drafted with top-4 picks. When was the last year a team went into a game with a running back it had selected with a top-4 draft pick, playing against an opponent with a running back it had selected in the top 4?

Answer

2008. Darren McFadden (chosen 4th by the Raiders that year) had games against the Saints (Reggie Bush) and Dolphins (Ronnie Brown) just two weeks apart. The most recent top-4 vs. top-4 matchup occurred in 2013, when Brown was finishing up his career with the Chargers and played two games against McFadden (still with the Raiders at the time).