In Browns news, Watson is appearing at another deposition tomorrow for another accusation.
Ok, this is just weird. A lawsuit from the family of the late Dwayne Haskins alleging some sort of a conspiracy regarding his death.
From the law firm press release:
“It is believed that Dwayne was targeted and drugged as part of a blackmail and robbery conspiracy.”
Believed by who?
We’re supposed to withhold judgment, so it is only proper to say that these are deep, dark waters indeed. 
It seems O’Dell Beckham has gone to the Ravens. Not sure yet.
An interesting, if lengthy and number-crunchy, article on ESPN about former Texas RB Bijan Robinson, and whether he might be drafted in the first round.
Robinson has been graded in the top 10 of all of this year’s draft prospects by both Mel Kiper and Todd McShay, and is likely the best RB prospect since Saquon Barkley or Jonathan Taylor. But, the writer’s analysis looks at the trade-off of spending a first-round pick on Robinson (or any RB) versus spending the pick on a position with fewer top-tier prospects, as well as the lesser value in using a first-rounder rookie contract (which is strictly capped, based on draft order) on a RB when a team can likely get better value and cap space from spending the choice on another position, versus signing a veteran at that position.
It doesn’t help that relatively few running backs who were top-tier prospects in the draft wound up producing well once they got to their second (i.e., non-rookie) contract, and that a number of teams have seriously whiffed when drafting RBs in the first round in recent years.
It’s an interesting argument, and one I’ve not seen laid out in this way before; he demonstrates just how devalued RBs are in the current game, and concludes:
He’ll go in the first round, but not in the top 10, because teams with picks that valuable just can’t (or shouldn’t) use them on RBs. It’s just not an important position anymore. Who was the last Super Bowl champion with a RB who led the league in rushing, or was even top 5? My guess would be Seattle in 2013 with Marshawn Lynch.
Sad. The family really can’t let go.
About 15 years ago I had a friend who died under strange circumstances, or at least very out of character circumstances, and the family was just so desperate for answers that they weren’t going to ever get. It happened in Brazil and dealing with the Brazilian police from America, they pretty much had to accept whatever they were told. But they couldn’t let it go. Things got weird.
During a press opportunity this morning, Packers president Mark Murphy said “there is no update” about the possible trade of Rodgers to the Jets, and why it hasn’t happened yet, though he also indicated that Packers GM Brian Gutekunst and Jets GM Joe Douglas are still talking.
That would be Denver, in Super Bowl XXXIII, which was played on January 31, 1999. Terrell Davis of the Bronco was the league-leading rusher in the 1998 season, with 2008 yards.
Marshawn Lynch was sixth in the league in rushing in the 2013 season; Seattle won the SB in February of 2014.
I don’t disagree with you; it’s not that running backs aren’t important anymore, but having a “bell cow” RB who can crank out 300+ rushes and 1000+ yards a season isn’t nearly as important as it used to be. Most teams go with “RB by committee” today, and the conventional wisdom (supported by lots of evidence) is that RBs have a limited shelf life of effectiveness, compared to other positions.
There are, of course, exceptions to that rule (see Frank Gore or Adrian Peterson), but not many of them.
Though, to be fair, a lot of premiere running backs in the past didn’t play for strong, playoff-caliber teams, either. Guys like Walter Payton (#2 on the all-time rushing list), Gore (#3), Barry Sanders (#4), Peterson (#5), Curtis Martin (#6), and LaDanian Tomlinson (#7) often played for mediocre teams, and of them, only Payton got a Super Bowl ring. O.J. Simpson retired as the #2 all-time rusher, led the league in rushing four times, but his teams only ever even made it to the playoffs once (and lost in the first round).
Oddly enough, that happened this year - Sanders had 1269 yards for the season, giving him the #5 spot among RBs. And now plays for Carolina. The position really isn’t as valuable as it used to be.
Last season, had the Bengals won, Nick Chubb was #3 (and was #2 this season)
But overall good point. RB just isn’t as important a position anymore. The Rams won last year with a below average RB unit. And even this year, I think Jalen Hurts was the #2 or #3 rusher on the team.
Almost a quarter century ago!
I was so close!
Emmitt Smith may have been the last true “bell cow” RB who was truly the core of a Super Bowl team. Davis also put up big numbers for those Broncos teams that won back-to-back championships a few years later, but for some reason I mostly think of Elway when I recall that team.
But Philly didn’t win the Super Bowl! KC did – with a 7th round nobody at RB.
But Sanders didn’t play for the Super Bowl champions.
ETA: Ninja’ed by Akaj!
Chubb plays for the Browns.
D’oh!
I’m just mixing up all the teams today.
But yeah, overall still a good point. Good RB play is still important but not as critical as it used to be. You still get top 10 (even top 5) RBs among playoff teams (even Conference champs), but there aren’t many who are considered “the” player to make it happen. Barkley and McCaffrey might be the closest currently, and even there, they aren’t going anywhere without a good QB.
Funny enough, even though Seattle had the reputation of being a “run first” team (which head coach Pete Carroll always disputed, he claimed he always wanted a balance of running and passing), they were only 4th place in the league that year. The Eagles had the most yards, with 2,566 compared to Seattle’s 2,188. And while Seattle certainly had a lot of rushing attempts, with the league’s second-most at 509, it was much less than the top team (Buffalo) which had 546.
The Eagles also ran it very well, with 5.1 YPC. Seattle wasn’t great at that stat, they tied with the Colts that year at 12th place with 4.3 YPC. And when it came to scoring they had only 14 rushing TDs that year, tying for 13th place with 3 other teams.
Though Lynch was a great RB, Seattle also spread the rushing around somewhat. Russell Wilson had over 500 yards himself. The #2 and #3 RBs on the team combined had just shy of 350 yards. So Lynch had more than half of all rushing yards, but not a ton more; he had about 57%. Given all of that, it’s not a surprise that he wasn’t the leading rusher in the league that year.
All of that goes to show that while having a good running back is pretty important, it’s probably pretty low on the list of things you need to win a Super Bowl. Rushing is a good tool but the best rushing teams don’t win championships these days, and you can’t put that all on one guy’s shoulders. How many Super Bowls has Derrick Henry given Tennessee, as great as he is?
Indeed. The last time that the league’s rushing champ played in a Super Bowl was 2005, when Shaun Alexander and the Seahawks lost to the Steelers.
Henry has been in the league for 7 seasons, all with the Titans. In those 7 years, Tennessee has made the playoffs four times. Twice they were one-and-done, including 2021, when they were the #1 seed. In 2019, the Titans were the #6 seed and won two games on the road, with Henry leading the way in both games. But in the AFC championship game in KC, Henry had just 61 yards from scrimmage.
In 7 playoff games, Henry has averaged 104 yards rushing. But the Titans are just 3-4 in those games.
That tells me that a good team can rely on a great running back, but they won’t be a great team.
The Cleveland Browns have actually dropped the corporate name for their stadium.
I’m sure they’ll have a new sponsor by season’s start.