The days of running backs being the headliners at the NFL draft are long in the past with the league’s shift to more passing leading to quarterbacks, pass rushers and pass blockers dominating the top of the draft each year.

The ingredients could be in place for a bit of a change this year thanks to one of the deepest classes of running backs in years following a season when game-changing backs such as Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry became the biggest free agent hits.

“When I was a kid, running back was arguably the most important position on the field,” Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said at the scouting combine. “I grew up a Cowboys fan — Tony Dorsett, Emmitt Smith, guys like that were my idols. Then we went through this period over the last five, 10 years, where the analytics certainly de-emphasized the position. I think last year, you saw the impact that some of these guys had. … I think (running backs) are looked at as probably replaceable by some people, but if you have a great one, you’ve got a historic one, you just can’t replace those guys.”

Will Teams View Running Back Prospects as Premium Picks?

The big question headed into the draft Thursday is whether teams view prospects such as Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty and North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton as those types of backs worthy of being taken with a premium pick.

Jeanty was projected in the final AP mock draft to go sixth to Las Vegas, which would be the highest pick for a running back since Barkley was taken second overall in 2018 by the New York Giants.

“We just saw Saquon Barkley just change the Eagles in one year,” Raiders GM John Spytek said. “Now they had a great team around him and it was adding an elite player. I think when you sit where we sit, I mean the idea is to add elite players at any position. I don’t try to devalue any certain position. … There’s certain ways to build a team, and I don’t know where we got to a place where we don’t feel like running backs are valued. I come from the University of Michigan to my core, and those guys were certainly really valued there. So, it’s hard for me to get away from that.”

Only one running back in the past six drafts was taken in the top 10 with Bijan Robinson going eighth to Atlanta in 2023. Five running backs were top-10 picks from 2015-18 with two being taken that high in 2017 when Leonard Fournette went fourth and Christian McCaffrey went eighth.

It’s a far cry from earlier eras when running backs were often the top overall pick, including four times in five seasons from 1977-81. No running back has gone first overall since Ki-Jana Carter in 1995.

Teams have been waiting later and later to take running backs with Jonathan Brooks the first to go last year at No. 46 to Carolina. There has been just an average of two running backs taken in the top 50 in the past six drafts, down from a peak of 12 in 1990.

This year’s class of running backs is one of the deepest in recent memory with several players after Jeanty and Hampton projected to be picked either late in the first round or on day two of the draft including Ohio State’s duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins; Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson; Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo, Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson; Virginia Tech’s Bhayshul Tuten; and Central Florida’s RJ Harvey.

Shift From Running to Passing League Began With Rule Change

The shift from a running to a passing league began with rule changes in 1978 that made passing easier and has continued for more than four decades.

The rate of running dropped from a post-merger high of nearly 58% in 1977 to a low of just more than 40% in 2014 before undergoing a slight increase in recent years to 43.4% last season.

But the bell-cow back had mostly disappeared as teams went to a backfield by committee. The league featured 13 players in 2003 who had at least 300 carries in a season — matching the nine-year combined total from 2015-23.

Six players hit the 300-carry mark last season led by Barkley and Henry for the most in a season since 2010.

“For a while, the market maybe was suppressed. People were not looking at them as weapons,” Bills GM Brandon Beane said. “I kind of look for them as anyone you add to your offense, what do they bring? What is their skill set? Is it a mismatched player? … Someone asked, I think a year or two ago, what is your philosophy? Would you draft a running back in the first round? I probably wouldn’t draft a running back that is 3 yards and a cloud of dust, but if it’s a weapon like some of these guys were talking about, heck yeah I would.”

With the diminished role of the featured back, the pay at the position has also suffered with Josh Jacobs’ running back-leading $48 million deal with Green Bay ranking tied for 159th among all players. The $13.6 million franchise tag number for running backs — determined by the highest-paid players at each position — is the lowest of any position outside of specialists.

The rookie wage scale put in place in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement determines salaries for the first four seasons solely on draft position, leading teams to use premium picks on high-value positions such as quarterback, tackle, pass rushers and receivers in order to save money compared to veteran contracts.

That’s a big factor that is hard for some teams to overcome.

“It’s an interesting conversation, because the draft pick is about potential ceiling, ability to play at a certain level, while you have those years under contract below free agency market level, your ability to sustain a second contract,” Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said. “There’s all these questions that come into that answer before you pull the card.”