FanPost

The current RB situation

With the Franchising of Sproles and the on going negotiations with LT, I've been wondering what our running back situation will be once camp roles around.  We know we will have Sproles and we should know in the next week or so if we will have LT.  For the sake of argument, we can assume that no other RBs currently on the roster have the coach's or AJ's confidence to shoulder the load opposite Sproles next year.  If they did, I think LT would already be gone.

Even if LT renegotiates, he will probably only be a charger for 2 more years at the most.  Unless Sproles signs a long term deal, he is only here for one more year.  So not only do we have some short term uncertainty, but we also have long term uncertainty (long term being 2+ years in the NFL :-) )

Here is how I see the options and their fallout at this point.  If LT can renegotiate his deal and stick around for a year or two more, I think AJ is freed up to not address the RB position on the first day of the draft.  There is a long history of quality RBs in the NFL coming in the later rounds, the chargers have drafted both Turner and Sproles on the second day.  That combined with the shift to a passing oriented offense means we don't need to draft an RB who can start right away this year.  We may still get an RB of the future in the draft, we just won't recognize him as such for another year or so.  This frees up AJ to address other needs (OL, DL, LB) on the first day of the draft.

However, if LT doesn't renotiate, I think AJ is forced to think about getting an RB on the first day (probably with our third rounder, maybe the first rounder)  I think the position is too critical to leave in the hands of Sproles and whoever else.  AJ now needs to draft a starter instead of someone who can grow into the position.  However, aside from the tragedy of losing LT, this is not all bad.  We can probably draft a nice complement to Sproles on the first day, and we now have our RB of the future. 

Here is a list of the top 10 rushers last year and what round they were drafted in:

Player Team Yards Round
Adrian Peterson MIN 1760

1

Michael Turner ATL 1699 5
DeAngelo Williams CAR 1515 1
Clinton Portis WAS 1487 2
Thomas Jones NYJ 1312 1
Steve Slaton (R) HOU 1282 3
Matt Forte (R) CHI 1238 2
Chris Johnson (R) TEN 1228 1
Ryan Grant GB 1203 UDFA
LaDainian Tomlinson SD 1110 1

A few interesting things here:

  1. Three rookies on this list (all drafted on the first day)
  2. this list had a 50% turnover from the previous year
  3. 4 of the 10 aren't with the team that drafted them

So, I feel pretty confident about about the situation however it shakes out.  Personally, I think (hope) LT renegotiates and gives us two more quality years.  If that happens and Sproles signs a long term deal, them the other pieces start to fall into place.  We draft impact players that address other needs and long term deals for Rivers, McNeal, Merriman, etc start happening.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Bolts From The Blue community and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Bolts From The Blue editors or SB Nation.