Ravens latest team to make a backfield faux pas
My running back philosophy has always been this: Draft one, beat him up and then move on to the next young guy you draft.
Do not pay top money for somebody else's carries. If you want to keep your own veteran, which the Ravens considered with Lewis and the Jacksonville Jaguars did with Fred Taylor, that's fine.
Picking up somebody else's beaten-up body is not the way to go.
When the Arizona Cardinals signed away Edgerrin James from the Indianapolis Colts last year, it started a frenzy in Indy. General manager Bill Polian was ripped. The Colts, many said, couldn't win without James.
At the time, I laughed at that talk and wrote that way in a column.
My thinking was the Colts would find a younger, faster player in the draft, and James would not be missed.
Well, they drafted Joseph Addai, and the Colts won the Super Bowl. Was he missed?
The Cardinals are stuck with James, who had a 3.4 per-rush average last season.
They have a back who is entering his ninth season and has 3,056 carries. The body eventually starts to wear down. Want to bet it shows even on a workout warrior like James?
McGahee is younger than James, so it makes a little more sense for the Ravens to make the move, but not for the price -- not with the chance to get a young player in the draft.
The Jets made the same type of move with Jones. They traded their second-round pick, the 37th overall, to the Bears for Jones and Chicago's second-round pick, 63rd overall. Then they gave Jones, who is entering his eighth season, a new contract that pays him $20 million for four seasons, $12 million guaranteed.
"I just can't figure out why teams keep paying these older running backs," said one NFC coach. "That's how you get in trouble. The player plays two years and then you have to eat the pro-rated part of his contract."
The 2006 season was the year of the rookie runner. In addition to Addai, you had Reggie Bush in New Orleans, Laurence Maroney in New England, Maurice-Jones Drew in Jacksonville and Leon Washington with the Jets. Carolina's DeAngelo Williams, another first-round pick in 2006, had four good games in his last six and looks ready to take over as the feature back.
You can find backs.
"It's the one position where you do the same thing, aside from protection schemes, that you have done since you were a kid," said one AFC personnel director. "That's why it's so easy to come in and play."
And why it's foolish to pay big money or give up draft picks for somebody else's reject, a guy with carries already eroding the running skills.
It's yet another reason why it's hard for me to understand some of what these teams do in free-agency.
