Back to run 1st league?

[Aerolithe_Lion]

It will still be Roethlisberger, Rodgers, Brady, Wentz, Wilson, and Brees left standing when the dust settles... regardless of who their running backs are.

 

[conner01]

I don't think that picking 3 or 4 teams that have drafted a RB early signals any kind of shift away from the pass happy fast break offenses we've seen in recent years.

And look at the number of RB taken early, what they get on FA market
You have a RB or two each year that is too good to pass up, nothing more

 

[dallasdave]

Colleges run offenses that are not healthy for the NFL game. Too many injury risks for the highest paid position. Go back to run first and your QB can stay in one piece

ZEKE and the OL it got DAllas 13 and 3------------------- 2 years ago

 

[JD_KaPow]

I have to say that with all the high picks as of late it seems that the league is starting to revert back to running the ball 1st

There was a fairly big uptick in rushing last year:

Percentage of plays that were rushes
2017: 42.4%
2016: 40.7%
2015: 41.0%
2014: 41.8%
2013: 41.7%
2012: 42.3%
2011: 42.9%
2010: 43.1%
2009: 43.7%
2008: 44.5%

The data doesn't distinguish between true rush plays and scrambles, but I'm assuming there wasn't a massive change in those.

Hard to say what it means yet: one year does not a trend make. It could be something totally unrelated to team decisions: if, say, there's more inequality between teams in a season, there will be more blowouts, and more blowouts mean more rushing attempts, independent of any coaching philosophy. We did have four 13-win teams last season and eight teams that won 5 or fewer games; those numbers seem pretty big, so maybe that was part of it. Or maybe the league was correcting back after the two most pass-heavy seasons in league history.