Over the past couple of months, there have been loads of wheelings and dealings with running backs. About a quarter of all the NFL teams have new starting running backs, whether the teams got them from trade or from the free agent market.
The off-season overhaul of halfbacks started with the trade of RB Tatum Bell and two reserve players from the Denver Broncos to the Detroit Lions for the acquisition of cornerback Dre Bly. Now that Denver did not have a RB, they quickly signed ex-Tennessee Titan Travis Henry, who was unexpectedly cut by his former team. The Chicago Bears, coming off their Super Bowl loss to the Indianapolis Colts, dealt starting RB Thomas Jones and their second-round draft pick this year for the New York Jets second round pick and the seventh round pick in this April’s NFL draft. The New York Giants, on the other hand, just lost Tiki Barber to retirement, so they had a huge gap to fill at halfback. They acquired Reuben Droughns from the Cleveland Browns, who let Droughns be expendable after signing ex-Raven RB Jamal Lewis to a one-year deal. Since the Baltimore Ravens had no RB at the time, they traded three draft picks, two third round picks and one seventh round pick, to the Buffalo Bills for unhappy halfback Willis McGahee. Also, the Green Bay Packers lost Ahman Green to free agency, for he signed with the Houston Texans. Just recently, the Detroit Lions signed ex-Falcon and Redskin and free-agent T.J. Duckett.
Here are the projected running backs for the 2008 NFL season:
(Those in bold are off-season acquisitions and those italicized are backup RB’s becoming starters in 2008)
NFC
NFC East
New York Giants: Reuben Droughns
Philadelphia Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Dallas Cowboys: Marion Barber III
Washington Redskins: Clinton Portis / Ladell Betts
NFC North
Chicago Bears: Cedric Benson
Green Bay Packers: Not Known Yet
Minnesota Vikings: Chester Taylor
Detroit Lions: Tatum Bell / Kevin Jones
NFC South
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Cadillac Williams
Carolina Panthers: DeShaun Foster
Atlanta Falcons: Warrick Dunn
New Orleans Saints: Reggie Bush / Deuce McAllister
NFC West
Seattle Seahawks: Shaun Alexander
St. Louis Rams: Stephen Jackson
San Francisco 49ers: Frank Gore
Arizona Cardinals: Edgerrin James
AFC
AFC East
New England Patriots: Laurence Maroney
Buffalo Bills: Anthony Thomas
New York Jets: Thomas Jones
Miami Dolphins: Ronnie Brown
AFC North
Baltimore Ravens: Willis McGahee
Cleveland Browns: Jamal Lewis
Cincinnati Bengals: Rudi Johnson
Pittsburgh Steelers: Willie Parker
AFC South
Indianapolis Colts: Joseph Addai
Tennessee Titans: Not Known Yet
Jacksonville Jaguars: Maurice Jones-Drew
Houston Texans: Ahman Green
AFC West
San Diego Chargers: LaDainian Tomlinson
Kansas City Chiefs: Larry Johnson
Denver Broncos: Travis Henry
Oakland Raiders: LaMont Jordan / Dominic Rhodes
What a year it would be for halfbacks in the NFL!
By the way, the video I found on YouTube is a bit random, but AMAZING!!!! : )
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