RBs could get a boost in this year's draft thanks to Saquon Barkley's success

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 [NFL 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."

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.

[MORE: Cowboys take RB, but not Ashton Jeanty, in Colin Cowherd's 2025 NFL mock draft ]

"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