Sony Michel reflects on pressures of playing with Tom Brady during his Patriots tenure w/ @EdEastonJr
This week, Touchdown Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. spoke to former New England Patriots running back Sony Michel, who played with the team from 2018 to 2020, winning a Super Bowl during his rookie season.
In his interview with Easton Jr., Michel—who recently teamed up with Kingsford to host the ‘Kingsford College Football Tailgate Tour’ at the recent Georgia vs. Tennessee SEC matchup in Athens, Georgia—explained the partnership and reflected on playing with Tom Brady while starting his career in New England.
“I haven’t used many other products, but Kingsford makes it so much easier. There is no other product that I would want to try because this is so simple; if it’s not broken, you don’t fix it,” said Michel. “It’s one of the terminologies we use. Kingsford seems to be my style, and I love it in the smooth; you talk about preparation, and it’s super simple. You get the grill started. It’s an easy way to start it up on the I use kind of the chimney smoker to get it going.”
Michel had the unique opportunity of playing immediately as a rookie alongside arguably the most accomplished quarterback in league history. He reflected on his time with Brady and adjusted to his playing style throughout the pressures of his final run in New England.
“100%. It’s definitely pressure; you’re playing with one of the best quarterbacks ever to play this game; you want to be on point,” Michel explained. “You want to be perfect. You want to be able to affect the game, if not just as much as he did. He brought that form of leadership that raised your level of play. So it was a little uncomfortable at first until I embraced it, and I think that’s when I was able to really catch my stride and really enjoy it.”
The Steelers running backs get no respect by the league.
NFL running backs are in a strange spot right now. Despite this being one of the most talented and athletic groups we’ve seen in NFL history, they are still viewed as undervalued by the league and don’t get the respect they deserve.
ESPN polled NFL coaches, scouts and executives to put together this ranking of the 10 best running backs in the league. Here’s how the top 10 went:
1 – Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
2 – Breece Hall, New York Jets
3 – Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
4 – Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles
5 – Jonathan Taylor, Indianapolis Colts
6 – Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons
7 – Josh Jacobs, Green Bay Packers
8 – Jahmy Gibbs, Detroit Lions
9 – Derrick Henry, Baltimore Ravens
10 – Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars
You will notice that there are no Steelers backs to be seen. In fact, even when you look at the honorable mentions, there’s no mention of Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren at all.
To find Harris, you have to scroll all the way down to the bottom and he is among those backs who also received votes. This is despite Harris topping 1,000 rushing yards in each of his first three seasons. A feat no other running back has ever accomplished.
Is the running back position obsolete, and how can running backs fight against it? Touchdown Wire’s Natalie Miller investigates.
In the past few months we have been witnesses to multiple big time running backs holding out for long term contracts or general adjustments to their contracts. These running backs are among the best in the game with the likes of Austin Ekeler, Saquon Barkley, Jonathan Taylor, and the leagues leading rusher, Josh Jacobs voicing displeasure with their current contract. Time and time again we see the teams refuse to meet the running back’s demands, and either finding a compromise, or allowing the contract situation linger late into the offseason with no resolution in sight.
Does that mean the running back position is obsolete? One would be hard pressed to argue that given multiple backs were selected in the top half of the 2023 draft, including Bijan Robinson going eight overall to the Falcons. You also see teams shelling out large trade packages in order to secure the services of Christian McCaffrey. Though you could certainly argue that Robinson and McCaffrey are much more valuable than just pure running backs, as they are both capable receiver who could line up at any of the receiver positions if asked, and can be used in a variety of ways.
Perhaps teams are wising up to this history of paying big time runners, with notable disaster after disaster happening to the teams that have handed their backs large sums of cash. Ezekiel Elliot, David Johnson, Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell, etc etc. Time and time again teams have handed out large contracts for backs only for them to be injured, busts, or be off the team within the next three seasons. Given that the position has plenty of depth available in the league with the likes of Dalvin Cook, Kareem Hunt, and Leonard Fournette available to be signed today, likely on a value contract, the motivation to sign a back to a big deal falls to the wayside.
This point is driven home even more when you consider teams have had success historically finding young backs in the middle of the draft that can come in and at the very least be producers for their offense. Can you really justify saddling your offense with a mega contract when the Chiefs, Falcons, and Texans managed to find some of the most productive rookie runners in the league in the latter half of the draft?
It has been proven time and time again that teams are much better suited in spending big money and high draft picks on their offensive line, and finding a talented ball carrier in the middle round of the draft that can take advantage of the wholes created by your high end line. Is it entirely ethical to draft a back, run him ragged for years, just to franchise tag him and dangle short term contracts in front of him? Not particularly. Is it the most productive way to build a roster given the current state of quarterback contracts? Unfortunately so.
Unless you have a true elite level playmaker who is going to make a difference every time he touches the football, and can be a versatile tool for your offense, it makes less and less sense to pay them from a team building point of view. The likes of Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb are going to become more rare as the years pass, and while that doesn’t necessarily make for better football, it is a natural response to adaptive general managers, and a market that heavily favors the passing game.
Jim Irsay is being crass. But he kind of has a point.
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The NFL’s running back situation is coming to a head and it’s getting ugly.
Jonathan Taylor’s tenuous situation with the Colts is the latest case. Taylor is currently eligible for a contract extension after an injury-plagued third season in Indy, but the team hasn’t even had the discussion. At all. And, if Jim Irsay’s latest comments are any reflection of the team’s intentions, they don’t plan on it.
Look, it’s easy to see why things are heading in this direction. If the NFL is a game of chess, running backs are treated like the league’s pawns.
There are plenty of them. They’re easily replaceable and you can find multiple ways to use them effectively. Year after year, we see teams opting for younger and cheaper options at the position rather than paying proven talent.
To be completely honest, they’re not wrong in doing so. Take Ezekiel Elliott, for example. The running back was cut earlier this summer by the Cowboys. He’s a multi-time Pro Bowler and only 27 years old. This wouldn’t happen at any other position. But no other position seems to be as replaceable. The Cowboy’s found Elliott’s replacement in Tony Pollard in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. He’s a Pro-Bowler now.
Elliott is far closer to the norm for NFL running backs than anyone would like to admit. As ESPN’s Mina Kimes so eloquently points out here, these backs spend their prime laying for free in college and then, when they finally get to the NFL, they spend the rest of it playing on cheap deals.
By the time it’s time to get that second or third big contract, many backs are hundreds of carries deep into their career. The injuries have piled up.
That’s the truth. But, man, does that suck. Imagine putting your body on the line for your job and your team just to have them say “Thank you, but we don’t need you anymore.” Even if there’s logical reasoning behind it, it just feels crass.
Getting back to Jonathan Taylor, he’s very clearly the Colt’s best player. Yet, because of his position, he can’t be offered any long-term security. That’s wrong.
Where would the Giants be without Saquon Barkley? Would the Raiders be able to compete without Josh Jacobs? To put it simply, players should be rewarded for being good. There’s got to be a reasonable way to do that.
The sad part is that there’s no shot of changing this. Not at least until 2030 when the NFL’s labor agreement with the NFLPA expires. In that sense, Jim Irsay is right. Nothing can change until then.
When the time comes, players could ask for solutions like lowering the NFL Draft eligibility age to allow players to enter the league sooner. Most players won’t be physically ready, but at least having that option might get the clock ticking sooner.
Maybe they could negotiate the removal of salary slots for rookies so running backs have a chance to earn more money earlier. Or maybe there’s some sort of award players could earn to trigger contract negotiations sooner.
There are solutions available. But there’s a chance those changes might require a work stoppage of some sort. Would players be willing to do that for one position? That’s hard to say.
Regardless, we’re not getting any solutions anytime soon. But the league’s current crop of running backs should take solace in this: The noise that they’ve made has ensured that nobody will forget anytime soon that this happened.
So, in 2030, when it’s time to fight? We’ll all know exactly where they’re coming from.
Quick Hits: Shohei Ohtani is unreal … Big 12 expansion is coming … and more.
— Andrew Joseph has marked the six best candidates in college football for Big 12 expansion. Following the new Colorado addition, more should be on the way.
— Sean Payton ain’t have to go in on Nathaniel Hackett like this. OK, maybe he did. Prince Grimes has more.
The NFL has a running back problem, and Touchdown Wire’s Jarrett Bailey has an outside-the-box solution.
In case you haven’t heard, the NFL has a running back problem. After several top bell-cows failed to get long-term contract extensions this offseason, an outcry from running backs across the league took place on social media about the abuse of the position. Per Spotrac, running backs on average, are earning less today than they did in 2005, even though the cap has gone up drastically in that 18 year period.
Not only are they making less as a position group than in years past, the average running back now makes about $400,000 less than the average kicker. In 2005, eight running backs made up 10 percent or more of their team’s payroll — no running back today makes up more than 5%.
So what exactly has caused this mass devaluation of a position that was once viewed as premium, to now being looked at as expendable?
Former Texas running back Bijan Robinson was viewed by many as the best overall prospect in the most recent NFL Draft. He’s already garnered some lofty expectations without even taking so much as a preseason snap in the NFL.
The 2022 Doak Walker award winner was selected with the No. 8 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons, and is viewed as the perennial favorite to be the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. While Robinson hasn’t taken the field for a game in Atlanta, he is someone that many believe can be a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. Especially when you consider his coach worked with Titans running back Derrick Henry.
While many are currently debating where Robinson should be drafted in fantasy football, one thing we do know is he ranks among the highest paid players at the running back position already. Let’s take a look at where Robinson ranks among NFL running backs in terms of total cash for the 2023 season according to NBC.
Former Alabama players rarely have any issues getting adjusted to their roles in the NFL. One position that has found plenty of recent success has been the running backs.
With over five running backs active in the NFL heading into the 2021 season, and most of them starters, the Alabama Crimson Tide can often be synonymous with ‘RBU.’
USA TODAY’s Touchdown Wire recently shared their thoughts on who the top-11 running backs are in the league, two Crimson Tide products made the list.
6. Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
(AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Jacobs is still very young in the league, but his potential is through the roof. The Raiders offense relies on him heavily and sees him as a part of their long-term plan for the organization.
1. Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans
(AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The Titans offense has seemingly revolved around Henry, and it’s not hard to see why. The Heisman-winning running back is nearly impossible to bring down. Someone that big with that speed is a cheat code.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.
Chubb started his UGA career with a 4 carry, 70 yard and 1 touchdown performance against Clemson in 2014. By the time he left Georgia, he had tallied 4,769 rushing yards.
Now he’s an NFL Pro-Bowler with the Cleveland Browns, but the kid from Cedartown will always be a Georgia Bulldog.
Here are Chubb’s top-10 Georgia players, according to video creator Hex Highlights.
