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The NFL’s all-time rushing leader has come out of Florida, as has the most physically-dominant runner of our time.
Texas has a strong claim as being the best state for producing all-time great running backs. Then again, Texas also has some quality competition for that title. The NFL’s all-time rushing leader has come out of Florida, as has the most physically-dominant runner of our time.
Here are five of the greatest running backs ever to come through Florida.
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CBS Sports names the Buffalo Bills’ best draft class over the past two decades.
The Bills have drafted a lot of players over the past two decades. Some have worked out, while others… well, not so much.
CBS Sports went back and looked at all those players the Bills picked the past two decades in an exercise to peg each NFL team’s best individual draft class since 2000. For the Bills, it didn’t take long to get to their pick: the 2001 draftees.
Here’s why CBS Sports liked the Bills’ picks that year the best:
A Pro Bowler in 2004, Nate Clements (Round 1) started in 168 regular season games during his career. Aaron Schobel (Round 2) carved out a nine-year career that saw him earn two Pro Bowl nods while tallying 78 sacks. Travis Henry (Round 2), a Pro Bowler in 2004, rushed for 2,794 yards and 23 touchdowns over a two-year span. Ron Edwards (Round 3) made 98 career starts over a 12-year career, while Jonas Jennings (Round 3) started in each of his 75 career games before injuries forced him to retire following the 2008 season. Marques Sullivan (Round 5) and Jimmy Williams (Round 6) also made quality contributions as Day 3 picks, though the latter’s came with other teams after he failed to make the Bills’ opening roster as a rookie.
A big “what if” from the Bills’ ’01 draft class is linebacker Brandon Spoon (Round 4), a fourth-round pick who recorded 65 tackles, seven tackles for loss and two interception returns for touchdowns as a rookie. Spoon’s career essentially ended the following summer, when he tore his biceps before the start of the 2002 season. Spoon spent that season on injured reserve before being cut by the Bills before the start of the 2003 season. He signed with the Rams the following offseason but suffered a torn hamstring during training camp.
The most impressive thing about Buffalo’s 2001 draft is their top-three picks in Clements, Schobel and Henry. It’s rare that a team hits on all three. Even two of three is a pretty acceptable outcome. Sprinkle in the prior mentioned depth of the Bills’ 2001 draft class, Buffalo certainly had a nice haul here.
In a rebuttal exercise, now let’s look at some contenders for the second-best draft class the Bills have had in this ranking. In 2003, the Bills landed DE Chris Kelsey (Round 2), LB Angelo Crowell (Round 3), and CB Terrence McGee (Round 4), but their top-pick, RB Willis McGahee (Round 1), left something to be desired in his career, mostly due to his injury history.
In the same type of light, the Bills ended up with WR Robert Woods (Round 2), LB Kiko Alonso (Round 2) and WR Marquise Goodwin (Round 3) in 2013, but QB EJ Manuel (Round 1) and his lackluster career highlights that draft class, but that’s some solid depth.
Aside from those two, the next-best classes are the more recent ones. And having said that, we still have to see things play out. However, Buffalo’s current front office led by Brandon Beane has certainly hit on their fair share of draft picks since 2017.
Those to consider are CB Tre’Davious White (2017, Round 1), OL Dion Dawkins (2017, Round 2), LB Matt Milano (2017, Round 5), LB Tremaine Edmunds (2018, Round 1), CB Taron Johnson (Round 4, 2018), DT Ed Oliver (2019, Round 1), and RB Devin Singletary (2019, Round 3). Of course the crown jewel of recent Buffalo draft picks, QB Josh Allen (2018, Round 1), will be the defining selection for the Bills in this time frame.
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