Then why was the RB room so terrible outside of AK when he left? Beyond MT and AK, I don't recall Payton developing anyone else on the offensive side of the ball since then. I hadn't thought about that till now, but that's a pretty terrible record.
I honestly do not have an answer for that, but I agree that AK was the last great back that he picked up. I will say that once MI left, he found Murray, which gave some good results.
Find AK was good because his production is right there with CMC, whom went in the top 10 of that year.