Underhill: Saints are interviewing probably 12 coaches (Tracker: officially 9 candidates) [Rapoport: Saints may add more]
Relative to production I totally agree and I totally agree what you are saying about OL and scheme.....
I guess what my contention is that the Eagles are a poor example and the Ravens as well.....you can get good RB's in FA, great ones that are still in their prime and/or productive are pretty rare....
To me it's a more a condemnation of the teams that let them walk as opposed to "it's easy to get a great RB in FA".....
Starting with Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley is not helping your argument, those instances are really rare....but I agree with your overall point.....
My original point in all of this was, that I don't think being in Philly this year would make Moore more likely to draft Jeanty at #9 since that was a team that already had a great OL, DL, WRs, LBs, etc. and they keep drafting big men in the 1st and got Barkley as a fee agent. But, Jezzy is right that maybe the Boise State connection could make him look more favorably on Jeanty.
Moreover, I'm not saying that you should try to fill RB in free agency, I'm just saying RB is a position that you can get good to great players in free agency and later in the draft. That's much less so for good to great OL and DL. It happens, but it's less common.
But, I do disagree that citing Henry and Barkley doesn't help the argument. That's two HoF RBs in one year that were available in free agency. There have been others in prior years. But, if you think Henry and Barkley are that rare, 4 of the top 10 rushers in the NFL this year were acquired in free agency. The ones that were drafted by their team, other than Jonathan Taylor, are still on rookie contracts. And I think 6 of the top 10 rushers were taken after the 1st round.
But sure, it's dumb to let a great RB, or really any great player, go in free agency. I'm just saying relative to other positions teams often let them go and it's easier to get great players in the draft at RB without taking one in the first round. Which doesn't mean you don't take a RB in round one, but if you are going to take one, especially if you are going to take one in the top 10, you better be damn sure he's a HoF level guy.