I remember talking to Joe McAtee before and during the 2015 draft, really just as the “running backs don’t matter” takes were bubbling up, and agreeing that using a top-10 selection on a running back was potentially a huge mistake. Few doubted Todd Gurley’s abilities, many doubted his positional value.
Gurley answered by being the team’s best player in 2015 save Aaron Donald, then rebounding from 2016 to finish as a first team All-Pro in back-to-back seasons. But despite being the NFL’s most accomplished back for those two years, scoring a league-leading 40 touchdowns in that time even though he missed three games, doubts soared again about any potential contract extension simply because overcoming the positional devaluation of running back is damn-near improbable.