What do the names Ron Dayne, Curtis Enis, Chris Perry, T.J. Duckett and Joe Montgomery all have in common? They were all first and second round Big Ten RB busts.
What about Ladell Betts, Michael Bennett or Anthony Thomas? "Decent" careers as roll players for sure but… hardly the back you'd feature or consider #1 pick material in trading for the likes of a Broderick Bunkley, Mike Patterson, or Shawn Andrews.
In fairness to Big Ten RBs, their conference has produced Larry Johnson recently, an elite back who may still have a nice career in front of him. We should also note the jury is still out on Lawrence Maroney or even younger… Rashard Mendenhall (who should do fine in Pittsburgh if healthy).
Can the Big Ten produce great 1st or 2nd round RB talent? Sure. Eddie George was great. But then again, Ki-Jana Carter and Tim Biakabatuka weren't.
It doesn't take a genius to peruse these names above and have buyer's beware for "early round talent" this year such as Chris "Beanie" Wells or Shonn Green, and likewise for later round guys like Javon Ringer, PJ Hill or Kory Sheets. While one of these fine college career backs could be the next LJ, statistics prove that most are destined to be the next Mike Hart, who had a whopping 1,361 yds and 14 TDs during his final year at Michigan and… 2 carries for 9 yds during the 6 weeks he played for the Colts in 2008 before going on injured reserve.
Here's one fan hoping the Philadelphia Eagles look at RB options such as Knowshon Moreno, Donald Brown or LeSean McCoy, all top round talent hailing from other college conferences that aren't the Big 10.
