Analyst predicts one offensive position won't be drafted until the third round

Leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, there has been a lot of talk about how many quarterbacks, wide receivers and offensive tackles could be selected in the first round.

However, Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson is flipping that discussion and believes there's one position that won't be selected until the third round.

Monson predicts there will be no running backs drafted in the first or second rounds of this year's draft.

"The money flying around in free agency for running backs was shocking, given the previous state of the market for that position," Monson writes. "One way of viewing that is as an indictment of the upcoming draft class in the eyes of NFL evaluators."

Although it would be surprising, Monson makes a good point. This year's running back class has been viewed as one of the weakest positions without a clear No. 1 prospect.

Most of the draft analysts' top running back is Texas' Jonathon Brooks, who rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023. However, he is coming off a torn ACL and may not be available at the start of his rookie campaign.

The other top backs are Tennessee's Jaylen Wright and Michigan's Blake Corum. Wright has rushed for 1,888 yards and 14 touchdowns the past two years, and while Corum has rushed for 2,708 yards and 45 touchdowns over the same span, he is undersized at 5-foot-8, 213 pounds.

Brooks is projected to be a late-second round pick, but if teams aren't sure about his medicals, he could end up falling to the third where Wright and Corum are projected to be selected as well.

The running back position hasn't been valued for some time now. That changed a little bit in free agency this offseason, but as Monson says, that could be a product of how the league views the 2024 running back class.

It has been rare to see teams use a first-round pick on the position in recent years, but that could very well extend to the second round in 2024 without the first running back being taken until the third.