Bijan or Bust?
Over the last couple of weeks, the debate about whether or not the Philadelphia Eagles should select Texas running back Bijan Robinson with the 10th overall pick has heated up.
Here is where the 94WIP hosts and producers stand as of Monday, April 10th:
YES
Ike Reese
Jon Marks
Jack Fritz
Jon Ritchie
Rhea Hughes
Eliot Shorr-Parks
Jon Johnson
Glen Macnow
Kyle Quinn
Mike Quick
NO
Joe Giglio
Hugh Douglas
Joe DeCamara
Howard Eskin
James Seltzer
Tom Kelly
Mike Sielski
Merrill Reese
What they're saying...
Reese: "If I didn't have two first round picks, OK. I could see you taking a safe pick and going with the status quo of what you do every year. But if you want to make this offense arguably the best offense and the most unstoppable offense in football, this kid is the best offensive weapon coming out of college football."
Marks: "I'm telling you...the next five years is the window for you to win Super Bowls right now. You are building an offense that you think is going to win."
Ritchie: "Four years, he will dominate and I am excited about the idea of overkill on offense...Overkill. The concept, where the offense is this high functioning at every spot."
Hughes: "It matters because Miles Sanders couldn't deliver in the Super Bowl."
Giglio: "Once they pay Jalen Hurts there is less money to pay other players. In the last 14 years, no team has won a Super Bowl with a running back making more than $2.6 million on the cap. The 10th pick in this draft will make $4 million on the cap. The minute he arrives he's overpaid compared to running backs that win Super Bowls."
Eskin: "They will absolutely not draft a running back at number 10. That would be an awful pick at number 10."
Macnow: "To me, four or five elite years is worth it. Are the Cowboys sorry they drafted Zeke Elliott? I don't think so. They used the fourth overall pick on him seven years ago. They got five great years. The reasons they did not win are not because of Zeke Elliott...but that was worth it. I know you can find a running back anywhere, but you also can miss on a running back anywhere. I think it's a big need for this team. I think if you added that to this offense, dynamic, unstoppable, Super Bowl, thank you."
Sielski: "I couldn't disagree more. I think it's a misallocation of resources. There has not been—and I have to shoutout my colleague David Murphy at the Inquirer for this stat—there has not been a team that has won the Super Bowl with a running back drafted in the first 25 picks since 2009 and that was the New Orleans Saints with Reggie Bush."
DeCamara: "There's no doubt he's going to have a quality pro career. I get the argument, the argument is great player on a rookie contract...He's a remarkable player. But I think he's the wrong fit for the Eagles given the salary cap reality, given the defensive deficiencies that they're going to have next year and potentially beyond that.
"Number one, defense. Guys just think defense. That's where they need help...Number two, the offense is going to hum anyway. Could it be better? Yeah it could be better, but it's still going to be great...Number three, and this has been proven over and over again in the salary cap world of the NFL—you do not need a great running back. You certainly do not need a high priced running back in order to win a Super Bowl. See the Kansas City Chiefs who just did. See the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017 who did it. They weren't high priced, they weren't great, it was a compilation of players...And number four, here's the big reason when you really get down to it. Even though this guy is going to have a great career, he's going to between five and nine million dollars a year over the life of this rookie contract. That's more money than the Eagles typically put into the position all the running backs combined. That's not what they do and you know why? Because they're smart."
Peter King: "I think that first, this was an excellent offense last year," King continued, explaining why Robinson makes sense for the Eagles. "They've got a young and growing quarterback. Can they survive without Bijan Robinson? Of course they can. But to me, adding Bijan Robinson and making this—A.J. Brown and [DeVonta] Smith and [Dallas] Goedert and Jalen Hurts. And then having the ability, honestly, to come out of the backfield with the most dangerous weapon since Saquon Barkley—and maybe a better overall player than Saquon Barkley in terms of being able to make people miss—I think is really a huge opportunity...The reason why the Eagles have this pick in the first place is because they made a real smart, opportunistic trade in the draft that allowed them to have this extra high first round pick without even hurting their draft at all last year. So it's almost like a bonus pick."
Reuben Frank: "I actually think it's not that far fetched and I don't think there's been a lot of situations like this where it was realistic," Frank said on Wednesday's 94WIP Morning Show. "His skill set, his ability, where they pick, the options they have, where they're at with the position—I wouldn't say its likely, I wouldn't put him in a mock draft. I wouldn't be shocked. I wouldn't be shocked by anything Howie does."
Brian Baldinger: “If Howie Roseman would take Bijan at number 10 in this draft, I’m just going to tell you South Philadelphia’s going to throw a parade. Forget about waiting for the Super Bowl again, they’re just going to throw a parade right now,” Baldinger said. “Forget about the Phillies and the Flyers and the Sixers, they’re just going to throw a parade on April 27th if Howie drafts Bijan Robinson.”
Ron Jaworski: "There is no doubt where this guy goes, he will have an impact on that team," Jaworski told the 94WIP Morning Show on Friday, April 14th. "He is a tremendous player...Holy cow, this guy is special and then I started looking at some tape on him...this kid has unbelievable talent. He will be an impact player.
"Would this guy fit the Eagles offense? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he fits. He will make this offense better—because it is phenomenal right now. He's a special running back. His quickness is amazing. He's got that third gear where he can give you that five-yard gain and turn it into a 50-yard touchdown run. He's got good hands that catch the football, catch the ball cleanly with his hands, just a solid receiver and that's what you'd like to have in this offense. And I think quite honestly we haven't used our running backs as receivers well enough.
"I would love to see him in Philly, but it's not my choice."
Temple head football coach Stan Drayton: "He's over six foot, he's 220 pounds and he leads the country in making people miss. You got a big back that can make people miss in small spaces. His first step is extremely quick and his movement is very effortless in that way. When you get a big back that is that elusive and with that type of explosion, they get the big play, it's pretty special...He's a guy who can maybe, hopefully transfer that trait to the NFL, he's a guy who can probably stay a little healthier a little longer. He's got this knack to make you miss in small space and if he can develop the big ability to protect himself on contact on all those things, he'll last long."
What makes Robinson worth the 10th overall pick?
"Number one, you don't take him off of the field. He's going to get you on schedule on first down, he can create an explosive play at any given point in time and he has the ability to protect the quarterback when you are throwing the football—he's very, very sharp in protection. Third down, you don't have to take that commodity off of the football field. He has great hands. He can create mismatches—and again, that same twitch to make you miss with the ball in his hands shows up when he's running routes and maybe you can create some mismatches that way."
Merrill Reese: "I'm going to tell you flat out no. I just don't see the value in it. I think the running back department is pretty solid…I think if you want to add to the RB department there are some very attractive names later in this draft."
Mike Quick: "When I look at the landscape of the NFL and what it takes to win championships in the NFL, I have to say I am pro Bijan. I just think this offense be so dynamic. There's no way you could stop this offense with that type of talent in the backfield with what you have already, with the tight end that you have, with the receivers that you have, with the quarterback that you have. Every time you break the huddle there's so many different options that you have to be concerned about if you're on the other side of the ball. That would scare the heck out of me if I'm a defensive coordinator, or even if I'm on the field on that side of the ball."
Ray Didinger: "I would tell you I think Bijan Robinson is one of the five most talented in this draft, on a sheer talent basis. But then you get into the whole other issue about how high would you draft a running back.
"They just don't believe in that [taking a running back in the top 10]. I think Jeff and Howie have a philosophy, that's just not theirs...I think he is a very rare player. I think he is one of that special group of running backs that you actually think about. I mean when I watch him on tape, and I've said this before, but the player he reminds me of is Edgerrin James. I really think he has a lot of Edgerrin James type qualities and I haven't put a whole lot of people in that category, but I would put him...I think they should have a full conversation among all their [personnel] guys."
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