[Senator Clay Davis]

So if Richardson doesn't look good because he didn't have training camp and time to gel, why is Willis "Off the Street" McGahee doing the same thing with the same excuse? Its about value. The Browns erroneously traded up to get Trent Richardson last year. Had they stayed put, they could have had Ryan Tannehill and Doug Martin both. But they overplayed things because they thought Richardson was elite. Clearly they were wrong. He's a good running back, which you can find in rounds 3-7 yearly. The running game has been so devalued by the slant towards the passing game with the rules now that running backs value is even lower. Indeed at present there are only 5 backs averaging more than 80 yards a game.

Basically the Colts could get comparable value to Richardson for free and kept their first round pick and added more value to the roster in the future. His contract value isn't relevant because a guy off the street will cost you around the league minimum for comparable value. Richardson can still improve, but he has to be averaging 4.5 yards a carry or more for this trade to not be considered a loss and a bad one at that for the Colts.

And I also think Alabama running backs are just destined to bust because they play behind a stacked, elite offense line in college which heavily skews their numbers. A lot of running backs could look great behind that consistently great offensive line.