Those who worship at the alter of analytics believe using a first-round draft pick on a running back is a waste of capital.
But that's not necessarily true -- at least not for the past 10 running backs taken in the first round.
Looking back at those past 10 first-round running backs -- which takes us back to 2015 -- they almost all made an immediate impact on the bottom line of their respective teams the following season.
There were certainly outliers. But on average, those 10 backs helped their teams improve from an average of 6.9 wins the previous season to 9.2 victories in their first season.
They did that in a number of ways, affecting both the offense and the defense.
On average, teams that selected a running back in the first round went from ranking 18.9 in rushing average to 9.9. They saw the average yards of their leading rusher go from 717.9 to 946.3 on average for those rookie runners.
And their defenses were on the field for an average of 23.8 fewer plays over the course of the season. It might not sound like much, but that's a little less than half of a game's worth of plays.
It's no wonder Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward said his unit was happy the team selected Najee Harris in the first round of this year's draft.
"I think as a defender, we're most excited to have him," Heyward said on NFL Network recently. "Having a guy like that that can tote the rock 30 to 40 times a game really puts an ease for the defense. He can do multiple things. I think the investment in our offense this offseason has been huge."
The Steelers have been very happy with what they've seen of Harris, the 24th pick in this year's draft, thus far. They feel he'll be an immediate upgrade for an offense that ranked dead last in rushing in 2020.
What might that improvement look like? Let's take a look at some of those past first-round running backs for some examples.
In 2019, the Raiders selected Harris' former teammate at Alabama, Josh Jacobs, with the 24th pick in the draft -- the same spot at which the Steelers took Harris.
The Raiders went from a 4-12 team that ranked 25th in rushing in 2018 to one that was 7-9 and 13th in rushing in 2019 as Jacobs ran for 1,150 yards as a rookie. It also helped the defense, which ranked 26th in 2018 but 19th the next season.
The Steelers defense, however, doesn't necessarily need that kind of help because it actually ranked third in total defense in 2020 despite a complete lack of a running game.
For the Steelers, we might want to look at the impact Leonard Fournette had on the 2017 Jaguars.
In 2016, the Jaguars were 22nd in the NFL running the ball, with T.J Yeldon as their lead back. Yeldon gained 465 yards that season.
Jacksonville selected Fournette with the fourth-overall pick in the draft, which many considered too much draft capital to use on a running back.
As it turned out, Fournette was exactly what the Jaguars needed. He rushed for 1,040 yards that season as Jacksonville went from a 3-13 record in 2016 to 10-6 in 2017, reaching the AFC Championship.
The defense, which had been solid in 2016, jumped to second in 2017, playing 37 fewer plays than it had the previous season.
The Steelers lost three major contributors from their 2020 defense -- outside linebacker Bud Dupree and cornerbacks Steven Nelson and Mike Hilton -- but if Harris can keep them off the field more on a regular basis, the drop off might be negligible.
What was the biggest improvement for a team that took a running back first in this time period? That belonged to the Cowboys, who took Ezekiel Elliott fourth overall in 2016 after a 4-12 season.
The Cowboys had been a good running team before adding Elliott. They were ninth in the league running the ball behind a very good offensive line in 2015, with Darren McFadden rushing for 1,089 yards.
In 2016, Elliott ran for 1,631 yards as Dallas improved to second in the league running the ball and saw its record jump to 13-3. Finding quarterback Dak Prescott in the in the fourth round of that draft certainly didn't hurt, but Elliott's 322 carries -- an average of 20 per game -- played as big as, if not a bigger role.
Taking a running back might be a quick fix. But the Steelers went 12-4 last season, without a running game. Two other teams that have done that recently also have seen improvement -- at least in their running games. They did have some mixed results, however.
In 2020, the Chiefs selected Clyde Edwards-Helaire with the 32nd pick in the draft, making him the top running back selected.
Damien Williams had led Kansas City with 498 rushing yards the previous season. Edwards-Helaire rushed for 803 yards and the Chiefs went from 12-4 in 2019 to 14-2 in 2020. Kansas City also won the Super Bowl in 2019, but fell short in 2020, losing to Tampa Bay and Fournette last season.
In 2017, the Patriots went from 13-3 to 11-5 after taking Michel 31st. New England was 10th in the league in rushing in 2017, but rose to fifth the next season with Sony Michel rushing for 931 yards.
He also helped the defense tremendously, as the Patriots jumped from 29th in total defense to 21st as opponents ran 20 fewer plays against it. The Patriots, who had fallen short of winning the Super Bowl in 2017, losing to the Eagles in a shootout, won the Super Bowl in 2018, 13-3, over the Rams.
Michel was a big reason for that, rushing for 94 yards and the game's only touchdown on 18 carries.
So, running backs do matter. And they can make a difference, provided you get the right one.
They might be a quick fix -- three of those first-round backs are no longer with the team that drafted them -- but the idea is to win each year.