Think about where the best pro running backs come from.
Eastern Texas produced Earl Campbell, Eric Dickerson and Thurman Thomas. Curtis Martin and Tony Dorsett came out of Western Pennsylvania. South Florida gave us Frank Gore, Willis McGahee, and others.
But in today's NFL? The Denver Metro area might just top them all.
One came from an NFL family. Another came from Denver's largest suburb. A third came from a city of 5,000 with one working stoplight. They all grew up within a 70-mile triangle -- and they're all starting NFL RBs now.
As The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala pointed out, only one (McCaffrey) was drafted. It's unlikely any team would pass on a member of this trio now; McCaffrey and Ekeler put up 363 combined yards and five touchdowns in Week 1, while Lindsay came out of nowhere last year to rush for 1,000 yards.
This can't be a fluke. There has to be something in the Rocky Mountain water that makes running backs great. NFL teams either need to bottle it or start drafting more Coloradans in their backfields.
