There hasn't been a running back selected in the first round in either of the past two NFL drafts, but that recent "trend" should change this year.
In a teleconference Monday in advance of the NFL Scouting Combine, NFL Media analyst Mike Mayock said he has two running backs graded as first-round picks: Georgia's Todd Gurley and Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon.
In addition, Mayock has eight running backs graded in the first three rounds -- two in the first round, four in the second and two in the third. Interestingly, eight running backs went in the first three rounds last year, but five of those went in the third round.
Mayock has Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah, Miami's Duke Johnson, Indiana's Tevin Coleman and Boise State's Jay Ajayi graded as second-rounders and Northern Iowa's David Johnson and Alabama's T.J. Yeldon graded as third-rounders.
The first running back selected last year was Washington's Bishop Sankey, who went 54th overall to the Tennessee Titans. The first back off the board in 2013 was North Carolina's Giovani Bernard, who was chosen 37th by the Cincinnati Bengals. He was one of five backs drafted in the second round in '13, but there was just one third-round back.
Seven backs went in the first three rounds in 2012, with three of them -- Trent Richardson (third overall), Doug Martin (31st) and David Wilson (32nd) -- going in the first round.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
