Sports Industry

The 2008 draft was the beginning of a great crop of talent, especially at the running back position. The list begins with the speedy East Carolina grad, Chris Johnson. After Week 11, he has rushed for 787 yards and found the endzone 6 times. Johnson has racked up all these yards even though he is splitting time with the power back, Lendale White. In the Windy City, the 6'2", 216 pound Matt Forte is bringing back memories of Walter Payton. The elusiviness shown by Forte has baffled opposing defenses. Forte has ran for 777 yards with 7 total TD's. Down South, West Virginia star Steve Slaton has quickly proved he belongs here. Slaton is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, resulting in 701 yards and 7 TD's for the Houston Texans. Detroit Lions halfback, Kevin Smith, and Carolina's young talent, Jonathan Stewart, have each rushed for 513 yards. Smith has 5 TD's and Stewart has 6. The biggest surprise of this draft, was the emergence of Tim Hightower, a Richmond graduate. Hightower has fit in nicely with the NFC West leaders, Arizona Cardinals. He has 472 total yards and found the endzone 7 times on the ground, leading all rookie runningbacks. Another surprise is Mississippi grad, BenJarvus Green-Ellis ( yes, that is how you spell his name). Green-Ellis has filled in for the injury plagued Patriots, who lost Laurence Maroney earlier this year. He has started only 3 games, but has 252 rushing yards, 4 TD's in only 69 attempts. The first running back selected in the 2008 Draft, Darren McFadden, has not put up quality numbers, as he has only found the endzone 1 time on the ground. Other young backs from the 2008 Draft include Jamaal Charles, Rashard Mendenhall, Ray Rice and Felix Jones. These guys have all played key roles for their teams. This draft class could quite possibly go down as one of the best groups of running backs entering the NFL in the same year.

1) The Eagles and Bengals tied today with 13 points each after overtime. But did you know... the last NFL game that ended in a tie was between the Atlanta Falcons and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2002.

2) Matt Stover is a veteran kicker for the Baltimore Ravens that began his career in 1991. But did you know... this week against the Giants, he set a new NFL record for consecutive PATs with 372. He began his streak in 1996.

3) The Tennessee Titans have started the season 9-0. But did you know... previously, the Titans best start to a season was 3-0.

4) Matt Cassel had a fantastic game statistically against the Jets in the Patriots overtime loss. But did you know... Matt Cassel was the first player since the AFL-NFL merger to total at least 400 yards passing and 60 yards rushing in a game.

5) Ted Ginn Jr. had an impressive 40 yard TD run against the Raiders. But did you know... Ginn's TD run was the first by any Dolphin's wide receivers since 2003.

6) Drew Brees has passed for 3,251 yards in 10 games this season. But did you know... that's an NFL record for passing yards for the first 10 games of a season. The previous best was 3,195 yards by Rich Gannon in 2002.

7) Steve Slaton has been impressive as as rookie for the Texans. But did you know... Slaton's 71 yard TD run against the Colts was the longest in Texans history.

8) The Giants had a terrific game against the Ravens today both passing and rushing. But did you know... the Ravens amazingly kept their 29-game streak of not allowing an individual 100-yard rusher alive. Ahmad Bradshaw's 96 rushing yards in this game is the most allowed by the Ravens during that streak.

9) DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart both had great games against the Detroit Lions. But did you know... the Panthers rushed for a franchise-record 264 yards, including 130 from Stewart and 120 from Williams