NFL insider serves grim reality on running back market despite Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry's stellar seasons

Despite the success of last season’s running back free agents Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley, do not expect to see this year’s class reap the benefits.

NFL insider Albert Breer sounded off on the topic in his latest Sports Illustrated mailbag. He explained that this year’s free agent class is not as strong as last season’s.

"Ordinarily, you might think that would benefit the next class of free agents," Breer wrote. "The trouble with that idea, in this circumstance, is with the free agent class itself. The top names are Aaron Jones, Najee Harris and J.K. Dobbins—good players, but not the needle-movers that last year’s best were."

Several of last season's free-agency running backs made significant contributions to their new teams.

Derrick Henry turned back the clock for the Baltimore Ravens. He almost broke 2,000 yards rushing, finishing with 1,921. Josh Jacobs was a bell-cow for the Green Bay Packers. He had 301 rushing attempts and 1,329 yards.

But no free agency addition was bigger than Saquon Barkley. He just capped off a historic season, breaking Terrell Davis’ 25-year-old record of most rushing yards in a season including playoffs. Barkley finished with 2,478 yards. It also culminated in a Super Bowl victory for Barkley's new team, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Aaron Jones tops this year’s free agent running back class in terms of productivity. He had 1,138 yards last season for the Minnesota Vikings. J.K. Dobbins is the only other rusher among upcoming free agents to top 1000 yards last season.

Breer likes running back draft class

Instead of free agency, teams may tap this year's draft to bolster their running back room. Breer shared his optimism about the group of rushers from this year’s draft.

The position is headlined by Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, who had a Heisman-finalist-worthy season for the College Football Playoff quarter-finalists. Breer predicts Jeanty will go in the first 20 picks.

"Boise State’s Heisman finalist, Ashton Jeanty, has long been accepted as the top back in the draft, and my guess would be it’ll stay that way until late April, and he’ll go somewhere in the first 20 picks."

He also expressed positivity towards the depth of the draft class, beginning with North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton.

"Omarion Hampton may be good enough to give him a run for his money. And from there, there’s great depth, with Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson, Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, and Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo among those giving the class plenty of depth."

However, he voiced caution against expecting any of the rookies to reach Saquon Barkley’s level.

"It’d be hard, of course, to ask any rookie to have the impact that Barkley just had on the world champs. But it’s not too difficult to see how he illustrated that while the value of the position may not be what it was 40 years ago, having a really good one can make a difference."

Teams that are likely to add a running back, either through the draft or free agency, including the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers.