No matter how patient you are at evaluating first-round NFL picks, Alabama’s Trent Richardson has to be considered a bust at the professional level.

Since getting drafted No. 3 overall in 2012, Richardson has played for the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and now the Oakland Raiders. He’s rushed for a grand total of 1,082 yards and six touchdowns in the last two seasons combined.

Entering last month, Richardson was the last first-round pick at running back. For the first and second time in history, the 2013 and 2014 NFL drafts did not produce a single first-round back.

The conversation surrounding the life span of NFL running backs flared up more than normal during the NFL’s most recent collective bargaining agreement, reached in July 2011, as the NFL Players Association publicized all manner of facts about the career expectancy of the position.

Just one NFL running back topped 1,4oo yards last season as off-field behavioral issues forced players like Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson to the sideline. (Peterson finished second in the NFL with just 1,266 rushing yards in 2013.)

The conversation about first-round running backs grew loud once again prior to April 30, the start of this year’s NFL draft. Georgia’s Todd Gurley and Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon, the best pro prospects since Richardson left the Tide following the ’11 season, would’ve been guaranteed first-round picks a decade ago. But many wondered whether any running back was worthy of a first-round selection in 2015.

It turns out we may have overstated the degree to which NFL franchises have devalued the running back position. The St. Louis Rams made Gurley, a player still recovering from a torn ACL whose college career also included a four-game suspension and a lengthy ankle injury, a Top 10 selection. The San Diego Chargers at No. 15 overall ensured that not only were there two running backs selected on the first day, but in the first half of the first round.

Some more facts:

  • Nine SEC running backs got drafted in 2015.
  • Eight running backs came off the board in the first three rounds.
  • NFL teams selected 22 running backs overall.
  • The Rams backfield now features Gurley and former Auburn running back Tre Mason. St. Louis traded former Vanderbilt running back Zac Stacy after drafting Gurley.

DeMarco Murry, last year’s NFL rushing leader at 1,845 yards, served as a catalyst for the Dallas Cowboys’ return to the playoffs. Marshawn Lynch played yet another significant role as the Seattle Seahawks won another NFC Championship.

Running backs aren’t valued the same way they were a decade ago, but it’s hardly a dead position.

That’s great news for Derrick Henry, a projected first-round pick in the 2016 NFL draft according to Walter Football, SB Nation and Bleacher Report.

Tra Carson (Texas A&M), Russell Hansbrough (Missouri), Alex Collins (Arkansas) and Jonathan Williams (Arkansas) all could be looking to get drafted next year as well. LSU’s Leonard Fournette and Georgia’s Nick Chubb already are getting talked about as potential first-round picks in 2017.

One thing that is clear — and that Gurley emulates — is that NFL teams are valuing pass-catchers and pass protectors more at every position, be it tight end, fullback, H-back or running back. That’s good news for a player like Alabama’s Kenyan Drake.

It’s not the best time in the history of football to play running back, but with the right skill set and talent level, it’s still very possible to become a first-round pick at the position and it’s still viable to dream of a long, fulfilling NFL career.