The Running Backs Don't Matter theory and the discourse surrounding it are very interesting to me, first of all because I love running backs. Their task -- to take the ball from here to as close as you can get to over there while eleven other dudes try to stop you -- is beautiful in its simplicity and in the variety of ways in which it can be attempted. Barry Sanders ran around defenders, Earl Campbell ran through them, Chris Johnson simply ran past them, while others have tried everything in between. The second reason I'm fascinated by #RBsDM is because I like to understand things. Secondary to the aesthetic and visceral experience of watching the game, the strategy of football is one of the major reasons I love the sport, and given all of football's moving parts, how that strategy can be optimized is interesting as a field of thought. The idea that running backs don't matter is particularly interesting in this area because it flies in the face of conventional wisdom
in which I write about football, etc.