I recently ranked the top-10 NFL offseason moves, but a lot has happened since then, including the DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and C.J. Spiller signings and the Kenny Stills trade. A couple more observations are in order:
• While the running game has largely been de-emphasized league-wide, it feels like there's a counter-movement going on in recent seasons among some teams, notably the Seahawks who have nearly won two Super Bowls behind a run-heavy attack, the 49ers who made three consecutive NFC title games from 2011-2013 with a run-heavy approach and the Cowboys who broke through last year (and might have beaten the Packers in the playoffs but for the bad call on the Dez Bryant catch) by feeding Murray the rock a whopping 392 times. The Cowboys in particular make a strong case for running more as their league-worst defense from 2013 was less exposed in 2014, yielding nearly 1,000 fewer yards on the year.
• This offseason, the Saints, who were 31st in yards allowed, dealt Jimmy Graham for a Pro Bowl center in Max Unger (and a first-round pick), promising receiver Kenny Stills for a linebacker and third-round pick, re-signed Mark Ingram and signed C.J. Spiller. New Orleans now has two first rounders and two third rounders, and extra cap room from the Graham trade, presumably to use on defense. If Ingram were to get hurt, Spiller still has quite a bit of upside on a Drew Brees-led team on that speedy turf.
• The Eagles added two top free-agent backs in Murray and Mathews, who should get at least 500 carries between them, health permitting. The presence of Darren Sproles could hurt them in the passing game, but there should be enough carries to go around especially when you factor in the likelihood that at least one of them misses a few games due to injuries.
• The Dolphins could release Mike Wallace, but if they don't Ryan Tannehill will have some of the better weapons in the league with Wallace, Stills, Jarvis Landry and recently signed Jordan Cameron. Given Tannehill's rushing ability, he should be a top-10 quarterback.
• Even though he's dead to me personally, Colin Kaepernick's situation has to be better in 2015 with a real deep threat (Torrey Smith) now on the roster, Vernon Davis likely to be better than last year and the team reportedly targeting a receiver in this year's draft. It also helps that the defense is likely to take a step back and the run-heavy Jim Harbaugh era is over.
• If the Cowboys don't draft or sign another prominent back, it'll be interesting to see how much of the running-game success last year was due to Murray and how much to the all-world offensive line. Joseph Randle, Darren McFadden and possibly Lance Dunbar and Ryan Williams should put that proposition to the test.
• Of course, the biggest shoe yet to drop is Adrian Peterson. Should he wind up in Dallas, he'd once again be in contention to be the No. 1 overall pick.