Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice Ben Tate & Trent Richardson: In Season-Long Suspension - NFL RB A Thing Of The Past?

It seems like it was just yesterday that the RB was the most important position in the NFL behind the QB, however, over the last few years teams have started to throw more than ever, and the RB is becoming less relevant each and every day. Not long ago Trent Richardson was a first round pick by the Cleveland Browns, but he proved to be a "mistake pick," and now teams are very careful, waiting until the second, third and fourth rounds to find a running back at much less of a cost. Recently Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson have added more grief to the role, with the latter just getting a season-long suspension for his child abuse case. On top of that, Ben Tate, who was seen as the best available free agent last year, has been released by the Browns. Is there a future for the RB any more?

Richardson is still earning big bucks doing his hard-hitting thing, but is that what NFL teams need? Many of them are opting to throw the football, and when they do run, they're using their fast QB to do so. Of course the position is there, and it will be used, but at the moment it seems like a top RB can lose his stock and rating within the NFL in a matter of minutes.

A little over a year ago this foursome was one to be feared, and many teams would've traded a star asset, or a top draft pick, to get their hands on them, but now, even at a cut-price deal, it'd be hard to convince the majority of NFL teams that any of these four players would bring a beneficial change to their team's offense.

Will any of these four RB restore their credibility, or will they be the once feared foursome that finally killed the position?