Stephen Dubner

As it turns out, I wasn't the only one with these questions.

Roland Fryer, an economist at Harvard and a friend of Freakonomics, wrote a Wall Street Journal column last football season called The Economics of Running Backs.

What is it?

I asked Roland if he would sit for an interview to help answer those questions.

He said yes, but he had another idea that he insisted would be even more fun.

So here's the thing that really puzzles me.

When I called you up and asked if we could talk about your Wall Street Journal column and make an episode based on this idea, you said, yes, and I would actually like to co-host that episode.

Can you explain that?

I know very few Harvard economists or anybody really who's interested in co-hosting a grubby little podcast.

Well, other than that...

I guess the serious question I'm asking is, what kind of questions do you hope to answer or explore as we move forward?

You've got some data, you've talked to a bunch of people, but plainly your appetite is deeper than that.

Why?

What do you want to know?

So today on Freakonomics Radio, Roland Fryer and I explore the decline of the running back.

We speak with one of the analytics gurus who sparked the revolution.

And, of course, we will get the running back perspective.

The quarterback got all the credit for taking to the Super Bowl, and he did the bare minimum.

Last year's Super Bowl was won by the Philadelphia Eagles, whose running back Saquon Barkley had a historically great season.

Was that the sign of a running back renaissance?