Stephen Dubner

Perhaps not coincidentally, football was not very popular either.

The big American sports back then were baseball and boxing.

It wasn't until the 1960s and 70s, with the rise of the passing game, that football started to become the juggernaut it is today.

But for at least a couple more decades, running backs remained the star attraction.

The position has always required a certain amount of physical sacrifice.

So how long ago did you start thinking about this decline in the value of the running back?

Everybody, right?

And so the running backs...

They've had the biggest drop relative to any other position.

This season, the average salary of a starting quarterback in the NFL was just over $30 million.

The average for starting running backs, $7 million.

There are still plenty of running backs who are considered superstars.

Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs, Christian McCaffrey.

But they're not paid like superstars.

None of those four are among the five highest paid players on their team.

Why not?

Roland Fryer wondered whether this was a supply story or a demand story.

In other words, were running backs just not as good as they used to be?

Or did teams no longer value what running backs had to offer?

The NFL Combine is a showcase where teams assess the abilities of the college players they are looking to draft.