Wait...do you mean one of the best ever? That's all I could take out of it with Barry's name being tossed out there. I agree that he'll likely make some great plays and have some exciting runs. If you mean he will be one of running backs on the Lions this season I'd have to agree (but c'mon who does he have to compete with). There is absolutely no way you can reasonably justify a statement putting a guy out as one of the best running backs ever before he even plays a down in the NFL. Best has potential but he's got a long way to go before being put along side backs like Billy Sims, Doak Walker or Barry Sanders.

I think you kind have to put that out there like that. I mean what else can he say, "I think that he can be better then Kevin Jones, Artose Pinner, or Bryson". Really 1 good year from Best and he may become our 4th best rusher historically.

I'll go out on a limb and say that he'll be better than Avion Cason

I think the statement is just that since Barry retired in 1999 some of the RB's the Lions have trotted out there are as follows
James Stewart
Aveion Cason
Shawn Bryson
Artose Pinner
Kevin Jones
Kevin Smith
Mo Morris

Do you think that Best can be as good or better then these guys? Yes.

Absolutely!

That's not the issue... Do YOU think he can provide us with 4+ years of good football?

Considering that the avg career for an NFL RB is about 3 years, I would be ecstatic if he could provide at least that much of good football

It's a funny thing... When you look at the average career of GOOD Rbs it tends to be much longer than that:

TD
LT
BS
WP
AP
CJ
Cory Dillion
Marshal Faulk
Joseph Addia

I wonder what the average HEALTH of a career Rb is, when you remove the guys that only last in the NFL for 1-2 years for skill reasons....

If Best is only on this team providing good football for 3 seasons then he was a wasted pick, and only adds to the argument that we should have addressed the secondary/OL. We're not going to the SB in three years...

Yes we are!

Go Lions!!!

No he's right, it'll be one year!!!

I will have what your having! Lions for Super Bowl!!

I am sorry but how many of those players were drafted in the top 10 how many after wards. TD didn't have much longer then three competitive years. CJ has only been running in the NFL 2 years and Joseph Addia is about the only other non-top10 pick for a RB on the list. 3 years is a bit short, but since running backs tend to have the shortest break in period and tend to hit their prime quicker. 3-5 years of high quality play from a skill position player, and one as impact-full but as short a career as RB have, would be great value for the pick. Specially when you compare the options to at that point to a Jeff Backus or such. You are not getting an immediate starter on the line, and in a likelihood would play similar to the players that people desire to be replaced. You can't just look at the positions that starters last the longest in and upgrade them first, because outside QB, most of those have little affect on the scoreboard directly.

The general rule is age 30 of top production. Anything less is wasted for a first rounder IMO... plus or minus a year or two. 5 years IMO should be minimum to consider a good career for a first round RB OR being a big part of a Superbowl winning season. A Superbowl makes or breaks a career. I can forgive a 2-3 years stint if it gets us a Superbowl.

Why not both?

His draft status is irrelevant to what he's going to provide this team with. We're talking about his career in the NFL. People are saying that he's going to be this great RB, but I don't see it. If you're saying that you can't get a durable back outside of the top 1/2 of the first round, then we shouldn't have taken Best at the end of the first round, period.

If he has a Marion Barber/Choice/Forte/Jones/Smith career, IMO we over paid for him and the value would have been better spent on an OG/CB.

Terrel Davis appeared in two super bowls and was a HUGE contributor to Broncos. He has nearly a career of playoff stats alone. I think that the value of his career speaks for itself.

You HAVE to take into consideration the longevity of other positions when evaluating the Best pick... Why? Because we could have DRAFTED ANOTHER POSITION... A position that WILL be around during a reasonable time frame for us to potentially make the playoffs...