Mark Dominik does not know how to evaluate running backs

I like what Mark Dominik has done over the past three years, for the most part. I like the philosophy of building through the draft, although he takes it a little far, and I generally like his draft picks. But there's one position Dominik cannot get right: running back.

Dominik has talked about his criteria for running backs before. He looks for big running backs who fall forward when they're tackled. He looks for yards after contact - hidden yardage. I think that's really, really stupid. The result: players like Allen Bradford, Legarrette Blount and Kregg Lumpkin. One-dimensional players who lack speed and explosion. Players who could pound the ball inside if they were physical. Blount has developed some of that physicality, but he's still a little inconsistent. Lumpkin and Bradford never did, as Lumpkin has shown nothing as a runner and not much as a pass-catcher, while Bradford is now with the Seahawks - as a linebacker.

There's something fundamentally flawed about your evaluation criteria when they would lead you to pass on backs like Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte and others. None of those players are big backs. But they do have something that Dominik's running backs lack: the ability to make a man miss. The ability to execute a jump-cut. The ability to avoid a defender in the backfield. All things that Lumpkin, Bradford and Blount can't do.

I enjoy watching Legarrette Blount run when he has a good day. When he's at his best, he consistently hits it downhill and teams struggle to tackle him. But when he has a bad day, he can't go downhill and can't make anyone miss. He's a one-trick pony, and he has no complement in the backfield because Dominik can't seem to find what other teams do: competent late-round backups.

Get this fixed, Dominik.