Ezekiel Elliott

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2015, file photo, Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) runs against Alabama in the first half of the Sugar Bowl NCAA college football playoff semifinal game in New Orleans. Following the 38 postseason games with "bowl" in the title, Elliott was chosen as one of the best of the best by a panel of AP writers who cover college football. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson, File)

(Brynn Anderson)

Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott is going to be one of the best rookies in the league next year, maybe even the Rookie of the Year.

What he shouldn't be is a member of the Eagles.

Howie Roseman put his team in position to select the Buckeyes back when he moved up from No. 13 to No. 8 in the first round of the NFL Draft. But even if Elliott is there when the Eagles are on the clock, the team should go in another direction.

Whether it's an offensive lineman such as Notre Dame's Ronnie Stanley, or a cornerback such as Florida's Vernon Hargreaves, a defensive linemen, a linebacker or even a quarterback, whichever one they like best, it just shouldn't be a running back.

In this NFL, you don't win with big-time running backs, and you especially don't take one in the first round if you want to win.

Maybe, just maybe, if you have everything else in place -- a franchise quarterback, a good line in front of him, good receivers and a real good defense -- you can take a back. If not just wait and get one later.

A scout I talked to last week raved about how good Elliott is. When I asked him if his team might take him, he scoffed, "We're not taking a running back in the first round.''

Last season seven backs gained 1,000 yards, or more. None of them won a playoff game. And just one of them, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, even made the playoffs. The Rams Todd Gurley, last year's Rookie of the Year, was another. The Rams took him in the first round and went 7-9.

Denver won Super Bowl 50 with the tandem of Ronnie Hillman, a third-round pick and C.J. Anderson, who went undrafted. New England, as it has done in most of it Super Bowl wins, won the year before with castoffs LeGarrette Blount and Shane Vereen.

To find a running back taken in the first round who helped his team win a Super Bowl you have to all the way back to Joseph Addai and the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI. And Dominic Rhodes actually outgunned Addai in the game.

The last running back to win Super Bowl MVP was Terrell Davis for the Broncos back in 1997 and he was a sixth-round draft pick.

All Roseman and Co. have to do is check their franchise history. The Eagles three best backs in the Super Bowl Era were in whatever order are Brian Westbrook, LeSean McCoy and Wilbert Montgomery. That's a third-round pick, a second-round pick and a sixth-round pick.

Real football isn't fantasy football, where they tell me running backs should go early in the draft. In real football you can get a good one, a real good one, later in the draft. Spend that first-round pick on a different position.

Mark Eckel may be reached at mjeck04@verizon.net. Follow him on Twitter @MarkEckel08. Find NJ.com Eagles on Facebook.