NFL Draft Bust Vault: RB Ron Dayne, New York Giants

Sep 8, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; New York Giants helmet on the bench against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports /

He was supposed to be the ‘Thunder’ to Tiki Barber’s ‘Lightning’. Giving the New York Giants a duo at the running back spot that provide opposing defenses plenty of trouble.

Instead, he turned out to be a cold front that passed on through.

Former Wisconsin Badgers running back Ron Dayne was drafted 11th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. A strong case can be made that Dayne wasn’t truly needed by the Giants with Barber already on board yet if you look back at Barber’s career up to that point, the drafting of Dayne was the beginning of Barber’s establishment as a well-respected running back. Coming out of Wisconsin, the 1999 Heisman trophy winner racked up even more prestigious awards from the 1999 Walter Camp Player of the Year award to the 1999 AP Player of the Year award to earned Rose Bowl MVP honors twice. Dayne was well credentialed and well established.

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If you know of Dayne and his running style, in today’s game, he would clearly be a fullback. However, in 1996, the legend of Dayne was born in Madison, Wisconsin and it culminated with the 1999 Heisman trophy. As he transitioned to the Giants, he played quite well with 770 yards and five touchdowns with only one fumble in 2000 as he aided the Giants to the Super Bowl in which they lose the Baltimore Ravens.

That rookie season set a bar for Dayne. Maybe too much of a bar….

Over the course of the next three seasons with the Giants, his yards and carries diminished by the season. In 2001, Dayne totaled 180 carries, 690 yards, and seven touchdowns. The next season, Dayne only had 125 carries, 428 yards, and three touchdowns with only one start. The big issue with Dayne was his weight concerns. Then Giants head coach Jim Fassel stressed to Dayne his case on wanting the RB to lose weight. Fassel saw a lack of commitment from Dayne, be that as it may, Fassel was fired prior to the 2004 season and enter Tom Coughlin. Dayne lost 40 lbs but the 2004 season only garnered 52 carries for 179 yards. The next three seasons saw Dayne with the Denver Broncos and the Houston Texans. Those tenures were underwhelming as well I might add which led to his retirement after the 2007 season.

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Looking back over his career, one thing stood out to me about why Dayne is labeled a bust. No, it’s not the weight. It’s not even the Giants or Fassel. What may have possibly affected his career dramatically was the number of rushes Dayne had in his four years at Wisconsin. Dayne is first all-time in NCAA history in carries (1,220) and yards (7, 125). Not all running backs can endure an insane amount of workload. To put the amount of carries and yards into context, Dayne’s 1,220 carries came in total of 47 games.

In Melvin Gordon’s career at Wisconsin, he tallied 631 carries in 45 games. Regardless of Dayne’s college weight which was roughly around 270 pounds, that many carries will wear anyone out. Especially when Dayne played against defensive ends who were his size. Which means Dayne already reached his peak in year one in the NFL. It may have never occurred to most when seeing Dayne dragging two or three defenders in college. Despite the accolades, Dayne was a prime example of wear-and-tear before we even fully got a grip to what it was.

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