Many saw the Bears decission to hand the starting running back spot to Matt Forte as follie, considering veteran options such as Shaun Alexander and Kevin Jones were available. This story sees it quite the contrary saying that running back is possibly the easiest position for a rookie to succeed right away and history backs that up.
Schemes and philosophies can vary, but a running back's primary job is the same at every level: Find the hole, accelerate and make the first defender miss. More than anywhere else, raw skills and instincts can triumph over inexperience.
Recent NFL history offers ample evidence. Since the 1993 start of the salary-cap era, 44 rookies have rushed for at least 700 yards in a season. Of those, 27 have achieved the 1,000-yard plateau -- and not all were high-profile draft picks. For every Adrian Peterson (1,341 yards in 2007) and LaDainian Tomlinson (1,236 in 2001), there has been a Domanick Williams (1,031 in 2003) and Terrell Davis (1,117 in 1995).
Unless Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton come down with a case of the Drew Brees, I think Forte is going to need to bring more than the 1,000 yards he thinks he will get. Furthermore, those 1,000+ yards need to be accompanied by double digit TDS if this offense is to be any help to the defense.