The NFL loves running backs again. The 2018 draft is proof.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Running backs are ho-hum. You can find one around any corner. Their once high value is obsolete. It is strictly a passing league now.

This chatter swirls around the NFL.

But it’s not the reality. It’s not the action.

With three rounds of the draft here complete, eight running backs have been selected. Eight were selected through three rounds last year, too.

Their rise in draft priority is striking when comparing only the last two drafts. Last year, it took 105 picks for eight to be selected. This year, only 71 picks. Only two were selected in the first 40 picks last year. Five were selected in that span this time.

There is a four-year shivering landscape shift among running backs that is affecting the draft.

It started in 2012 when Trent Richardson was selected by Cleveland as the No. 3 overall pick. He bombed.

NFL teams became petrified at the notion of drafting running backs high and early. Swing passes to backs and bubble screens to receivers offset running back needs. Passing games became even more intricate, sexy and the clear route to points and championships.

After Richardson in 2012, the 2013 draft unfolded with no running back selected in the first round. None was even selected in the first 36 picks.

In the 2014 draft, no running back was selected in the first round. None was even selected in the first 53 picks.

But In 2015, the Rams slammed the trend.

Along came Todd Gurley. They drafted him at No. 10 overall. He won offensive rookie of the year and made the Pro Bowl.

In 2016, Ezekiel Elliott surfaced in Dallas, the No. 4 overall pick. He led the league in rushing and made the pro bowl.

Last year Leonard Fournette was drafted No. 4 overall. He rushed for 1,040 yards and helped lead Jacksonville to the AFC championship game.

The Giants just spent this year’s No. 2 overall pick on Saquon Barkely.

What a waste of value! Only franchise quarterbacks should go that highly! What a mistake by the Giants? Are you serious!

That is the old-school, stuck-in-a-rut lament.

But it’s not the reality. It’s not the action.

Influential and successful NFL offensive coaches preach balance. They often use the term ”multiple.” They want balance and ”multiple” in their offense because that allows them to empty their entire playbook. Variety throws defenses off. Keeps them guessing. Makes them a step too late.

Winning offensive minds insist that the passing game may be the fire of the offense, but the running game and a winning running back - in his pass protection, pass catching and darting rushes - must be the match.

This is what they seek.

Todd Gurley and Ezekiel Elliott, in particular, and their recent impacts changed the narrative. They have induced draft selectors to stop being timid about identifying dynamic running backs and drafting then as highly as it takes.

In the NFC East, Barkely is a response to Elliott. Derrius Guice, selected by Washington at pick No. 59 on Friday night, is a response to both. Dallas, the Giants and Washington know that to catch the Super Bowl champion Eagles, they need to throw it. But they need to run it well, too, to control the Eagles newfound clout.

I love the conviction of new Giants general manager Dave Gettleman.

He can’t pick Barkley, he was advised. Get a franchise quarterback, he was warned. You many never gain the No.-2 pick again, so, don’t blow it on a back.

But Barkley is not just a back.

He can do what Gurley and Elliott and recent others have done. He can create balance and help the Giants be multiple. And even more than others, he can blaze and score from anywhere on the field either running it or catching it.

”I think my game translates to the NFL,’’ he told me here on Thursday night after being drafted. ”I know the NFL game is bigger and faster, but I’m confident I can find a place in it. I appreciate the Giants believing in me. I know picking me at No. 2 is a big investment. But I plan on proving my value and being a good teammate, a good Giant.’’

A difference-making running back.

A signature of the NFL’s old/new trend.

Seattle wants it. It reached for San Diego State running back Rashaad Perry with the No. 27 overall pick. New England gets it and drafted Sony Michel with its first round pick, No. 31. Early in the second round at picks 35, 38 and 43 went running backs Nick Chubb, Ronald Jones II and Kerryon Johnson. Cleveland grabbed Chubb even though the Browns already have Carlos Hyde. Jones can step quickly into Tampa Bay and shine. Detroit traded up to get Johnson as the Lions seek healing of their long, open wound at running back.

Denver with pick No. 71 was enamored of running back Royce Freeman.

But before that, at pick No. 59, Washington nabbed Guice.

It was a bumpy ride for Guice. He was labeled a first-round talent. But word spread that he was immature and lacked consistency in his pre-draft approach. Those criticisms appeared to cause his fall.

All the way to five picks from the bottom of the second round.

Think about that – a slide, for sure, but still, in the supposed slumping world of running backs, that is not a cascading avalanche.

Running backs as draft priorities are chic once again.

They are going sooner, faster.

That’s the reality. That’s the action.