(USA Today Sports Images)The Green Bay Packers are a passing team, and a very successful one. They have won 36 regular season games, two division titles and a Super Bowl the last three years with almost nothing out of the running game.

The NFL is a passing league, and only the Saints might epitomize that more than the Packers. Green Bay hasn't had a 100-yard rusher since Week 5 of the 2010 season, and is still winning at about a 75 percent clip during the last three seasons.

All of that makes Green Bay's selection of running backs Eddie Lacy in the second round and Johnathan Franklin in the fourth round very interesting.

It's hard to imagine the Packers want to be a totally balanced offense, considering they just gave quarterback Aaron Rodgers a $110 million extension to make him the highest paid player in NFL history. Green Bay's identity is tied into Rodgers throwing the ball, and they'd be crazy to change that formula too much.

The Packers' thought has to be that in the best-case scenario, they stick to the same approximate 57-43 pass-run ratio they've had the last three years, but they're much better in that 43 percent with Lacy and Franklin rather than guys like James Starks and DuJuan Harris wasting plays. And as a result, a more effective running game makes Rodgers even better.

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The process by which former Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson has endeavored to become future NFL receiver and special teamer Denard Robinson took a big step forward on the third day of the NFL draft. With the second pick in the fifth round (135th overall), the Jacksonville Jaguars took Robinson, and will work him in as a moveable chess piece. The Jags also took ultra-fast South Carolina receiver Ace Sanders in the fourth round, so they're clearly looking to diversify the ways in which they attack enemy defenses.

Robinson completed 427 passes in 747 attempts over four years for the Wolverines for 6,250 yards, 49 touchdowns, and 39 interceptions. But it was really as a runner that he made his bones in the NCAA. He ran 723 times for 4,495 yards (a 6.2 average), and 42 touchdowns. One wonders if the Jags have some read-option packages in mind -- most certainly, Blaine Gabbert hasn't established that he deserves to be the team's pre-emptive starter at the quarterback position, and we've seen many NFL teams expand what they do in the backfield option game.

At the Senior Bowl, Robinson was still recovering from a hand injury, and he looked raw in receiver and return drills, to say the least.

[Also: Geno Smith faces rough road in New York]

Through the North team practices, Robinson has struggled mightily with the most basic elements of his new proposed position. Recruited as a potential cornerback or receiver by several colleges out of Deerfield Beach High School in Florida, Robinson instead went to Michigan to run Rich Rodriguez's spread offense as a running quarterback and eventually excelled under Brady Hoke as head coach and Al Borges as offensive coordinator. That's what he did before, and the results were spectacular at times. But this week in Mobile, Robinson has also proved when so many receivers new to the NFL have told me through the years -- once to hit NFL-level talent, it's about much, much more than the ability to run fast.

At the scouting combine less than a month later, however, Robinson caught the ball far more consistently, and showed that there's something behind his embryonic efforts to change positions.

Marcus Lattimore was picked by the 49ers (USA Today Sports Images)

Six months to the day after his college career was ended by a serious right knee injury, South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth-round (No. 131 overall) of the 2013 NFL draft.

Lattimore, who suffered a season-ending left knee injury in 2011, likely would have been the top running back available in this year's draft if he was not recovering from surgery to repair multiple ligaments he tore in his right knee during an Oct. 27, 2012 game against Tennessee.

San Francisco is an ideal landing spot for Lattimore as they have outstanding depth at the running back position with Frank Gore starting and Kendall Hunter and 2012 second-round LaMichael James providing depth. The 49ers will likely place the 21-year-old Lattimore on a reserve list (such as physically unable to perform) and allow him to rehabilitate his injury with their own medical staff with an eye towards playing him in 2014 and perhaps taking on a bigger role as Gore is scheduled to be a free agent in 2015.

[Related: Winners, losers from 2013 NFL draft]

According to Jeff Darlington of the NFL Network, Gore reached out to Lattimore following his injury last October and the two backs have remained in touch. At the 2013 scouting combine, Lattimore compared his running style to Gore.

"I feel like we both run hard. He runs like nobody's there. He runs with total destruction," Lattimore said of Gore. "I feel like if I could compare my game to anybody, it would be Frank Gore. He's got low pads, he's got great vision, he can see the whole field. Great balance."

(Getty, USA Today Sports Images)The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Landry Jones in the fourth round of the NFL draft. It turns out he wasn't the only person drafted in the family this month. Jones' wife Whitney Hand was drafted by the WNBA's San Antonio Stars on April 15.

Both standout athletes at Oklahoma, Jones and Hand were married in July of 2012. She tore her ACL early in her senior season, but is expected to return to action this summer. During Jones' senior year, he led the Sooners to a 10-2 record, and will fight for a back-up spot on the Steelers.

Hand's ties to the Steelers don't end with her husband. At Oklahoma, she was teammates with Carlee Roethlisberger, the sister of Pittsburgh quarterback Ben. Jones and Roethlisberger will already have common ground on the first day of training camp.

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Pay attention, Johnny Manziel and Teddy Bridgewater and any other quarterback who will be eligible to enter the NFL draft early after this season: Tyler Wilson and Landry Jones went from being hot names a year ago to the 112th and 115th overall picks in this year's draft. The lesson is take advantage while you're stock is high.

The run on quarterbacks finally came in the third day of the NFL draft. USC's Matt Barkley and Syracuse's Ryan Nassib went early in the fourth round, and Wilson and Jones were next off the board. Wilson went to the Raiders in a very interesting move, and Jones went to the Steelers in another interesting, albeit puzzling, move.

Last year, if Wilson and Jones hadn't returned for another year of college, it might have cost those teams a first-round pick to take those players. Whether they were exposed as seniors or are good value picks in the fourth round will play out with their new teams.

[Also: New Cardinals DB Tyrann Mathieu continues to raise red flags]

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Jacksonville doesn't have any hope at quarterback, but it keeps passing on quarterbacks in the draft like the franchise is allergic to them.

The Giants have a two-time Super Bowl MVP at quarterback, Eli Manning. But Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib's slide into the middle of the fourth round offered value that the Giants could not pass up. New York went with the best player available and took Nassib, who was projected by some to go as high as eighth overall, in the fourth round with the 110th overall pick. He was the best player available, and the Giants general manager Jerry Reese likes stockpiling those BPAs. That's just the smart way to operate.

There's a reason some teams are stuck drafting early every year, and others like the Giants are contending for a championship many years.

USC quarterback Mat Barkley had to wait longer than he expected to hear his name in the NFL draft, but he didn't have to wait too long on the third day. The Philadelphia Eagles traded up with the Jacksonville Jaguars and took Barkley with the first selection of the fourth round (98th overall).

Barkley's an experienced quarterback, but one wonders what the scheme fit would be in Chip Kelly's system. Though Barkley has good footwork, he's never run anything resembling a read-option offense, which makes one wonder if Kelly's NFL offense will be more different -- pocket-friendly, run-heavy, and with more multiple route concepts.

"I would say, yeah, I’m a traditional dropback quarterback, passing quarterback," Barkley said at the scouting combine, when asked if he could do more than act as a pocket quarterback. "At the same time, I definitely believe I have the quickness, the pocket mobility, to avoid [rushers and have] what it takes to get out of the pocket. I think my throwing on the run is great. I have complete confidence in that. I’m not going to be running a 4.3 40 or anything like that, but how many starting quarterbacks in the league this day can? I believe that I’m strong enough to make every throw, move in the pocket and make guys miss."

The main ding on Barkley, and the reason he slipped this far despite his generally impressive tape, is his relative lack of arm strength -- the functional ability to make throws into tight windows. At Oregon, Kelly set his quarterbacks up to throw shorter passes with multi-receiver concepts, so he's a fit in that sense.

Quarterback performance coach Chris Weinke, who worked with Barkley at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., told me at Barkley's pro day that the debits against his client's physical tools are overcooked.

Apparently, Jesse Williams hasn't passed the eye test. (Getty Images)The legendary basketball coach John Wooden liked to say that "Success is never final, and failure is never fatal." Those players left on the board for Day 3 of the NFL draft would do well to remember that. Just because your journey to the NFL takes you through the later rounds doesn't mean that you can't be a special player in the pros -- and if you are, chances are pretty good that you'll beat out someone who was selected with a higher pick than you were in the grand scheme of things. Draft boards move in strange ways.

Of last year's All-Pro players in skill positions (non-special teamers), nine were either selected in the fourth round of their drafts or lower, or were undrafted entirely. So, you kids out there wondering what's happening to your lives, go ask Alfred Morris, Vonta Leach, Jerome Felton, Jahri Evans, Cameron Wake, Geno Atkins, London Fletcher, Richard Sherman, and Dashon Goldson how it can be done even if the NFL seems to have overlooked you.

Based on our evaluations of their college careers, here's our list of the best players still available for Day 3 of the NFL draft.

Jesse Williams, DT, Alabama: Former rugby and basketball player from Australia who's still developing as a football player, but brings incredible strength and leverage, and a dynamite playing personality, to the field. Workout warrior with evolving potential. Can play nose tackle straight over center or shaded to the side, but is quick enough to move around gaps. Could possibly make a Haloti Ngata-type impact in the right system.

Ryan Nassib just got a cold dose of reality. (Getty Images)Ryan Nassib, QB, Syracuse: As with all the quarterbacks left on the board, Nassib is a limited-ceiling player with some intriguing attributes. Effectively mobile, smart, tough player who can run an offense at the NFL level, but tends to play over his head at times. Inconsistent deep-ball thrower, but could develop into a spot starter in the NFL over time. He's a bit like Mark Sanchez before the Jets ruined him.

Alex Okafor, DE, Texas: Kind of a John Abraham-type pass-rusher; may have dropped because he's kind of a tweener. Underrated burst off the edge and can move inside to tackle on passing downs. Doesn't have a bull-rush of note, and he may not be laterally agile enough to move outside as a 3-4 endbacker, but teams playing four-man fronts could do a lot worse. Frankly, I'm surprised to see Damontre Moore go ahead of Okafor.

Jonathan Franklin, RB, UCLA: The best remaining running back, and potentially a lot more productive than a few of the five guys selected in Day 2. A fast player with outstanding escapability in tight spaces and some breakaway speed. At 5-foot-10 and 205 pounds, he's more of a situational guy than an every-down player, but the NFL tends to see most backs that way at this point.

Matt Barkley, QB, USC: