Fred Taylor Retiring (1 Viewer)

[eaglesfan7]

Fred Taylor said today that he doesn't see himself returning to football and that he is "basically retired". Silva pointed out some stats of his and they are impressive for a player that has not received much credit. He's 15th on the all-time rushing list, made 1 Pro Bowl in 13 years and led the NFL in rushing yards per game in 2000 (did not go to the Pro Bowl). He had 1,223 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns on the ground in his rookie season along with 421 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns and did NOT make the Pro Bowl. Was dominant in 2003 with over 1,500 rushing yards and ran for over 1,000 yards 7 times in his career. ONE Pro Bowl!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Warhogs]

Taylor was a very solid RB who may have broken into the top 10 in rushing yards if he did not have all the injuries. It is a bit surprising he only made 1 pro bowl. Enjoy the retirement Fred Taylor.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

The one running back who had the perfect blend of speed, size, agility and willingness to make the Steelers run defense play... well... defensively (as opposed to aggressively).

/salute Fred Taylor

 

[adrenaline]

He did get snubbed in his rookie year but in 2007 he did the snubbing to equal it out. In 2000 the guys who got it deserved it. Always good but numbers just not with the elite. Happy retirement Fragile Fred!

 

[chinawildman]

It's a shame about fragile fred and his injuries, in his prime he was as good a runner as I've ever seen. I actually felt sorry for the Steelers D in that game when Taylor went off for 4TDs against them. The one probowl thing suprises me as well...

 

[Sweet Love]

I vaguely remember him not making it to the Pro Bowl more often, but at the time, he was in the same conference as guys like Terrell Davis, Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, Curtis Martin, Jerome Bettis, LT, Eddie George, Jamal Lewis, Ricky Williams, Corey Dillon, etc. There just always seemed to be a few guys better than him each year. The AFC was pretty loaded back then...

 

[cvnpoka]

in a few years taylor will have the most rushing yards of anyone not in the hall of fame.

 

[zed2283]

In before "first ballot hall of famer?" post/thread.

 

[Tau837]

I think the whole "Fred Taylor is underrated" thing has led to him being a bit overrated. He only started 137 games in 13 seasons... that's a lot of missed time.

He was never once in the top 5 in rushing yards in any season, and he was only in the top 5 in rushing TDs one time.

He has nice ypc and ypr averages, but IMO he amounts to "just" a very good player, not a great player. As someone else posted, there were a number of RBs who were better every year of his career.

 

[Matt Waldman]

Skill-wise, Fred Taylor was one of the the most talented backs in the league during his first 3-4 seasons. Just incredibly impressive on the eyes. In the stats, you can tend to feel he's overrated. However, stats show production first and only hint at talent.

He'll never be a HOFer and doesn't deserve to be. However, I wouldn't disagree with anyone saying Fred Taylor at his best was one of the more talented backs they've ever seen.

 

[5Rings]

Well said Matt.

 

[Mr. Brownstone]

Skill-wise, Fred Taylor was one of the the most talented backs in the league during his first 3-4 seasons. Just incredibly impressive on the eyes. In the stats, you can tend to feel he's overrated. However, stats show production first and only hint at talent. He'll never be a HOFer and doesn't deserve to be. However, I wouldn't disagree with anyone saying Fred Taylor at his best was one of the more talented backs they've ever seen.

 

[cvnpoka]

I think the whole "Fred Taylor is underrated" thing has led to him being a bit overrated. He only started 137 games in 13 seasons... that's a lot of missed time.He was never once in the top 5 in rushing yards in any season, and he was only in the top 5 in rushing TDs one time.He has nice ypc and ypr averages, but IMO he amounts to "just" a very good player, not a great player. As someone else posted, there were a number of RBs who were better every year of his career.

well, its more like 136 starts in 11 years. he wasnt really expected to start as a 32 year old on the pats and i dont think its an accurate portrayal to use those 2 years to dilute his work.

 

[Sweet Love]

I think the whole "Fred Taylor is underrated" thing has led to him being a bit overrated. He only started 137 games in 13 seasons... that's a lot of missed time.He was never once in the top 5 in rushing yards in any season, and he was only in the top 5 in rushing TDs one time.He has nice ypc and ypr averages, but IMO he amounts to "just" a very good player, not a great player. As someone else posted, there were a number of RBs who were better every year of his career.

well, its more like 136 starts in 11 years. he wasnt really expected to start as a 32 year old on the pats and i dont think its an accurate portrayal to use those 2 years to dilute his work.

I understand your point, but it is not like he joined Chris Johnson to be part of a RBBC. In fact, I think he had the starting gig until he got hurt. Either way, he had an equally old Sammy Morris and an under achiever in Laurence Maroney to contend with. I am a huge Curtis Martin fan, and comparing two contemporaries, Martin is light years ahead of Taylor or his body of work. With that said, if I had to pick one RB for just one game (both in their prime), I would choose Taylor and not look back...I would also choose Jamaal Anderson over Martin in that situation, but I have no illusions of saying Anderson is HOF worthy.

 

[JamesTheScot]

A very talented guy, except in the durability department. In his prime and when healthy, he was possibly the most complete, talented back playing ball.

His injuries kept him from having what I think could have been a HOF career.

But with all his durability concerns, it's actually almost impressive that he lasted 13 seasons. I know I never expected him to still be playing on the north side of 30.

 

[cvnpoka]

his durability issues are just massively overblown. he played 13+ games 8 times. he started 18th most games of all time for rbs. hes not hof level, but compared to long time rbs his durability is fine.

 

[Kree]

his durability issues are just massively overblown. he played 13+ games 8 times. he started 18th most games of all time for rbs. hes not hof level, but compared to long time rbs his durability is fine.

I would say that the injuries were more a play of bad timing than anything else. Missing half of your second year after a great rookie year, and then having another great year and then missing all of your fourth year eats up a lot of a players prime time. The fact that he fit in so many other quality years is a testament to his ability.

 

[Mr. Retukes]

Here's a list of RBs with at least 2000 carries who have a higher YPC than Fred Taylor.

1. Jim Brown

2. Barry Sanders

3. Tiki Barber

4. O.J. Simpson

That's the end of the list.