Clutch is Eli
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No. 1 RB of the '80's (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Clutch is Eli
- Start date
CalBear
Footballguy
Unlike Otis, LHUCKS can occasionally be correct. There are four Hall of Famers who had significant stats in the 80s: Dickerson, Payton, Marcus Allen, and Tony Dorsett. Payton wasn't in the prime of his career, although he did put up respectable numbers (9800 yards rushing, 3114 receiving, 62 total TDs). Marcus Allen won a Super Bowl after the 1984 season, and had one of the best RB seasons ever in 1985 (2314 total yards, 14 TDs). Dorsett was effective but not at the level of those two. But Dickerson was a cut above, with 11226 rushing yards for the decade (along with 1633 receiving yards) and a total of 86 TDs. He also averaged 4.58 yards per carry, a huge amount for that time in the NFL.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
80's - Payton
90's - Sanders
90's - Sanders
dgreen
Footballguy
Dickerson and Payton are really the only two possibilities.
Here's a comparison of their 1980s seasons, sorted by yards from scrimmage per game:
Dickerson Payton 145.9 128.3 140.3 127.1 138.3 126.8 127.3 114.2 126.6 107.2 108.7 100.8 97.1 100.1 62.5
Sorted by touches per TD:
Dickerson Payton 22.1 32.5 26.0 33.9 28.3 35.8 28.6 38.7 39.1 45.9 43.0 47.5 50.2 51.9 180.0
Sorted by AV:
Here's a comparison of their 1980s seasons, sorted by yards from scrimmage per game:
Dickerson Payton 145.9 128.3 140.3 127.1 138.3 126.8 127.3 114.2 126.6 107.2 108.7 100.8 97.1 100.1 62.5
Sorted by touches per TD:
Dickerson Payton 22.1 32.5 26.0 33.9 28.3 35.8 28.6 38.7 39.1 45.9 43.0 47.5 50.2 51.9 180.0
Sorted by AV:
Code:
Dickerson Payton 19 18 17 16 15 15 13 13 10 12 10 10 9 8 6
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bicycle_seat_sniffer
Smells like chicken
why does this matter for RB stats? RBs are at the mercy of the quality of their team for superbowls.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
But it does for QBs.Dilfer > Marino
Pipes
Footballguy
Well that settles it then. I guess it's Roger Craig.
Tau837
Footballguy
eaglesfan17
Footballguy
If not Walter Payton then Eric Dickerson >> 6 Pro Bowls, NFL Leading Rusher 4 different seasons, including 2105 in '84
eaglesfan17
Footballguy
Could have been Billy Sims if injuries didnt cut his carerr short
Dought Man
Footballguy
If Gerald Riggs is not mentioned, than this effort is futile.
ericttspikes
Footballguy
No denying the yardage Dickerson put up during the 80's, but I never viewed the guy as a complete back. Payton was the best RB in history IMO, and have to go with him even though he retired in 87 and did most of his TD damage in the late 70's. Payton did it all and was one of the toughest runners in history. I remember Dickerson always looking for the sidelines where as Payton was looking to hit someone. I preferred the way Payton played the game. One of a kind.
Tau837
Footballguy
Chaka
Footballguy
Marcus Allen is probably the most underrated RB in the Hall of Fame (if that makes sense). I don't think I have ever seen a more complete running back (not only was he a great runner and receiver but he was a great blocker downfield and on blitz pickup and the emergency QB). His feud with Al Davis helped extend his career but I think it also limited his production during his peak years, which is a shame.
boubucarow
Footballguy
Payton. But Allen would have been in this conversation if he was used as he should have been by the Raiders.
Dickerson. For sure............and not just because I carried his helmet from the locker room to the practice field at Cal Sate Fullerton a few times as a kid. 
Dickerson was a beast. My favorite player back in the day. In fact, I have a Rams helmet signed by Dickerson in my office......sitting about 10 feet from me at the moment. Good times.
Dickerson was a beast. My favorite player back in the day. In fact, I have a Rams helmet signed by Dickerson in my office......sitting about 10 feet from me at the moment. Good times.
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VaTerp
Footballguy
Dickerson although a good argument can be made for Payton.
I was born in 78' and remember the last half of the 80s very well. I remember all of the talk about the feud between Marcus Allen and Al Davis but still fuzzy on the details.
A quick look at Allen's stats make me think that other than the highlight reel Super Bowl where the Raiders destroyed my Skins and his incredible 85' season, he seems to be a bit overrated to me.
I was born in 78' and remember the last half of the 80s very well. I remember all of the talk about the feud between Marcus Allen and Al Davis but still fuzzy on the details.
A quick look at Allen's stats make me think that other than the highlight reel Super Bowl where the Raiders destroyed my Skins and his incredible 85' season, he seems to be a bit overrated to me.
CalBear
Footballguy
Allen is a deserving Hall of Famer, but definitely in a tier below the best of his extended era. I'd put him below Payton, Dickerson, OJ, Emmitt, Barry, in a tier with guys like Riggins, Thurman Thomas, and Dorsett.
Hooper31
Footballguy
I keep seeing this thread and want to chime in with the greatest fullback of the 80s, but that guy had a big overlap to the 90s.
He was fantasy relevant from 87 to 91.
I give you John L. Williams. The last of a dead breed. Seriously, can anyone name a fullback since that has been fantasy relevant?
He was fantasy relevant from 87 to 91.
I give you John L. Williams. The last of a dead breed. Seriously, can anyone name a fullback since that has been fantasy relevant?
VaTerp
Footballguy
Larry Centers, Keith Byars, Mike Alstott, Mike Tolbert.
Buck Stop
Footballguy
A grossly underrated back, IMHO. Stupid as a rock,but a phenomenal RB.
Bob Loblaw
Footballguy
Barry Sanders behind that OL would have been better.
I Am Rick James
Footballguy
Marcus was MVP of the entire league and a SB MVP in dominating fasion.
Can those other guys say that?
And what about career TD's, are those a big deal?
Marcus 145
Sweetness 125
Dickerson 96
And don't give me that crap about him playing on better teams. If he would have been on the 9ers, he would have 200 TD's
You guys are over looking him
Can those other guys say that?
And what about career TD's, are those a big deal?
Marcus 145
Sweetness 125
Dickerson 96
And don't give me that crap about him playing on better teams. If he would have been on the 9ers, he would have 200 TD's
You guys are over looking him
Chaka
Footballguy
Payton was the 3rd QB?
johnnyboy8102
Footballguy
Still remember this weird game Williams had on 10/25/92: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199210250nyg.htm11 carries/44 yards
11 catches45 yards
There was only 27 total completions in the game by both teams combined and Williams had 11 of them. I am sure the 20 mph winds that day in the meadowlands played a role.
Team ROFLCOPTERS
Footballguy
Super bowls? That is meaningless in this conversation.
Team ROFLCOPTERS
Footballguy
You can't question how the raiders used him. Unless you feel they should have traded one they used him perfect. In fact, they extended Marcus' career five years.
Hooper31
Footballguy
I guess I disagree. Were they really true fullbacks? I know Alstott and Tolbert weren't (or aren't). Was their primary purpose to be lead blockers on more of the snaps? Williams was a real fullback leading the way for Curt Warner. I remember Centers having a ton of catches for a few teams. Same with Byars. But real true leading blocking fullbacks? That's what made Williams different, and as far as I know there hasn't been anyone like him since. Williams finished five consecutive seasons among the top 24 RBs in fantasy points scored. IMO that makes him an extreme oddity. The game has certainly changed.
wudaben
Footballguy
This thread is full of blasphemy!!
Best of the 80's: Dickerson. Walter would be 2nd in the 80's and is the better player if you disregard years played.
Best of the 90's & all time: Barry Sanders... No question. Guy voluntarily retired at 30 after running for almost 1500yds. the year before.
Most impressive RB I ever watched: Bo Jackson. Given his running style he probably wouldn't have lasted long anyway but not only was he one of the fastest guys around he also enjoyed plowing over virtually anyone in his way!
Best of the 80's: Dickerson. Walter would be 2nd in the 80's and is the better player if you disregard years played.
Best of the 90's & all time: Barry Sanders... No question. Guy voluntarily retired at 30 after running for almost 1500yds. the year before.
Most impressive RB I ever watched: Bo Jackson. Given his running style he probably wouldn't have lasted long anyway but not only was he one of the fastest guys around he also enjoyed plowing over virtually anyone in his way!
I think this is unusually insulting toward Dickerson.Sweetness, RIP, was phenomenal no doubt. Plenty of fans had this awesome appreciation for him and this joy that he could finally win a Supe, while at the same time seeing him get "old."
I like when people call Payton the greatest ever. It's so less common than it should be. I imagine most debates here just bypass the 80s and it's like Jim Brown to Barry or Emmitt. It's kind of a shame.
One of the more fascinating things that has happened the last 30 years is we've taught our children not to idolize sports stars- well put a big effort into it.
Walter was still part of the idolizing period for fans or fans' kids. So many kids wanted to be Sweetness and his incredible personality even attracted parents like "hey maybe it's ok, he is special."
As so frustratingly happens in sports, every college RB was the next Sweetness for oh so long.
None were and it was mind-numbing. I mean not even close to his grace, his personality, or his spirit(yeah don't often say spirit about a RB).
I have always believed Curtis Martin was the only one. He came real close. I enjoyed reading about his thoughts on Walter, getting to meet him and correspond with him and it was pretty special.
With many of today's vocal sports stars being yuck while the good ones are often quiet; parents stuck trying to somehow explain to a young kid "ok try to emulate this guy's moves but don't idolize him" ...the world would be pretty great if everyone was still trying to be the next Sweetness. It's ironic. It was so annoying at NFL draft time to refer to so many that way it bugged so many people, yet today it'd be awesome to see kids trying to be the next Sweetness.
Tolbert?Centers was a RB at some point in his career. He once had over 100 catches. It was a joke like the Cards were so bad the WRs couldn't get open so many times that Centers had 100 catches. Their offense was terrible partly because the RB or FB had 100 catches.
Nothing about Centers made you think FB, tough guy, awesome blocker.
Texans TE is a FB now and he used to be a college QB and...Centers is more out of position, get the best guys on the field, like he is.
Byars I remember people couldn't categorize and called him a hybrid. Parcells coached against him and eventually signed old Byars to the Pats during their Supe loss to the Bears. He praised Byars many times. Anyhow, Byars could play TE, FB, or RB. Mostly FB and he'd definitely qualify as a top FB.
This is an FF board and I gotta say most FBs that are awesome would not be good at FF.
Sam Gash is the best FB career I have ever seen. I have never known of a FB's presence about guaranteeing a 1000 yard season for the RB like Gash would. I forget..Baltimore? Buffalo? (maybe both) he went to some team that wasn't very good running the year before and there they were with a 1000 yard rusher.
The best FBs today are called throwbacks and I don't believe that position should have developed. I think however it was was fine. There's still some gems though.
The Giants were awesome at drafting FBs for a real long time, like 20-30 years maybe. Very odd success rate. Anyhow Charles Way was fantasy relevant and IIRC Rodney Hampton was getting old, Tiki wasn't there yet or was still "just a 3rd down back" and Way was about put in the single-back set because he was the only one that could run well. He was very good as a RB and went back to FB whenever the coach wanted, never caring about starring, and knocked someone's socks off. Another Giant RB, Jarrod Bunch was someone I wish there were videos of on youtube. Biggest FB in a long while, very fast for his size, he just crashed into people. He totally missed who he was supposed to block and just took someone out. He didn't even put his head down all the time. His career was short but wow was he entertaining for a FB.
The only other FB that might have been good at FF not mentioned I would guess William Henderson for GB.
Remember this was before free agency so it wasn't so easy for bad teams to get good fast. Over the years, many people have said James Wilder would have been special on any other team. He played for a real bad Bucs team and somehow did well with almost no help and QBs throwing tons of INTs putting them behind in games and...nothing about the Bucs then would make you think "good situation for a RB."
To stir up some debate-
I would vote Herschel Walker as the best RB of the 80s. Marcus second best.
I'd probably be torn between older gems in Detroit and Chicago. Want to pick Dickerson, for sure. Bo was very impressive but so were many backs for a short time. I think Tecmo and other games have turned him into a legend. It's just so unusual to have such praise for such a short short career.
Herschel was a ridiculous physical specimen-like a prototype for a RB. We don't credit his USFL stats here. We don't throw him a bone for going to a bad team in one of the most famous trades ever. His special teams play also never gets noticed. When he was on a good team as the lead back, he was my fave in the 80s. I did watch the USFL.
Marcus is the biggest crying shame I've ever seen in sports. I've never seen a brighter career benched/blackballed for something so egotistically puny in my life. I think in today's WWW world, it wouldn't happen. I thought us NFL fans were cheated in a big way. Maybe Bo's injury was karma for Big Al if you believe in that...I don't know, but if I were a Raider fan then I'd have been furious he didn't get 20 carries 16 games every year.
I would vote Herschel Walker as the best RB of the 80s. Marcus second best.
I'd probably be torn between older gems in Detroit and Chicago. Want to pick Dickerson, for sure. Bo was very impressive but so were many backs for a short time. I think Tecmo and other games have turned him into a legend. It's just so unusual to have such praise for such a short short career.
Herschel was a ridiculous physical specimen-like a prototype for a RB. We don't credit his USFL stats here. We don't throw him a bone for going to a bad team in one of the most famous trades ever. His special teams play also never gets noticed. When he was on a good team as the lead back, he was my fave in the 80s. I did watch the USFL.
Marcus is the biggest crying shame I've ever seen in sports. I've never seen a brighter career benched/blackballed for something so egotistically puny in my life. I think in today's WWW world, it wouldn't happen. I thought us NFL fans were cheated in a big way. Maybe Bo's injury was karma for Big Al if you believe in that...I don't know, but if I were a Raider fan then I'd have been furious he didn't get 20 carries 16 games every year.
Cool story broBut really it isDickerson. For sure............and not just because I carried his helmet from the locker room to the practice field at Cal Sate Fullerton a few times as a kid.
spider321
Footballguy
Emmitt was great. Barry was better than great.
Tau837
Footballguy
Yes, he was. I believe there was a game against the Packers in 1984 when the first two Chicago QBs got knocked out of the game, and Payton took over at QB. He mostly ran the wildcat but also threw a handful of passes. In his career, he attempted 35 passes, including postseason. He threw 9 TDs and 6 interceptions.He was also the emergency punter. He punted once in his career for 39 yards.
He was the best all around football player I've ever seen.
dgreen
Footballguy
My assumption is this thread is only supposed to take production from 1980-1989 into account. When doing that, Dickerson led all players in total TDs (86) during that span. Allen was second (80).Yes, Allen has some impressive awards, but it's not like Dickerson is without awards. He was OROY in 1983, OPOY in 1986, and had 5 first team AP selections. Allen had the OROY in 1982, SB MVP in 1983, OPOY and MVP in 1985, and 2 first team AP selections.
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Jayrok
Footballguy
The OP didn't say No 1 NFL RB of the 80s. Herschel Walker was the best pro football RB in the 80s, IMO. Wasn't his combined stats from both leagues better than anyone else's career... including Jerry Rice? Or something like that.
Tau837
Footballguy
Going by that logic, he didn't ask who the best pro RB was, either. So for Dickerson, we get to include another 4,128 yards from scrimmage and 42 TDs, to go along with his NFL production from 1983 to 1989. Pretty sure that keeps him ahead of Herschel Walker.
Jayrok
Footballguy
I guess it includes college stats. Herschel had 5,502 yards and 53 tds in his 3 seasons at Georgia. 3 time all american and Heisman winner along with a national championship. Pretty good college career.I Am Rick James
Footballguy
No college stats allowed
OP told me to say that
OP told me to say that
Clutch is Eli
Footballguy
Not saying he is number 1, but I have not seen a mention for Ottis Anderson. He may be the most underrated RB of the 1980s. He KILLED it for the Cardinals. Then he went on to be SB MVP for the GMEN. HOW IS THIS MAN NOT IN THE HOF?!?
On a side note, I started the thread and I apologize for not saying "No. 1 NFL RB of the 80s"
On a side note, I started the thread and I apologize for not saying "No. 1 NFL RB of the 80s"
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