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**Official** Top Ten RBs of All Time Series (1 Viewer)

Who should make the next poll as a candidate?


  • Total voters
    126

GregR_2

Footballguy
Voting closed. Vote for RB #8 here.

RB #1: Jim Brown 48.5% of the vote.

RB #2: Walter Payton 41.7% of the vote.

RB #3: Barry Sanders 70.6% of the vote.

RB #4: OJ Simpson 27.4% of the vote.

RB #5(tie): Marshall Faulk 25.2% of the vote.

RB #5(tie): Emmitt Smith 25.2% of the vote.

RB #7: Eric Dickerson 41.0% of the vote.

Time to settle who are the top 10 running backs of all time. The first poll is to vote for the #3 RB of all time. The second poll is to pick the player who didn't make the list of candidates this time but who should be included in the list for the next slot. Thurman Thomas was promoted based on the previous voting.

I've googled about 20 all time top ten lists and chose 14 of the players listed most often, and included Adrian Peterson as the active back I thought most likely to get votes somewhere in the top ten.

Career Stats

Player………… G RuAtt RuYd RuTD RuYd/A RuYd/G Rec RecYd RecTD Yd/Rec Rec/G ReYd/G YdScm YdScm/G TotalTD Fmb
Code:
Marcus Allen	222	3022	12243	123	4.1	55.1	587	5411	21	9.2	2.6	24.4	17654	79.5	144	65Jerome Bettis	192	3479	13662	91	3.9	71.2	200	1449	3	7.2	1	7.5	15111	78.7	94	41Earl Campbell	115	2187	9407	74	4.3	81.8	121	806	0	6.7	1.1	7	10213	88.8	74	43Terrell Davis	78	1655	7607	60	4.6	97.5	169	1280	5	7.6	2.2	16.4	8887	113.9	65	20Eric Dickerson	146	2996	13259	90	4.4	90.8	281	2137	6	7.6	1.9	14.6	15396	105.5	96	78Tony Dorsett	173	2936	12739	77	4.3	73.6	398	3554	13	8.9	2.3	20.5	16293	94.2	90	90Marshall Faulk	176	2836	12279	100	4.3	69.8	767	6875	36	9	4.4	39.1	19154	108.8	136	36Curtis Martin	168	3518	14101	90	4	83.9	484	3329	10	6.9	2.9	19.8	17430	103.8	100	29Adrian Peterson	61	1198	5782	52	4.8	94.8	119	1170	2	9.8	2	19.2	6952	114.0	54	21Barry Sanders	153	3062	15269	99	5	99.8	352	2921	10	8.3	2.3	19.1	18190	118.9	109	41Gale Sayers	68	991	4956	39	5	72.9	112	1307	9	11.7	1.6	19.2	6263	92.1	48	34OJ Simpson	135	2404	11236	61	4.7	83.2	203	2142	14	10.6	1.5	15.9	13378	99.1	75	62Emmitt Smith	226	4409	18355	164	4.2	81.2	515	3224	11	6.3	2.3	14.3	21579	95.5	175	61Thurman Thomas	182	2877	12074	65	4.2	66.3	472	4458	23	9.4	2.6	24.5	16532	90.8	88	50L. Tomlinson	156	3099	13404	144	4.3	85.9	582	4323	15	7.4	3.7	27.7	17727	113.6	159	30
Awards and Career Rankings

ProBwl: Total Pro Bowl appearances

All Pro: Total 1st team All Pro only.

MVP: Total Associated Press MVP only.

OffYr: Total AP Offensive Player of the Year awards

Rest of categories are where they rank on the all time career list.

*: Player predates the creation of the AP Offensive Player of the Year award.

-: Player does not rank in Pro Football Reference's career list in that category.

Player………… AllPro ProBwl MVP OffYr RuYd RuYd/G RuTD YdScm RuReTD
Code:
Marcus Allen	2	6	1	1	12	92	3	7	6Jerome Bettis	2	6	0	0	5	33	10	18	22Earl Campbell	3	5	1	3	30	14	23	78	74Terrell Davis	3	3	1	2	46	4	40	119	99Eric Dickerson	5	6	0	2	7	6	12	14	21Tony Dorsett	1	4	0	0	8	27	20	10	28Marshall Faulk	3	7	1	3	10	36	7	4	7Curtis Martin	1	5	0	0	4	11	12	8	19Adrian Peterson	2	4	0	0	83	5	54	8	168Barry Sanders	6	10	1	2	3	2	9	5	15Gale Sayers	5	4	0	*	118	30	107	-	-OJ Simpson	5	6	1	1	18	12	38	31	60Emmitt Smith	4	8	1	0	1	15	1	2	2Thurman Thomas	2	5	1	1	14	47	33	9	31L. Tomlinson	3	5	1	1	6	9	2	6	3
----------------------------------------

I also grabbed some RBs who didn't make the list this time, but maybe should be included for voting of later slots. The second poll is to decide which one of these RBs gets promoted to the main list next time. If there is someone you think actually belongs in the top ten list who isn't in either list, please post them.

Code:
Player…………	G 	RuAtt 	RuYd 	RuTD 	RuYd/A 	RuYd/G 	Rec 	RecYd	RecTD 	Yd/Rec	Rec/G 	ReYd/G 	YdScm 	YdScm/G	TotalTD	Fmb
Code:
Shaun Alexander	123	2187	9453	100	4.3	76.9	215	1520	12	7.1	1.7	12.4	10973	89.2	112	31Larry Csonka	146	1891	8081	64	4.3	55.3	106	820	4	7.7	0.7	5.6	8901	61.0	68	21Franco Harris	173	2949	12120	91	4.1	70.1	307	2287	9	7.4	1.8	13.2	14407	83.3	100	90Priest Holmes	113	1780	8172	86	4.6	72.3	339	2962	8	8.7	3	26.2	11134	98.5	94	16Edgerrin James	148	3028	12246	80	4	82.7	433	3364	11	7.8	2.9	22.7	15610	105.5	91	44Chris Johnson	47	925	4598	34	5	97.8	137	1008	4	7.4	2.9	21.4	5606	119.3	38	7John Riggins	175	2916	11352	104	3.9	64.9	250	2090	12	8.4	1.4	11.9	13442	76.8	116	58Jim Taylor	132	1941	8597	83	4.4	65.1	225	1756	10	7.8	1.7	13.3	10353	78.4	93	34
Code:
Player…………	AllPro	ProBwl	MVP	OffYr	RuYd	RuYd/G	RuTD	YdScm	RuReTD
Code:
Shaun Alexander	1	3	1	1	29	20	7	62	13Larry Csonka	2	5	0	0	39	91	35	118	86Franco Harris	1	9	0	0	13	35	10	23	19Priest Holmes	3	3	0	1	38	31	14	60	22Edgerrin James	1	4	0	0	11	13	18	13	25Chris Johnson	1	3	0	1	139	3	146	-	-John Riggins	1	1	0	0	16	53	6	29	12Jim Taylor	1	5	1	*	33	52	15	74	24
 
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I intentionally didn't include the "None" option in the second poll, as I think we should keep the same number of choices (15) available for the voting for each slot. So I think it'd be better if people choose whoever they think is most deserving from the list even if they won't vote them top ten.

 
Went with Barry, I think he's a no brainer here. There is another RB that I think isn't too far behind him as far as who I'd want if I was starting a team today, but it would take some wishful thinking for me to put him equal with Barry.

Went with Edge for the second poll. He's pretty consistent in being ranked near the top ten in yards despite having fewer games than a lot of other players, and I think his TD total is probably a little low for his talent mainly because of his team being able to pass effectively in the red zone too.

 
I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.

 
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I'll admit I voted with a bias: E. Smith

Barry Sanders is without a doubt the most elusive, fast, turn on a dime running back that ever played the game. You just can't help but get excited and have adrenaline start pumping through your veins just watching him play. He was like mercury in human form. He was 10 times the elusive runner Smith could ever dream to be.

Blocking, toughness, and leadership is where Smith takes the lead.

 
I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.

 
I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Nobody is going to say Barry always came up big in the big games. Green Bay might disagree though. Hence, why he walked away from football. It did strike me as odd that an Emmitt supporter brings up his invisible playoff presence when Barry averaged 4.2 yards per rush in his 6 playoff games. Ironically, that is the same number that Emmitt averaged his entire career. Was Emmitt's entire career an invisible presence? As a football fan, it would have been nice to see Detroit(Sanders) and Dallas(Smith) meet in the playoffs a bit more. It only happened once. Detroit won 38-6.

Instead of bashing Barry, maybe a post on why Emmitt deserves it, would be more appropriate.

 
Barry should run away with this.
Too bad he walked away instead.
I think this ranks up there with the 'backward runs' for being way overplayed by people who don't like Sanders.If he'd announced at the end of the season that he was retiring instead of how he did it, would that have made him faster, a better blocker, a better receiver, anything? No.It doesn't make one gush that he didn't show more consideration for his team, but IMHO if you factor in how everything about the various player's careers should be counted, that is maybe a 1% thing to me, and not enough to overcome that he did play with heart for 10 years.
 
Barry should run away with this.
Too bad he walked away instead.
I think this ranks up there with the 'backward runs' for being way overplayed by people who don't like Sanders.If he'd announced at the end of the season that he was retiring instead of how he did it, would that have made him faster, a better blocker, a better receiver, anything? No.It doesn't make one gush that he didn't show more consideration for his team, but IMHO if you factor in how everything about the various player's careers should be counted, that is maybe a 1% thing to me, and not enough to overcome that he did play with heart for 10 years.
Agreed. I just couldn't keep away from the play on words. :bag:
 
I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Nobody is going to say Barry always came up big in the big games. Green Bay might disagree though. Hence, why he walked away from football. It did strike me as odd that an Emmitt supporter brings up his invisible playoff presence when Barry averaged 4.2 yards per rush in his 6 playoff games. Ironically, that is the same number that Emmitt averaged his entire career. Was Emmitt's entire career an invisible presence? As a football fan, it would have been nice to see Detroit(Sanders) and Dallas(Smith) meet in the playoffs a bit more. It only happened once. Detroit won 38-6.

Instead of bashing Barry, maybe a post on why Emmitt deserves it, would be more appropriate.
It really depends on what you want in your back.

I want a every down back. A guy who can move the chains, keep drives going, and comes up big in clutch situations. Not a guy who has big play potential, but costs my teams first downs. For every long run Barry had, he had two runs for negative yards.

Is there another back who ever played who did that?

ETA - If you want to bring up stats, please don't forget most carries for a loss, and somehow figure out how many times the faster more elusive Barry was caught from behind on long runs.

 
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I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Nobody is going to say Barry always came up big in the big games. Green Bay might disagree though. Hence, why he walked away from football. It did strike me as odd that an Emmitt supporter brings up his invisible playoff presence when Barry averaged 4.2 yards per rush in his 6 playoff games. Ironically, that is the same number that Emmitt averaged his entire career. Was Emmitt's entire career an invisible presence? As a football fan, it would have been nice to see Detroit(Sanders) and Dallas(Smith) meet in the playoffs a bit more. It only happened once. Detroit won 38-6.

Instead of bashing Barry, maybe a post on why Emmitt deserves it, would be more appropriate.
It really depends on what you want in your back.

I want a every down back. A guy who can move the chains, keep drives going, and comes up big in clutch situations. Not a guy who has big play potential, but costs my teams first downs. For every long run Barry had, he had two runs for negative yards.

Is there another back who ever played who did that?

ETA - If you want to bring up stats, please don't forget most carries for a loss, and somehow figure out how many times the faster more elusive Barry was caught from behind on long runs.
How many negative rushes per game did Barry have? How many yards lost per game? How many did other RBs in our list have?
 
I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Nobody is going to say Barry always came up big in the big games. Green Bay might disagree though. Hence, why he walked away from football. It did strike me as odd that an Emmitt supporter brings up his invisible playoff presence when Barry averaged 4.2 yards per rush in his 6 playoff games. Ironically, that is the same number that Emmitt averaged his entire career. Was Emmitt's entire career an invisible presence? As a football fan, it would have been nice to see Detroit(Sanders) and Dallas(Smith) meet in the playoffs a bit more. It only happened once. Detroit won 38-6.

Instead of bashing Barry, maybe a post on why Emmitt deserves it, would be more appropriate.
It really depends on what you want in your back.

I want a every down back. A guy who can move the chains, keep drives going, and comes up big in clutch situations. Not a guy who has big play potential, but costs my teams first downs. For every long run Barry had, he had two runs for negative yards.

Is there another back who ever played who did that?

ETA - If you want to bring up stats, please don't forget most carries for a loss, and somehow figure out how many times the faster more elusive Barry was caught from behind on long runs.
How many negative rushes per game did Barry have? How many yards lost per game? How many did other RBs in our list have?
How many did the other backs have? I don't know, but obviously not as many as Barry. I can't post a link, because I can't find one, but I have the Sports Illustrated Book of Football which states Barry had 336 carries for a loss, equaling -952 Yards. (The NFL record)

Not that's a double edge stat. At first glance, one would say, while yes he did have a lot of carries for a loss, he still put up prolific numbers. However, how many drives did those carries kill?

I'm not sure why people have such a hard time grasping this. Sure I think Barry was more talented. TO was more physically talented then Jerry Rice. Rice just wanted it more.

The same goes for Emmitt Vs Barry.

Every time this argument comes up, we hear the same thing. IF Barry had Emmitt's this.... IF Barry played another year... IF Barry's line wasn't 5 four year olds with amputated limbs.... IF, IF, IF..... If I had three wheels, I'd be a tricycle.

Call me on my cel When Barry gets some hardware.

 
I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Nobody is going to say Barry always came up big in the big games. Green Bay might disagree though. Hence, why he walked away from football. It did strike me as odd that an Emmitt supporter brings up his invisible playoff presence when Barry averaged 4.2 yards per rush in his 6 playoff games. Ironically, that is the same number that Emmitt averaged his entire career. Was Emmitt's entire career an invisible presence? As a football fan, it would have been nice to see Detroit(Sanders) and Dallas(Smith) meet in the playoffs a bit more. It only happened once. Detroit won 38-6.

Instead of bashing Barry, maybe a post on why Emmitt deserves it, would be more appropriate.
It really depends on what you want in your back.

I want a every down back. A guy who can move the chains, keep drives going, and comes up big in clutch situations. Not a guy who has big play potential, but costs my teams first downs. For every long run Barry had, he had two runs for negative yards.

Is there another back who ever played who did that?

ETA - If you want to bring up stats, please don't forget most carries for a loss, and somehow figure out how many times the faster more elusive Barry was caught from behind on long runs.
How many negative rushes per game did Barry have? How many yards lost per game? How many did other RBs in our list have?
How many did the other backs have? I don't know, but obviously not as many as Barry. I can't post a link, because I can't find one, but I have the Sports Illustrated Book of Football which states Barry had 336 carries for a loss, equaling -952 Yards. (The NFL record)

Not that's a double edge stat. At first glance, one would say, while yes he did have a lot of carries for a loss, he still put up prolific numbers. However, how many drives did those carries kill?

I'm not sure why people have such a hard time grasping this. Sure I think Barry was more talented. TO was more physically talented then Jerry Rice. Rice just wanted it more.

The same goes for Emmitt Vs Barry.

Every time this argument comes up, we hear the same thing. IF Barry had Emmitt's this.... IF Barry played another year... IF Barry's line wasn't 5 four year olds with amputated limbs.... IF, IF, IF..... If I had three wheels, I'd be a tricycle.

Call me on my cel When Barry gets some hardware.
I really don't understand the negative yards comment. I'm assuming you've watched Barry play and understand his situation. I've NEVER seen Barry take the handoff and take a knee or run backwards. That is what your implying. Barry was one of the greatest that has ever played because of his never say die attitude with the ball in his hands. He would not accept a 2 yard loss. He was a dancer by default. Not much choice when the defense is in the backfield with you. How many times was Barry dancing 20 yards downfield?

As for killing drives. Are you kidding me? So when it's 3rd and 5 he should just get back to the line or scrimmage or take the 1 yard gain instead of trying to get the first down? He extended many more drives than he ever killed with his running ability.

The ONLY thing Emmitt wanted more than Barry were the records. Barry was humble while Emmitt seemed to be an ego maniac. Barry's rookie year and he could have won the rushing crown over Christian Okoye that year. He takes himself out of the game because he cared more about the wins and losses than the stats. Does anyone on this board think Emmitt takes himself out in that situation?

As for the hardware: Maybe you should put a bit more stock in actual running ability than how good the teams they played on were. To me averaging 5.0 (Barry) yards per carry for your career is much more impressive than averaging 4.2(Emmitt) yards per carry. Seriously, almost a full yard every time you touch the football. That is just sick. Not to mention Barry had an advantage of 8.3 yards per reception compared to 6.3 for Emmitt.

I think they are both great Rb's, but the numbers don't lie. Since you like to compare. Was Emmitt a Pro Bowl player as well as either a 1st or 2nd team All-Pro every year from 1990 to 1998? Just to save you the hassle. No he was not. Barry Sanders was. Emmitt was not a better RB when they played together and that is still the case now.

 
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I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Nobody is going to say Barry always came up big in the big games. Green Bay might disagree though. Hence, why he walked away from football. It did strike me as odd that an Emmitt supporter brings up his invisible playoff presence when Barry averaged 4.2 yards per rush in his 6 playoff games. Ironically, that is the same number that Emmitt averaged his entire career. Was Emmitt's entire career an invisible presence? As a football fan, it would have been nice to see Detroit(Sanders) and Dallas(Smith) meet in the playoffs a bit more. It only happened once. Detroit won 38-6.

Instead of bashing Barry, maybe a post on why Emmitt deserves it, would be more appropriate.
It really depends on what you want in your back.

I want a every down back. A guy who can move the chains, keep drives going, and comes up big in clutch situations. Not a guy who has big play potential, but costs my teams first downs. For every long run Barry had, he had two runs for negative yards.

Is there another back who ever played who did that?

ETA - If you want to bring up stats, please don't forget most carries for a loss, and somehow figure out how many times the faster more elusive Barry was caught from behind on long runs.
How many negative rushes per game did Barry have? How many yards lost per game? How many did other RBs in our list have?
How many did the other backs have? I don't know, but obviously not as many as Barry. I can't post a link, because I can't find one, but I have the Sports Illustrated Book of Football which states Barry had 336 carries for a loss, equaling -952 Yards. (The NFL record)

Not that's a double edge stat. At first glance, one would say, while yes he did have a lot of carries for a loss, he still put up prolific numbers. However, how many drives did those carries kill?

I'm not sure why people have such a hard time grasping this. Sure I think Barry was more talented. TO was more physically talented then Jerry Rice. Rice just wanted it more.

The same goes for Emmitt Vs Barry.

Every time this argument comes up, we hear the same thing. IF Barry had Emmitt's this.... IF Barry played another year... IF Barry's line wasn't 5 four year olds with amputated limbs.... IF, IF, IF..... If I had three wheels, I'd be a tricycle.

Call me on my cel When Barry gets some hardware.
See this was a loaded question, because I already had an idea from past discussions on Barry Sanders how he compared to other RBs in terms of negative yardage. I asked the question because I've never, in probably a dozen threads where Sanders negative yardage was a point of discussion, seen a person who used it against him who had any conception of what is 'normal' and any ability to put in context just how much those would affect an NFL team.



Barry vs Walter Payton

Sanders had 1114 total yards lost in his career (952 of which were rushing in 336 carries, the rest presumably are receiving). (Source NFL Films "Barry's Backwards Runs".) Sanders lost on average 7.2 yards per game (6.2 rushing, 1.0 receiving). He lost an average of 2.8 yards on each of his negative rushes. He on average 2.2 lost yardage rushes per game, or once every 9.1 carries.

Walter Payton averaged 64 yards lost per season. (Same film as the source.) Don't know how many carries that was in, it wasn't mentioned. Since he played 13 seasons that means he lost 832 yards in his career. Payton lost on average 4.4 yards per game rush and rec.

So Barry lost on average 2.8 yards from scrimmage more per game than Walter Payton. We don't know how many carries Payton lost yards on to compare.



Barry vs Arian Foster

The first 8 games of last year, Arian Foster had 14 negative yardage plays for -28 yards.... 11 rushes for -24 yards and 3 passes for -4. (Source, me looking at game books on NFL.com so we had someone else to compare to in the Barry v Emmitt thread.) Over that span Foster averaged 1.4 negative rushes per game for -3 yards per game. Foster lost on average 3.5 total yards per game. Foster also had an additional 10 plays (1.25 per game) for no gain.

Sanders averaged 0.8 more rushes per game that lost yards, and 3.7 more yards lost per game than Arian Foster over his first half a season last year.



Barry vs Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson 47 plays for negative yardage in 16 games last year (2 receptions for -3 yards, and 45 rushes for -111 yards). He had an additional 43 plays for no gain. (Source, me looking at game books on NFL.com for this thread to have another player to compare to.) Chris Johnson lost 7.1 yards per game and had 2.8 rushes per game for negative yards.

Barry Sanders averaged 0.1 more yards lost per game than Chris Johnson in 2010. Barry Sanders career averaged 0.6 FEWER rushes for a loss than Chris Johnson in 2010.

So let's put that all in some perspective. Barry only lost about 3 yards more per game than Walter Payton. He lost 3.5 more yards on 1 more negative yardage rush than Arian Foster's first half last year.

Sanders lost almost exactly the same yards per game over his career as Chris Johnson lost year. And Chris Johnson lost yardage on 27% more of his carries than Barry did over his career. Sanders lost yards once every 9.1 carries, Chris Johnson lost yards one carry in 7.

Heaven forbid that a team get Chris "Drive Killer" Johnson, right?

Let's put this in some more context. Just how badly does 1 more lost yardage play hurt a team? How much does 2, or 4, or 7 more yards lost per game hurt a team? What happens if we look at how much yardage some QBs lose per game in sacks and see if we apply the same scale to them that is being applied to Barry?

John Elway was sacked an average of 2.2 times per game, the same exact number of negative yardage rushes that Sanders had. Elway lost an average of 16.2 yards per game on sacks, well over twice as much as both Sanders 6.2 yards lost rushing and 7.2 total yards lost from scrimmage per game.

How does Elway compare to other QBs?

Favre was sacked 1.7 times per game for an average of 11.5 yards lost.

Peyton is sacked 1.1 times per game for an average of 7.1 yards per game.

Jon Kitna is sacked 2.3 times per game for an average of 14.3 yards per game.

Matt Hasselbeck is sacked 1.8 times per game for an average of 11.2 yards per game.

Kerry Collins is sacked 1.7 times per game for an average of 11.2 yards per game.

So Elway has 9 more negative yards per game than Peyton Manning, and is sacked at twice the rate, 1.1 more per game. Barry has only 7 negative yards per game TOTAL rush and rec, and that as a total is less than just how much Elway exceeds Peyton by. Surely if Barry having 2.2 rushes for -6.8 yards kills drives, then John Elway having 2.2 sacks for -16.2 yards must have kept Elway's team from moving the ball, right?

Elway has 5 more yards lost per game than Matt Hasselbeck and Kerry Collins. If Barry is getting penalized as much as some people like to for 2.8 more yards lost per game than Walter Payton the 2nd best RB of all time, then surely Elway really deserves to be knocked down for having a much larger difference when compared to slightly above average QBs?

This is what I'm talking about when people make Barry's lost yardage WAY overblown. On average he's got 1 more play per game that lost yards. Add in the fact that even with spotting some others negative yards, he still out gains them by a significant amount (13 more yards per game than Emmitt after you add in both's negative yards), and that benefit in moving the chains from Barry far outweighs the detrimental part.

 
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I'm going to point out one other factor in Barry Sander's negative yardage.

Barry Sanders played 1/3 of his career in the Run and Shoot offense. The draw play is the normal running play in a Run and Shoot offense. You're a lot more likely to have a D-lineman or LB deeper in your backfield when you have to stand and wait for the QB to drop back like he's passing before handing it off, compared to when you start moving forward immediately and receive the ball earlier and closer to the line.

So one would expect Sanders to have a few more negative yardage plays from 3 years in the R&S than if he'd played all 10 years in a traditional pro offense.

 
If your going to think about the negative yards.... then just think about all those extra positive yards that really didn't get counted (to get the total to zero)

 
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Here are the pro bowl/all pro blockers smith played with during his championship runs.

Erik Williams T 4 pro bowl, 3 All pro

Mark Tuenei T 2 pro bowl, 2 all pro

Mark Stepnoski C 5 time pro bowl, named to NFL's all 1990's team

nate newton G 6 time pro bowl, 2 time all pro, USFL all time team

Larry Allen 11 pro bowl, 7 all pro, NFL all 90's team, NFL all 2000's team

Kevin Gogan G 3 pro bowls

Ron Stone G 3 pro bowls

moose johnson FB 2 pro bowls

Jay novacek te 5 pro bowls 5 all pro

Here are the Pro bowl/All pro blockers sanders played with during his entire career..

Lomas brown 7 pro bowl 6 all pro

Kevin glover 3 probowls

Smith " wanting it more" is such a silly argument. Wanting it more isn't why Smith won 3 championships. He won them because he was on one of the most dominant teams of all time, and if anything, 3 championships was probably underachieving for as talented as those teams were. Smith was tough, no question. And he was a great RB for that team, incredibly durable. But Sanders is the most talented back that I've ever seen, and it's not even close. HIs statistics ( which are incredible) don't even tell the story of how spectacular he was.

 
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I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Sounds like you have never seen Barry run. here you go.
Also pay attention to where the defenders are as soon as Barry gets the ball.

 
also, while I know he doesn't have the career numbers to merit being on this list, If I needed to pick 1 running back to put on my team to win 1 game, I'd take bo jackson over anyone.

 
I'm sad to say that my opinion of Emmitt has almost diminished with all these fools comparing him to Barry.

Emmitt was great. Barry was the greatest I've ever seen.

Edit to add: "almost"

 
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'spider321 said:
I'm sad to say that my opinion of Emmitt has diminished with all these fools comparing him to Barry.Emmitt was great. Barry was the greatest I've ever seen.
That doesn't even make sense. At all.
 
'RobertBobson said:
also, while I know he doesn't have the career numbers to merit being on this list, If I needed to pick 1 running back to put on my team to win 1 game, I'd take bo jackson over anyone.
This is sound Logic. :loco:
 
'GregR said:
'STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
'GregR said:
'STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
'Go Blue said:
'STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
'Go Blue said:
I voted for Barry here. I'm also in the camp this is a no-brainer. Barry could have been #1, or #2, but I see a dropoff after the top three of all time. At least top 3 in my opinion. (Brown, Sanders, and Payton)

I'm guessing that the people that don't vote for Barry are voting with some sort of bias. Either against Barry or for someone else.

How hard is it to run for 2000 yards in a season? Obviously it's not easy since it's only been done 6 times. How hard is it to rush for 2000 yards in a season after you've been in the league for 5 years? While I can't say impossible, it's only been done once. A 29 year old Sanders in his 9th season.
I cannot vote a guy 3rd who might as well have a invisible playoff presence.

I don't want to hear the 15 pages of excuses about how bad his team was. Yes he played on a bad team. One could also argue that other then GB for a few years, the rest of his division was also a complete joke.

If he had Emmitt's line, blah, blah, blah. If my aunt had a pair, she'd be my uncle.
Nobody is going to say Barry always came up big in the big games. Green Bay might disagree though. Hence, why he walked away from football. It did strike me as odd that an Emmitt supporter brings up his invisible playoff presence when Barry averaged 4.2 yards per rush in his 6 playoff games. Ironically, that is the same number that Emmitt averaged his entire career. Was Emmitt's entire career an invisible presence? As a football fan, it would have been nice to see Detroit(Sanders) and Dallas(Smith) meet in the playoffs a bit more. It only happened once. Detroit won 38-6.

Instead of bashing Barry, maybe a post on why Emmitt deserves it, would be more appropriate.
It really depends on what you want in your back.

I want a every down back. A guy who can move the chains, keep drives going, and comes up big in clutch situations. Not a guy who has big play potential, but costs my teams first downs. For every long run Barry had, he had two runs for negative yards.

Is there another back who ever played who did that?

ETA - If you want to bring up stats, please don't forget most carries for a loss, and somehow figure out how many times the faster more elusive Barry was caught from behind on long runs.
How many negative rushes per game did Barry have? How many yards lost per game? How many did other RBs in our list have?
How many did the other backs have? I don't know, but obviously not as many as Barry. I can't post a link, because I can't find one, but I have the Sports Illustrated Book of Football which states Barry had 336 carries for a loss, equaling -952 Yards. (The NFL record)

Not that's a double edge stat. At first glance, one would say, while yes he did have a lot of carries for a loss, he still put up prolific numbers. However, how many drives did those carries kill?

I'm not sure why people have such a hard time grasping this. Sure I think Barry was more talented. TO was more physically talented then Jerry Rice. Rice just wanted it more.

The same goes for Emmitt Vs Barry.

Every time this argument comes up, we hear the same thing. IF Barry had Emmitt's this.... IF Barry played another year... IF Barry's line wasn't 5 four year olds with amputated limbs.... IF, IF, IF..... If I had three wheels, I'd be a tricycle.

Call me on my cel When Barry gets some hardware.
See this was a loaded question, because I already had an idea from past discussions on Barry Sanders how he compared to other RBs in terms of negative yardage. I asked the question because I've never, in probably a dozen threads where Sanders negative yardage was a point of discussion, seen a person who used it against him who had any conception of what is 'normal' and any ability to put in context just how much those would affect an NFL team.



Barry vs Walter Payton

Sanders had 1114 total yards lost in his career (952 of which were rushing in 336 carries, the rest presumably are receiving). (Source NFL Films "Barry's Backwards Runs".) Sanders lost on average 7.2 yards per game (6.2 rushing, 1.0 receiving). He lost an average of 2.8 yards on each of his negative rushes. He on average 2.2 lost yardage rushes per game, or once every 9.1 carries.

Walter Payton averaged 64 yards lost per season. (Same film as the source.) Don't know how many carries that was in, it wasn't mentioned. Since he played 13 seasons that means he lost 832 yards in his career. Payton lost on average 4.4 yards per game rush and rec.

So Barry lost on average 2.8 yards from scrimmage more per game than Walter Payton. We don't know how many carries Payton lost yards on to compare.



Barry vs Arian Foster

The first 8 games of last year, Arian Foster had 14 negative yardage plays for -28 yards.... 11 rushes for -24 yards and 3 passes for -4. (Source, me looking at game books on NFL.com so we had someone else to compare to in the Barry v Emmitt thread.) Over that span Foster averaged 1.4 negative rushes per game for -3 yards per game. Foster lost on average 3.5 total yards per game. Foster also had an additional 10 plays (1.25 per game) for no gain.

Sanders averaged 0.8 more rushes per game that lost yards, and 3.7 more yards lost per game than Arian Foster over his first half a season last year.



Barry vs Chris Johnson

Chris Johnson 47 plays for negative yardage in 16 games last year (2 receptions for -3 yards, and 45 rushes for -111 yards). He had an additional 43 plays for no gain. (Source, me looking at game books on NFL.com for this thread to have another player to compare to.) Chris Johnson lost 7.1 yards per game and had 2.8 rushes per game for negative yards.

Barry Sanders averaged 0.1 more yards lost per game than Chris Johnson in 2010. Barry Sanders career averaged 0.6 FEWER rushes for a loss than Chris Johnson in 2010.

So let's put that all in some perspective. Barry only lost about 3 yards more per game than Walter Payton. He lost 3.5 more yards on 1 more negative yardage rush than Arian Foster's first half last year.

Sanders lost almost exactly the same yards per game over his career as Chris Johnson lost year. And Chris Johnson lost yardage on 27% more of his carries than Barry did over his career. Sanders lost yards once every 9.1 carries, Chris Johnson lost yards one carry in 7.

Heaven forbid that a team get Chris "Drive Killer" Johnson, right?

Let's put this in some more context. Just how badly does 1 more lost yardage play hurt a team? How much does 2, or 4, or 7 more yards lost per game hurt a team? What happens if we look at how much yardage some QBs lose per game in sacks and see if we apply the same scale to them that is being applied to Barry?

John Elway was sacked an average of 2.2 times per game, the same exact number of negative yardage rushes that Sanders had. Elway lost an average of 16.2 yards per game on sacks, well over twice as much as both Sanders 6.2 yards lost rushing and 7.2 total yards lost from scrimmage per game.

How does Elway compare to other QBs?

Favre was sacked 1.7 times per game for an average of 11.5 yards lost.

Peyton is sacked 1.1 times per game for an average of 7.1 yards per game.

Jon Kitna is sacked 2.3 times per game for an average of 14.3 yards per game.

Matt Hasselbeck is sacked 1.8 times per game for an average of 11.2 yards per game.

Kerry Collins is sacked 1.7 times per game for an average of 11.2 yards per game.

So Elway has 9 more negative yards per game than Peyton Manning, and is sacked at twice the rate, 1.1 more per game. Barry has only 7 negative yards per game TOTAL rush and rec, and that as a total is less than just how much Elway exceeds Peyton by. Surely if Barry having 2.2 rushes for -6.8 yards kills drives, then John Elway having 2.2 sacks for -16.2 yards must have kept Elway's team from moving the ball, right?

Elway has 5 more yards lost per game than Matt Hasselbeck and Kerry Collins. If Barry is getting penalized as much as some people like to for 2.8 more yards lost per game than Walter Payton the 2nd best RB of all time, then surely Elway really deserves to be knocked down for having a much larger difference when compared to slightly above average QBs?

This is what I'm talking about when people make Barry's lost yardage WAY overblown. On average he's got 1 more play per game that lost yards. Add in the fact that even with spotting some others negative yards, he still out gains them by a significant amount (13 more yards per game than Emmitt after you add in both's negative yards), and that benefit in moving the chains from Barry far outweighs the detrimental part.
Nice wall of text. It's unfortunate all those stats mean nothing, if you just average them out. When did the lost yards occur? How did is runs for a loss hinder the drive? The point of running the ball is to gain positive yards. You can't use those negative rushes in a vacuum and just average them out over the season. You have to figure down and distance. His horrible QB play would have benefited form him gaining +1 yard,rather then -2, just by trying harder.

LOL at manipulating the numbers to pretend the most carries for a loss in NFL history means absolutely nothing.

Typical Barry rush line.....

1st down.... 1 rush 10 yards

1st down.... 1 rush 7 yards

2nd & 5..... 1 rush -3 yard

3rd & 8 (Instead of a manageable 3rd and 2 if he had just followed the design of the run) Team is forced to pass....

Punt...

Look, for the tenth time, I'm not suggesting Barry wasn't a good back. He was amazing. I loved to wathc him play. I just would rather have a guy who always pushes the ball forward and keeps long sustaing physical , time consuming drives over a guy who can score on any giving play, but can also lose yard.

Think of it like the Greatest show on turf, the 99 Rams. They would score in a second, but also, Warner would throw 3-4 pics sometimes. Scoring quickly is nice, however it does keep the defense on the field longer, wearing them out, hindering their performance. Then you have a more balanced team, say like SF in the 80's. who would have long sustaining, time consuming drives, which rested the defense, and wore out the opposing defense.

It's a personal preference.

I'd take the following backs over Barry:

Brown

Payton

Smith

OJ

Earl

Marcus

Marshall

Then Barry

ETA - Lets keep the convo comparing apples to apples, and leave Elway out of this. Hand picking a rushing QB, with below average offense weapons around him on a pass first offense isn't exact apples to apples. Nice try though.

 
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'GregR said:
I'm going to point out one other factor in Barry Sander's negative yardage.Barry Sanders played 1/3 of his career in the Run and Shoot offense. The draw play is the normal running play in a Run and Shoot offense. You're a lot more likely to have a D-lineman or LB deeper in your backfield when you have to stand and wait for the QB to drop back like he's passing before handing it off, compared to when you start moving forward immediately and receive the ball earlier and closer to the line. So one would expect Sanders to have a few more negative yardage plays from 3 years in the R&S than if he'd played all 10 years in a traditional pro offense.
Not to mention Barry got Taken out in the Redzone. Was this horrendous coaching? Absolutely. Who would take Barry Freaking Sander out of the offense on the Redzone of all places? :loco:The averages you seem so hung up on weren't ever negatively effected because he wasn't getting any goaline touches. Whats the point of scoring football? To score right?Barry scored a TD every 31 rushes.Emmitt every 27.
 
Anyone arguing Emmitt over Barry didnt watch enough of Barry imho.

If you were paying any attention during their overlapping careers, there is no comparison. Barry was hands down the better... everything.

 
Anyone arguing Emmitt over Barry didnt watch enough of Barry imho.If you were paying any attention during their overlapping careers, there is no comparison. Barry was hands down the better... everything.
He was a better blocker?Who got caught from behind, although being allegedly faster?Barry was more powerful?Better receiver?Better GL back?Better playoff performer?This is like arguing Wilt was better than Russell.Othewr then being more elusive, what exactly was Barry better then Emmitt? :popcorn:
 
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(text snipped to cut down on scroll)

Nice wall of text. It's unfortunate all those stats mean nothing, if you just average them out. When did the lost yards occur? How did is runs for a loss hinder the drive? The point of running the ball is to gain positive yards. You can't use those negative rushes in a vacuum and just average them out over the season. You have to figure down and distance. His horrible QB play would have benefited form him gaining +1 yard,rather then -2, just by trying harder.

LOL at manipulating the numbers to pretend the most carries for a loss in NFL history means absolutely nothing.

Typical Barry rush line.....

1st down.... 1 rush 10 yards

1st down.... 1 rush 7 yards

2nd & 5..... 1 rush -3 yard

3rd & 8 (Instead of a manageable 3rd and 2 if he had just followed the design of the run) Team is forced to pass....

Punt...

Look, for the tenth time, I'm not suggesting Barry wasn't a good back. He was amazing. I loved to wathc him play. I just would rather have a guy who always pushes the ball forward and keeps long sustaing physical , time consuming drives over a guy who can score on any giving play, but can also lose yard.

Think of it like the Greatest show on turf, the 99 Rams. They would score in a second, but also, Warner would throw 3-4 pics sometimes. Scoring quickly is nice, however it does keep the defense on the field longer, wearing them out, hindering their performance. Then you have a more balanced team, say like SF in the 80's. who would have long sustaining, time consuming drives, which rested the defense, and wore out the opposing defense.

It's a personal preference.

I'd take the following backs over Barry:

Brown

Payton

Smith

OJ

Earl

Marcus

Marshall

Then Barry

ETA - Lets keep the convo comparing apples to apples, and leave Elway out of this. Hand picking a rushing QB, with below average offense weapons around him on a pass first offense isn't exact apples to apples. Nice try though.
So you're saying I have to go and look at the context of down and distance, and criticize me for "manipulating numbers" when I show actual stats. While your argument which immediately follows is based on you making up a series of carries with nothing shown to support that it is real or indicative, but is instead just a set of carries you pulled out of your ### that would go along with what you're saying?

So I can't even use real results, but you can base your arguments off of made up ones? REALLY?

Did you even follow your own requirements to the point of going and looking at Arian Foster's and Chris Johnson's down and distances to see how they compare to your made up indicative series of Barry's?

Nope.

 
Anyone arguing Emmitt over Barry didnt watch enough of Barry imho.

If you were paying any attention during their overlapping careers, there is no comparison. Barry was hands down the better... everything.
He was a better blocker?

Who got caught from behind, although being allegedly faster?

Barry was more powerful?

Better receiver?

Better GL back?

Better playoff performer?

This is like arguing Wilt was better than Russell.

Othewr then being more elusive, what exactly was Barry better then Emmitt? :popcorn:
Are you comparing Fullbacks or Runningbacks? Last time I checked we were discussing the best RUNNINGbacks of all time.

Barry had a much better yards per carry average. 5.0 to 4.2

Barry had more Pro bowls as well as more All Pro seasons.

Barry had a huge advantage in rushing yards per game. 99.8 to 81.2.

Yards from scrimmage per game also favor Barry greatly. 118.9 to 95.5.

As for your comments up above. I'll give an edge to Emmitt on blocking. I don't think there is any doubt that Emmitt is a better blocker.

What does the getting caught from behind have anything to do with being a better RB? Please bring up valid points.

Barry Sanders had tree trunks for legs. Yes, he was more powerful than Emmitt.

I'd rate their receiving ability even. Both averaged 2.3 receptions per game over their careers. Although Barry did do much more with each reception.

You seem to think that because Emmitt ran behind a very good offensive line that he has Earl Campbell, John Riggins, or Larry Czonka goal line ability. Emmitt was a very good GL RB because he always had holes to run through. He was not a move the pile type of RB. Emmitt does get the advantage here because Barry was not a GL back thanks to the coaching philosphy.

Emmitt also has the advantage in playoff performances. Barry was the focal point of defenses in the regular season but it only intensified in the playoffs. It was no secret who you had to stop to stop the Lions. For the most part Emmitt was a steady playoff performer.

Those are commments from a football fan. I owned a Smith jersey before I owned a Sanders jersey. Please take off the homer goggles.

 
You guys take your guy, Ill take mine.

As I said, Emmitt is only one of the many backs I would take ahead of Barry.

My guys will be less flashy, but actually win something at least once in their career. You take the guy that gets you on Sportscenter, has less TD's, ZERO rings, but coulda, woulda, shoulda.

Oh, and I'll take the guy who played against far tougher defenses year in and year out, then the perennially putrid black and blue disaster of a division.

 
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Should have been a tie for 2nd between Sanders and Payton. Not sure how a 56 to 55 vote makes a decisive win.
I believe it was 55-50 when I made the RB #3 poll.As I said, we have to stop at some point. It isn't like people won't realize it's a 2a and 2b in that case.
 
Emmitt Smith's lost yards 2001-2004

NFL.com has Play by Play going back to 2001, which allowed me to look up all of Emmitt Smith's games from 2001 to 2004.

Emmitt had 872 carries in those 4 years. 14% of them (121), or 1 carry out of every 7.2, were for lost yards. Another 10% of them (90) were for no gain. So 24% of Smith's carries didn't make it past the line of scrimmage.

He lost a total of 291 yards rushing for a total of 2.4 yards lost per negative rush.

He also had -16 yards on 8 receptions so his total negative yardage was 307 over the 4 years. He played in 55 games total, so Emmitt lost 5.6 yards from scrimmage per game over that time frame.

 
I think the next vote is going to be the interesting one.

I have a feeling that Smith's supporters will keep voting him, but the folks who are separating offensive line play from running back play may go a different direction for at least another vote or two.

 
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Bo Jackson needs to be put on the candidate list
Alright, will put him in next time.
Wait, I get why people would consider Barry over Emmitt, but Bo does not belong on the list of top 10 backs in the history of the NFL. He has 2782 career rushing yards for Christ sake. :confused:
Well, we basically have a pool of about 25 RBs for 10 slots. I don't see how including him is going to ruin anything, whether I feel he's qualified or not. (I don't think he is either, but that is neither here nor there.) If some people may legitimately vote for him then he should probably be available.Before he can even be voted on for a spot in the top ten, he has to beat out the other alternate candidates. I don't really think that including him will be an issue.
 
'RobertBobson said:
also, while I know he doesn't have the career numbers to merit being on this list, If I needed to pick 1 running back to put on my team to win 1 game, I'd take bo jackson over anyone.
This is sound Logic. :loco:
Bo Jackson had the best combination of power, speed and quickness that I've ever seen. He never played a complete season because he was playing baseball, and he got injured very early in his career, but he averaged 5.4 yards per carry over his short career, and I think he's the best overall rb that I've ever seen. HE can't be considered the greatest, because he had such a short career, played so few games But I think he had a superior skill set to any RB I've ever seen, and I'd rather have a peak bo jackson over a peak anyone else on that list.
 
'RobertBobson said:
also, while I know he doesn't have the career numbers to merit being on this list, If I needed to pick 1 running back to put on my team to win 1 game, I'd take bo jackson over anyone.
This is sound Logic. :loco:
Bo Jackson had the best combination of power, speed and quickness that I've ever seen. He never played a complete season because he was playing baseball, and he got injured very early in his career, but he averaged 5.4 yards per carry over his short career, and I think he's the best overall rb that I've ever seen. HE can't be considered the greatest, because he had such a short career, played so few games But I think he had a superior skill set to any RB I've ever seen, and I'd rather have a peak bo jackson over a peak anyone else on that list.
Agree with all of that, however he doesn't belong on any greatest ever list unless it's a list for potential.
 
'RobertBobson said:
also, while I know he doesn't have the career numbers to merit being on this list, If I needed to pick 1 running back to put on my team to win 1 game, I'd take bo jackson over anyone.
This is sound Logic. :loco:
Bo Jackson had the best combination of power, speed and quickness that I've ever seen. He never played a complete season because he was playing baseball, and he got injured very early in his career, but he averaged 5.4 yards per carry over his short career, and I think he's the best overall rb that I've ever seen. HE can't be considered the greatest, because he had such a short career, played so few games But I think he had a superior skill set to any RB I've ever seen, and I'd rather have a peak bo jackson over a peak anyone else on that list.
Agree with all of that, however he doesn't belong on any greatest ever list unless it's a list for potential.
Which is why, you may have noticed, the first thing I said was "while I know he doesn't have the career numbers to merit being on this list...."
 

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