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

[GregR]

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 #8 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. John Riggins was promoted based on the previous voting. Billy Sims was added to the candidates.

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

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	20Tony Dorsett	173	2936	12739	77	4.3	73.6	398	3554	13	8.9	2.3	20.5	16293	94.2	90	90Franco 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	16Bo Jackson	38	515	2782	16	5.4	73.2	40	352	2	8.8	1.1	9.3	3134	82.5	18	11Edgerrin James	148	3028	12246	80	4	82.7	433	3364	11	7.8	2.9	22.7	15610	105.5	91	44Curtis 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	21John Riggins	175	2916	11352	104	3.9	64.9	250	2090	12	8.4	1.4	11.9	13442	76.8	116	58Gale Sayers	68	991	4956	39	5	72.9	112	1307	9	11.7	1.6	19.2	6263	92.1	48	34Thurman 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

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	99Tony Dorsett	1	4	0	0	8	27	20	10	28Franco Harris	1	9	0	0	13	35	10	23	19Priest Holmes	3	3	0	1	38	31	14	60	22Bo Jackson	0	1	0	0	-	28	-	-	-Edgerrin James	1	4	0	0	11	13	18	13	25Curtis Martin	1	5	0	0	4	11	12	8	19Adrian Peterson	2	4	0	0	83	5	54	8	168John Riggins	1	1	0	0	16	53	6	29	12Gale Sayers	5	4	0	*	118	30	107	-	-Thurman Thomas	2	5	1	1	14	47	33	9	31L. Tomlinson	3	5	1	1	6	9	2	6	3

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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.

Player…………	G 	RuAtt 	RuYd 	RuTD 	RuYd/A 	RuYd/G 	Rec 	RecYd	RecTD 	Yd/Rec	Rec/G 	ReYd/G 	YdScm 	YdScm/G	TotalTD	Fmb

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	21Chris Johnson	47	925	4598	34	5	97.8	137	1008	4	7.4	2.9	21.4	5606	119.3	38	7Marion Motley	106	828	4720	31	5.7	44.5	85	1107	7	13	0.8	10.4	5827	55.0	38	9Billy Sims	60	1131	5106	42	4.5	85.1	186	2072	5	11.1	3.1	34.5	7178	119.6	47	40Jim Taylor	132	1941	8597	83	4.4	65.1	225	1756	10	7.8	1.7	13.3	10353	78.4	93	34

Player…………	AllPro	ProBwl	MVP	OffYr	RuYd	RuYd/G	RuTD	YdScm	RuReTD

Shaun Alexander	1	3	1	1	29	20	7	62	13Larry Csonka	2	5	0	0	39	91	35	118	86Chris Johnson	1	3	0	1	139	3	146	-	-Marion Motley	2	1	0	*	127	166	169	-	-Billy Sims	0	3	0	0	109	10	92	-	-Jim Taylor	1	5	1	*	33	52	15	74	24

 

[dgreen]

Sayers, Tomlinson, and Campbell (in some order) should finish out the top 10.

 

[GregR]

Sayers, Tomlinson, and Campbell (in some order) should finish out the top 10.

I have a hard time convincing myself that Sayers deserves it. Compare him to Chris Johnson who isn't even in the voting. Johnson has played 21 games less than Sayers, yet he's about 6-7 games at his current level from catching Sayers in most every category. He has the same yards per attempt, but is a lot better in the receiving game than Sayers was. And CJ has performed like that on a team with no passing game to keep defenses honest. I have a hard time giving Sayers credit for years he won't ever play, when giving Chris Johnson credit for years he will play, he'll probably eclipse where Sayers got to in the time he did play.I don't think he compares well to Adrian Peterson either, who carries a heavier workload but produces per carry at close to the level Sayers did. He's already surpassed him in rushing yards, receiving yards and touchdowns despite playing fewer games.And I'm not even saying either of those two deserve a top ten spot, I'm just saying, I don't know that Sayers stands up to comparisons.

 

[timschochet]

Voted for ADP

 

[Shane Falco]

Voted for ADP

you should stay in the FFA

 

[Tau837]

Sayers, Tomlinson, and Campbell (in some order) should finish out the top 10.

I have a hard time convincing myself that Sayers deserves it. Compare him to Chris Johnson who isn't even in the voting. Johnson has played 21 games less than Sayers, yet he's about 6-7 games at his current level from catching Sayers in most every category. He has the same yards per attempt, but is a lot better in the receiving game than Sayers was. And CJ has performed like that on a team with no passing game to keep defenses honest. I have a hard time giving Sayers credit for years he won't ever play, when giving Chris Johnson credit for years he will play, he'll probably eclipse where Sayers got to in the time he did play.I don't think he compares well to Adrian Peterson either, who carries a heavier workload but produces per carry at close to the level Sayers did. He's already surpassed him in rushing yards, receiving yards and touchdowns despite playing fewer games.And I'm not even saying either of those two deserve a top ten spot, I'm just saying, I don't know that Sayers stands up to comparisons.

Sayers played more than 2 games in 5 seasons.1. He was 1st team All Pro in all 5 of those seasons. IMO this is the single most compelling fact about Sayers.2. He was in the top 5 in rushing yards in all 5 of those seasons; he led the league in rushing yards 2 times and in rushing yards per game 3 times.3. He was in the top 4 in rushing TDs in 4 of those seasons.His production per touch was amazing:5.0 yards per carry11.7 yards per reception14.5 yards per punt return30.6 yards per kickoff returnIn addition, he is the best kick returner of all time, despite what a lot of people say about Devin Hester nowadays.That is an amazing body of work that Chris Johnson and Adrian Peterson do not come close to matching at this time.

 

[dgreen]

Sayers was also named the all-time NFL halfback in 1969 (NFL's 50th anniversary). He had done enough in his career to that point for people at the time to consider him the best halfback of all time. In 1994, he was named to the 75th Anniversary Team. In 2000, he was named to the All-time NFL Team. So, even 25-30 years after he was done and everyone knew how his career ended (unlike his honor in 1969), he was still consider one of the top at his position.

 

[Pigskin Fanatic]

Good stuff here. As a footnote, it's almost unfair to include Bo Jackson. We didn't get to see enough of him in action, if I was to judge from pure skills and talent, he'd surely be in the top 5 of all time imo.

 

[Tau837]

Sayers was also named the all-time NFL halfback in 1969 (NFL's 50th anniversary). He had done enough in his career to that point for people at the time to consider him the best halfback of all time. In 1994, he was named to the 75th Anniversary Team. In 2000, he was named to the All-time NFL Team. So, even 25-30 years after he was done and everyone knew how his career ended (unlike his honor in 1969), he was still consider one of the top at his position.

 

[sn0mm1s]

I have a hard time convincing myself that Sayers deserves it. Compare him to Chris Johnson who isn't even in the voting. Johnson has played 21 games less than Sayers, yet he's about 6-7 games at his current level from catching Sayers in most every category. He has the same yards per attempt, but is a lot better in the receiving game than Sayers was. And CJ has performed like that on a team with no passing game to keep defenses honest. I have a hard time giving Sayers credit for years he won't ever play, when giving Chris Johnson credit for years he will play, he'll probably eclipse where Sayers got to in the time he did play.I don't think he compares well to Adrian Peterson either, who carries a heavier workload but produces per carry at close to the level Sayers did. He's already surpassed him in rushing yards, receiving yards and touchdowns despite playing fewer games.And I'm not even saying either of those two deserve a top ten spot, I'm just saying, I don't know that Sayers stands up to comparisons.

I completely agree. Jamaal Charles will have similar numbers to Sayers as well once he matches the number of games played. The only thing that Sayers has over any of them is his punt and kick return ability. However, I fail to see how that vaults him into a lock in the top 10 of all time yet CJ, AD, and JC aren't even on the ballot. Bobby Mitchell was arguably a better runner and receiver than Sayers and nearly as good at returns and no one ever even considers him for a top 10 RBs of all time because he spent the majority of his HOF career at receiver. Joe Perry has ~10K rushing yards at 5.0 YPC, was the NFL's all time rushing leader before Jim Brown, and at the 5K rushing mark (similar to where Sayers' career ended) he was averaging 5.6 YPC for his career - he isn't even on the on deck circle to get on the ballot.

 

[Chase Stuart]

Sayers was also named the all-time NFL halfback in 1969 (NFL's 50th anniversary). He had done enough in his career to that point for people at the time to consider him the best halfback of all time. In 1994, he was named to the 75th Anniversary Team. In 2000, he was named to the All-time NFL Team. So, even 25-30 years after he was done and everyone knew how his career ended (unlike his honor in 1969), he was still consider one of the top at his position.

To be fair, I'm not sure if that is all that relevant. If a group of people today got together to vote on the best HB of the first 50 years, I think Sayers would be the frontrunner. Brown would be the FB, of course, but Sayers would probably be the HB. Marion Motley's work was largely done in the AAFC. Joe was a good one. Steve Van Buren and Jim Taylor were fantastic running backs, but have faded from memory. Lenny Moore wasn't a true RB. Don Perkins never stood out as elite among his peers. John Henry Johnson was fantastic but surely paled in comparison to Sayers with respect to big play ability. Hugh McElhenny was part of the Million Dollar Backfield which cuts both ways.The point being that just because Sayers was the second best running back of the first 50 years doesn't necessarily mean he's better than Johnson, Peterson or anyone that's come after him. I don't think we've forgotten how good Sayers was, because I'd argue he'd win it again if we re-voted for the NFL's 50th anniversary team. But I'm not sure how relevant that is.