Tomlinson Greatest Fantasy Footballer Ever? (1 Viewer)

[the next level]

Bill Simmons just published an article proclaiming LT the greatest ever Fantasyfootballer. Well written and thought out:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8197963/the-pretend-legend-ladainian-tomlinson

It's hard to argue with this. I personally would have gone with Priest Holmes only because I'm biased since I was a Holmes owner in those magical 02-03 seasons. Simmons makes a good case for LT over Faulk as well. Is there anyone else who should be considered for for such a lofty title?

 

[-jb-]

Faulk

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Faulk

Yep

 

[Sweet Love]

Jerry Rice? If you played PPR back then...

 

[cstu]

Rice by a mile for WR's, but on a per game basis Owens, Moss and Harrison aren't too far behind.

1	Jerry Rice	wr	1985--2004	303	87	645	7.41	10	1549	22895	14.78	197	3596.02	Terrell Owens	wr	1996--2010	219	39	251	6.44	3	1078	15934	14.78	153	2554.53	Randy Moss	wr	1998--2010	202	25	159	6.36	0	954	14858	15.57	153	2426.74	Marvin Harrison	wr	1996--2008	190	10	28	2.80	0	1102	14580	13.23	128	2228.85	Cris Carter	wr	1987--2002	234	13	41	3.15	0	1101	13899	12.62	130	2174.06	Tim Brown	wr	1988--2004	255	50	190	3.80	1	1094	14934	13.65	100	2118.47	Isaac Bruce	wr	1994--2009	223	25	139	5.56	0	1023	15206	14.86	91	2083.8

 

[cstu]

I think the guy is right:

Tomlinson - 16.8 PPG (probably even more dominant if you take out his Jets numbers)

Sanders - 16.1 PPG

Faulk - 15.5 PPG (would be a little closer in PPR)

1	Emmitt Smith	rb	1990--2004	226	4409	18355	4.16	164	515	3224	6.26	11	3213.02	Walter Payton	rb	1975--1987	190	3838	16726	4.36	110	492	4538	9.22	15	2876.43	LaDainian Tomlinson	rb	2001--2011	170	3174	13684	4.31	145	624	4772	7.65	17	2852.84	Marshall Faulk	rb	1994--2005	176	2836	12279	4.33	100	767	6875	8.96	36	2731.45	Marcus Allen	rb	1982--1997	221	3022	12243	4.05	123	587	5411	9.22	21	2629.46	Barry Sanders	rb	1989--1998	153	3062	15269	4.99	99	352	2921	8.30	10	2473.07	Curtis Martin	rb	1995--2005	168	3518	14101	4.01	90	484	3329	6.88	10	2347.98	Thurman Thomas	rb	1988--2000	182	2877	12074	4.20	65	472	4458	9.44	23	2181.29	Tony Dorsett	rb	1977--1988	173	2936	12739	4.34	77	398	3554	8.93	13	2169.310	Eric Dickerson	rb	1983--1993	146	2996	13259	4.43	90	281	2137	7.60	6	2119.411	Edgerrin James	rb	1999--2009	148	3028	12256	4.05	80	434	3356	7.73	11	2107.212	Jerome Bettis	rb	1993--2005	192	3479	13662	3.93	91	200	1449	7.25	3	2085.213	Franco Harris	rb	1972--1984	173	2949	12120	4.11	91	307	2287	7.45	9	2040.714	John Riggins	rb	1971--1985	175	2916	11352	3.89	104	250	2090	8.36	12	2040.215	Ricky Watters	rb	1992--2001	144	2622	10643	4.06	78	467	4248	9.10	13	2035.1

 

[FreeBaGeL]

It's tough to swallow that the greatest FF player ever only finished 1st among his position twice in his entire career.

Barry's PPG was slightly lower, but I'd imagine that FF scoring as a whole was lower during his time.

 

[cstu]

It's tough to swallow that the greatest FF player ever only finished 1st among his position twice in his entire career.Barry's PPG was slightly lower, but I'd imagine that FF scoring as a whole was lower during his time.

LT finished as a top 5 overall player 6 years in row - 5 of those in the top 3. At his position he was #1 twice.Barry finished as a top 5 overall player 5 years total - 3 of those in the top 3. At his position he was #1 three times.Faulk finished as a top 5 overall player 4 years in row - 3 of those in the top 2. At his position he was #1 twice.Emmitt finished as a top 5 overall player 5 years in row - 4 of those in the top 3. At his position he was #1 four years in a row.I don't have the time to do all the VBD analysis but I will guess that they are all pretty damn close.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Well we know it wasn't Robert Smith.

 

[massraider]

If I am deciding this, the way I decide is: If I am a fantasy (dynasty) owner, and can have this player for his entire career, who do I want?

I take Rice.

 

[LawFitz]

Aaron Rodgers

 

[BigSteelThrill]

Jerry Rice? If you played PPR back then...

PPR not even needed.

Jerry Rice.

 

[rizzler]

There's a few members who might argue it's Ben Tate in this forum.

Definitely Tomlinson. Remove those Jets years and he'd be buck wild above the rest. Or dont, and he still rules

 

[Warrior]

Tomlinson > Rice

They're about even when it comes to being fantasy studs head and shoulders above the rest, but about 100x as many people were playing fantasy at the time of LT's dominance.

 

[Jake22]

Bill Simmons just published an article proclaiming LT the greatest ever Fantasyfootballer. Well written and thought out:http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8197963/the-pretend-legend-ladainian-tomlinsonIt's hard to argue with this. I personally would have gone with Priest Holmes only because I'm biased since I was a Holmes owner in those magical 02-03 seasons. Simmons makes a good case for LT over Faulk as well. Is there anyone else who should be considered for for such a lofty title?

J.Rice was the closest thing to a "sure thing" as there ever was in fantasy when he was in his prime. Not sure if LT fits that mold...having said that, I've seen more leagues won by teams that drafted Steve Young than any other player over the last 24 years I've been playing fantasy, then B.Favre is next.

 

[cstu]

If I am deciding this, the way I decide is: If I am a fantasy (dynasty) owner, and can have this player for his entire career, who do I want?I take Rice.

I'd agree - you can't go wrong with having the #1 or #2 WR in 10 straight years. Unfortunately I missed that era since my first year of FF was 1997 - the year Rice was injured.

 

[packseasontix]

Aaron Rodgers

Need another 6 years, he is on his way though as the #1/2 overal scorer each year, he is as close to guarantee as there is right now in FF.

 

[kutta]

I had Faulk and Warner in Warner's first year. That was a really good year. Faulk was a beast.

I would also second the vote for Rice as #1. The best thing about him was that he put up great numbers every year - I don't think there was ever a more sure thing than Rice.

 

[Pigskin Fanatic]

For RB's very close call between Faulk and LT imo. I was too lazy to do this for WR's, I'm sure Rice is definitely up there as you all say. A quick and dirty calculation for each player's best fantasy ppg where the player was #1 for the year (total stats for regular season divided by number of games played for a standard scoring league, ppr and non-ppr calculations given):

Best Year PPG non-PPR PPGPPR Avg top 10 non-PPR Avg top 10 PPR 2nd pl non-PPR 2nd pl PPR Faulk 2000 26.78 32.56 17.67 20.93 20.52 24.46 (Edge)Faulk 2001 23.91 29.84 15.22 18.43 16.81 20.68 (P Holmes)LT 2006 25.89 29.39 16.78 19.99 20.62 23.18 (L Johnson)LT 2007 18.93 22.68 14.85 17.68 18.56 24.56 (Westbrook)
What the gibberish says: in 2000 Faulk averaged 26.78 ppg non-ppr, second RB was Edge with 20.52. The average of the top 10 RB's for each year included for perspective. 2001 was the biggest margin I can find for a top RB (fantasy scoring wise) to the rest of the top 10, 23.91 for Faulk to 16.81 for Holmes. The PPR numbers are ridiculous for Faulk in 2000, it's the only number I can find since 1994 (Faulk's first year) anyone came close to 30 ppg, let alone go above it. LT's two best years shown too, 2007 the margin was very close to Westbrook.

Seems Faulk was more dominant over his peers when he was at the top of his game. Of course this is a very small sample, so not drawing any real conclusion here. It's gonna be fun comparing these two for a long time until the next great RB comes along.

 

[KellysHeroes]

LT never got hurt and never disappointed, 10 solid yrs of top production at the RB position is unheard of

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Brett Favre

 

[Manster]

Emmitt Smith had 11 straight 1000+ yard rushing seasons. And 3 out of the other 4 years he had 900+ yards. 175 total TDs. He wasnt huge in the passing game, but he had 40-60ish receptions for many of his years in Dallas.

I'm not saying he's the best FFer of all time, but with his consistent production for many years, he's in the conversation.

 

[Sweet Love]

Brett Favre

He was pretty money, but he had that spell smack in the middle of his career (1999 and 2000) where he matched TDs to INTs and while he bounced back great (I think this was during the transition from the Freeman to the Driver eras), it wasn't a consistent block...which begs the question, how heavily do you weigh consistency?

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Brett Favre

He was pretty money, but he had that spell smack in the middle of his career (1999 and 2000) where he matched TDs to INTs and while he bounced back great (I think this was during the transition from the Freeman to the Driver eras), it wasn't a consistent block...which begs the question, how heavily do you weigh consistency?

Most 30+ TD seasons ever IIRC...

 

[the next level]

LT's accomplishments happened more recently than most of the other NFL players mentioned on this thread, when so many more millions of people have been playing FF. There are therefore many more total FF players affected by LT's incredible numbers, which I think has a lot to do with why he'd get this consideration.

 

[dgreen]

LT never got hurt and never disappointed, 10 solid yrs of top production at the RB position is unheard of

Sanders and Smith were like that, too, so I wouldn't say it's unheard of. Faulk's 10 year run was similar to LT's. We can even go back to Walter Payton for similar long-term dominance.

 

[Coeur de Lion]

Jerry Rice? If you played PPR back then...

PPR not even needed.

Jerry Rice.

 

[Area51Inhabitant]

Sanders had phenomenal lifetime numbers but as a fantasy back, he was probably the most frustrating guy to own ever. You could just never know if he would put up 10 for 30 type of numbers or if he would break off a couple of 80 yarders and get 250 on any given day. Emmitt was definitely the guy to own back in the day if you wanted consistent output game to game and season to season.

 

[Time Kibitzer]

Rice by a mile for WR's, but on a per game basis Owens, Moss and Harrison aren't too far behind.

1	Jerry Rice	wr	1985--2004	303	87	645	7.41	10	1549	22895	14.78	197	3596.02	Terrell Owens	wr	1996--2010	219	39	251	6.44	3	1078	15934	14.78	153	2554.53	Randy Moss	wr	1998--2010	202	25	159	6.36	0	954	14858	15.57	153	2426.74	Marvin Harrison	wr	1996--2008	190	10	28	2.80	0	1102	14580	13.23	128	2228.85	Cris Carter	wr	1987--2002	234	13	41	3.15	0	1101	13899	12.62	130	2174.06	Tim Brown	wr	1988--2004	255	50	190	3.80	1	1094	14934	13.65	100	2118.47	Isaac Bruce	wr	1994--2009	223	25	139	5.56	0	1023	15206	14.86	91	2083.8

When you post tables, you need to include column headers; because at the moment it's just a bunch of numbers.

 

[Assani Fisher]

Don Hutson's value over the #2 WR at the time was huge. His rookie year was the initial year of our dynasty league and I drafted him.

 

[Kwai Chang Caine]

I won a lot of games having LT but he was disappointing two years in a row in week 16. Lost two titles in '05 and '06.

Faulk was a monster week 16 back in '01 and 02 he single handedly won my buddy back to back titles.

Priest also was big in the playoffs IIRC

 

[cstu]

I won a lot of games having LT but he was disappointing two years in a row in week 16. Lost two titles in '05 and '06. Faulk was a monster week 16 back in '01 and 02 he single handedly won my buddy back to back titles.Priest also was big in the playoffs IIRC

I think you're onto something and the deciding factor between LT, Barry, Faulk and Emmitt would be how they performed weeks 14-16.LT had some good performances but he was a let down in week 16 a lot of years. He had huge (20+ point) week 16's in 2003, 2004, and 2008 but never had above 15 the rest of his years. In comparison though it wasn't that bad - Barry has 4 big week 16's, Faulk had 3 (97, 01, 02), and Emmitt had 3 (91-93).

 

[Hooper31]

George Blanda.

Gotta love all those extra kicking points.

 

[Pipes]

Sanders had phenomenal lifetime numbers but as a fantasy back, he was probably the most frustrating guy to own ever. You could just never know if he would put up 10 for 30 type of numbers or if he would break off a couple of 80 yarders and get 250 on any given day. Emmitt was definitely the guy to own back in the day if you wanted consistent output game to game and season to season.