Will we ever see another RB go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? (1 Viewer)

[Pip's Invitation]

The baseball HOF is (mostly) based on stats, but the football HOF is based on narrative. So yes, there will be more HOF RBs when the narrative warrants it.

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

Not that I have the lack of laziness needed to start a new poll, but I'm wondering if the right question that should be asked is "has it become to easy to run block"? If rookies can outperform or at least replicate stud RBs, doesn't that suggest that there's something fundamentally wrong with the rules governing run blocking? I find it hard to believe that if there was a shift to making run blocking more difficult that we wouldn't see a re-emergence of veteran studs with vision, power and cutting ability generating value above that of a rookie.

 

[Anarchy99]

Not that I have the lack of laziness needed to start a new poll, but I'm wondering if the right question that should be asked is "has it become to easy to run block"? If rookies can outperform or at least replicate stud RBs, doesn't that suggest that there's something fundamentally wrong with the rules governing run blocking? I find it hard to believe that if there was a shift to making run blocking more difficult that we wouldn't see a re-emergence of veteran studs with vision, power and cutting ability generating value above that of a rookie.

I think there are a couple of reasons why it is easier to run block these days. For starters, many linemen are the size of mountains. Not sure you can officiate against size. The other main issue is teams have to better defend the pass compared to the run these days, so there are more defensive backs and more undersized LBers to try to take away underneath routes. Put a 6'9", 380 lbs lineman on a 230 lbs LB and see what happens. Add in that teams have to defend against running / mobile QBs (which wasn't as big a concern previously), and there are more running lanes than ever before. There aren't many teams left that are happy to hand the ball off to a tailback all game.

Another issue is I don't think owners or coaches see this as a problem. They would rather have younger, cheaper, disposable backs to free up cap space someplace else. Paying bigger money to backs carries an injury risk component. They would have to pay those guys even if they are out for months at a time, so the benefit of a $10M RB may not be that great if he is on crutches all the time. The pitch for the higher priced guys will be that teams can get decent numbers from other backs, so they need to take a $6M deal with incentives instead of $12M a year.

 

[Lansdowne]

As the RB position changes, the criteria for HOF entry will too.

Agreed, but it's crazy that of the Top 80 RB's in rushing yards all-time, only 4 are active and Henry leads active rushers in 42nd...

To be fair, 2 of the top-5 all-time in career yards just retired in the last 2 seasons. Not that career rushing yards is a particularly good measure of quality of play.

I'll always argue Frank Gore was never at any point a truly elite RB, he just played forever. Every RB in the top-16 in career yards was better than the guy who is currently #3.

Obviously there will be another HOF RB. It is possible that receiving ability becomes more of an important factor than rushing ability though. Especially as more RBs like CMC or Ekeler, become the prototype. We just saw a guy along those lines go #12 in the draft, and that very well may be the future of the position.

I'm of the mind that Gore's longevity is worthy of praise but doesn't make him a HOFer, much the same way Vinny Testaverde's longevity didn't make him a HOFer either.

 

[travdogg]

Not that I have the lack of laziness needed to start a new poll, but I'm wondering if the right question that should be asked is "has it become to easy to run block"? If rookies can outperform or at least replicate stud RBs, doesn't that suggest that there's something fundamentally wrong with the rules governing run blocking? I find it hard to believe that if there was a shift to making run blocking more difficult that we wouldn't see a re-emergence of veteran studs with vision, power and cutting ability generating value above that of a rookie.

I think there are a couple of reasons why it is easier to run block these days. For starters, many linemen are the size of mountains. Not sure you can officiate against size. The other main issue is teams have to better defend the pass compared to the run these days, so there are more defensive backs and more undersized LBers to try to take away underneath routes. Put a 6'9", 380 lbs lineman on a 230 lbs LB and see what happens. Add in that teams have to defend against running / mobile QBs (which wasn't as big a concern previously), and there are more running lanes than ever before. There aren't many teams left that are happy to hand the ball off to a tailback all game.

Teams building undersized defenses that have the range to defend the pass is a big reason why I think the Ravens/Titans have been playoff teams the last several years. Those teams have been built to take advantage of teams who just don't have the personnel to match up with them.

Honestly a team that builds around a mauling OL, running QBs (plural) and fast WRs (even if they are mediocre WRs) will probably be a successful offense most of the time, just based on the defenses they'll face. Its not as good of a long-term strategy as having a Franchise QB and an elite passing game, but its also a hell of a lot easier to do.

 

[Snotbubbles]

The average HOF Monitor score for a HOF RB is 107.

Henry (29) - 33.45 (95th)
McCaffrey (27) - 31.85 (107th)
Chubb (28) - 25.93 (158th)

I'm just thinking out loud here, but I don't think their careers are over yet - and they all do have a chance (Chubb least likely as even those numbers show). I'd bet Henry ends up in the HoF.

I agree that Henry is a HOFer.

Henry need to put up a few more really good years to get in the HOF conversation. I don't know if he gets there, he's 28, and getting to that 30 number. He only has 1 All-Pro and 3 Pro Bowls. He needs to double those numbers.

I look at a guy like LeSean McCoy. 11,100 rush yards, 73 rush TDs, 15,000 yards from scrimmage, 16 rec TDs, 2 All-Pros, 6 Pro Bowls. I don't know if McCoy gets in, but that's where Henry needs to get to be in the conversation.