100 Greatest College Players of All Time

[Swaggs]

http://www.collegefootballnews.com/T...%20Players.htm


Some interesting stuff here.

[Deattribution]

Skimmed through it... but Deion at 8? Ricky Williams at 22? Ron Dayne 12 ? huh?

[Joe]

woot Bronko Nagurski

[Easy Mac]

I can't believe they made the mistake of putting Woodson on there but Peyton at 91. I thought everyone agreed that Heisman was a huge mistake.

[duckman]

Lee Roy Selmon at 39? I think somebody was drinking when they made this.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I can't believe they made the mistake of putting Woodson on there but Peyton at 91. I thought everyone agreed that Heisman was a huge mistake.

Woodson was the best college DB in the last 15-20 years.

I am a Michigan fan so I am biased but he definetly deserved the Heisman that year.

He was like Ted Ginn, who got Heisman pub this year as a Sophmore, except Woodson came up every time we needed him, be it on defense, offense or special teams.

Ask anyone and they'll tell you without CW the Wolverines probably lose 3-4 games that year.

[vtbub]

Some pretty stunning omissions here.

No Staubach, Doc Blanchard, Glen Davis of Army.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

Skimmed through it... but Deion at 8? Ricky Williams at 22? Ron Dayne 12 ? huh?

Dayne and Williams both spent time as the NCAA All Team Leading Rushers. Why wouldn't they be on there?

Has nothing to do with their pro careers.

[Grammaticus]

What the heck is Danny Wuerffel doing on the list at all and at number 37. Jim McMahon was a much better college QB for BYU and he was way back at 95. While you are at it, just go ahead and take Moss off the list too. I also have to agree with the huge inflated value of Woodson, especially with Payton Manning way back at 91.

[st.cronin]

I understand why he's there, but I would have left O.J. off. I think getting away with murder is a reason to forget about his athletic accomplishments.

[cartman]

Where's Ron Powlus?

I think they were influenced a bit by some of the pro careers of those guys. Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice were outstanding pro players, but their college careers didn't really give a hint of the greatness they would achieve at the next level.

[Blade6119]

Originally Posted by Grammaticus

What the heck is Danny Wuerffel doing on the list at all and at number 37. Jim McMahon was a much better college QB for BYU and he was way back at 95. While you are at it, just go ahead and take Moss off the list too. I also have to agree with the huge inflated value of Woodson, especially with Payton Manning way back at 91.

Read the intro to the article:

Some were amazing players, some revolutionized their positions, some were legends, and some we just think were truly great. Yes, there was a bias towards players who played in the bigger conferences and against the biggest teams, but we also give a nod to the best who weren't in the spotlight as well. You can consider this the list of the 100 greatest college football careers as we give high marks to the legends.

How do you possibly pick an offensive lineman over a quarterback? It's tough, but we try to make that call in regards to how good of a player they were without necessarily giving more credit to one position over another. Think of it this way, if you could take one running back, who would you take? You couldn't go wrong with Walker, Dorsett, Williams, Simpson, Dayne or about 20 other backs. Now if you had to pick one center, who would you go with? There are very few who stand out.

BYU IS NOT A MAJOR CONFERENCE TEAM...by your logic Timmy Chang should be top 10 now since he had a crazy career

[Swaggs]

I find it pretty hard to believe that Deion Sanders and Ron Dayne are the two best college players in the last 18-20 years.

I think Moss is kind of surprising, considering he only played one season in D1-A (I believe).

I'm also surprised to see Hugh Green as the highest rated defensive player on the list, as well as his being rated well ahead of fellow Pitt Panther Tony Dorsett.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Blade6119

Read the intro to the article:

Some were amazing players, some revolutionized their positions, some were legends, and some we just think were truly great. Yes, there was a bias towards players who played in the bigger conferences and against the biggest teams, but we also give a nod to the best who weren't in the spotlight as well. You can consider this the list of the 100 greatest college football careers as we give high marks to the legends.

How do you possibly pick an offensive lineman over a quarterback? It's tough, but we try to make that call in regards to how good of a player they were without necessarily giving more credit to one position over another. Think of it this way, if you could take one running back, who would you take? You couldn't go wrong with Walker, Dorsett, Williams, Simpson, Dayne or about 20 other backs. Now if you had to pick one center, who would you go with? There are very few who stand out.

BYU IS NOT A MAJOR CONFERENCE TEAM...by your logic Timmy Chang should be top 10 now since he had a crazy career

When Jim McMahon was in college, BYU was a national power. They won the national championship in 1984 and had final rankings in the top 20 in six out of seven years from 1979-1985. Really, until the combination of LaVell Edwards retiring and the WAC exploding, the Cougars were one of the better programs in the country.

[Raven Hawk]

No list is complete without Walter Payton on it.

edit: Some Stats

COLLEGE: Payton was a two-time first team All-American in 1973 and 1974 at Jackson State University. He ran for 3,563 yards and scored 66 total touchdowns and set the NCAA scoring record with 464 points. He set a Southwestern Athletic Conference record for most points in a game. He led the nation in 1973 in scoring with 160 points. He was a four year starter at Jackson State, setting nine school records and receiving votes for the Heisman Trophy in 1974.

CAREER COLLEGE STATS: 37 games, 584 carries for 3,563 yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, caught 474 yards passing for a total of 4,037 career yards; scored 66 TDs, kicked 5 FGs, and 53 PATs for 464 total points. In 1987, the Most Valuable Player Trophy for Division I-AA was named after him. In 1993, he was named to the Black College All-Time team. In 1997, Payton was named to the Division II Football Team of the Quarter Century.

[cthomer5000]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I find it pretty hard to believe that Deion Sanders and Ron Dayne are the two best college players in the last 18-20 years.

Deion is definitely not hard to believe, Dayne I can be with you on. It's tough to hold perspective since every year a few guys guy pumped up like they are the greatest thing in the history of man.

[Galaxy]

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

Deion is definitely not hard to believe, Dayne I can be with you on. It's tough to hold perspective since every year a few guys guy pumped up like they are the greatest thing in the history of man.

Why Dayne? He held the all-time rushing record. Help them get to back-to-back Rose Bowl, and a Heisman Trophy, and three All-American placements. And broke the 2,000-yard mark twice.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by vtbub

Some pretty stunning omissions here.

No Staubach, Doc Blanchard, Glen Davis of Army.

???

Mr. Inside - check.
Mr. Outside - check.
Staubach - went to Navy.

[General Mike]

85
Paul Robeson
End, Rutgers

That's what I'm talking about.

[Breeze]

Tommie Frazier at 33??

He was a great option QB with a decent arm, and I love the guy, he went to my high school, but please - 33 is way to high.

I disagree with how several of the RBs are ordered. I think too much is credit is being applied to career numbers rather than impact while playing, but I don't have a problem (at least at first glance) with the RBs they chose.

Flutie at 39 is also high in my opinion. Great player, winnner, had one of the biggest moments in college football history, but I don't think I'd take him over several QBs ranked behind him.

Tim Brown at 63 benefits from having played at Notre Dame. He was actually a better pro than college player., but I'll concede he could have been a better college player if his offense had thrown the ball more.

[oykib]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Tommie Frazier at 33??

He was a great option QB with a decent arm, and I love the guy, he went to my high school, but please - 33 is way to high.

I disagree with how several of the RBs are ordered. I think too much is credit is being applied to career numbers rather than impact while playing, but I don't have a problem (at least at first glance) with the RBs they chose.

Flutie at 39 is also high in my opinion. Great player, winnner, had one of the biggest moments in college football history, but I don't think I'd take him over several QBs ranked behind him.

Tim Brown at 63 benefits from having played at Notre Dame. He was actually a better pro than college player., but I'll concede he could have been a better college player if his offense had thrown the ball more.

Brown was a landslide winner of the Heisman, IIRC.

Tommie Frazier was an absolutely amazing option QB. Can you name five option QBs that were better than Frazier... ever?

Flutie ended his career as the career yardage leader, IIRC.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by oykib

Brown was a landslide winner of the Heisman, IIRC.

Tommie Frazier was an absolutely amazing option QB. Can you name five option QBs that were better than Frazier... ever?

Flutie ended his career as the career yardage leader, IIRC.

I agree with all your points, but that doesn't mean they deserve to be ranked where the are. I didn't say they don't belong on the list.

Brown was the landslide winner of the heisman - in a down year where there weren't many options, and in a time where underclassmen winning was extremely rare. Plus again he benefitted from playing at Notre Dame. {for crying out loud, Paul Horning won the Heisman at Notre Dame and his team only won 2 games that season).

No I can't name 5 options QBs that were better, but I don't think an Option QB should be ranked that high regardless of how good he is. In addition, it's not like he revolutionized the position, the option had been around for I don't know how long.

Flutie was a great QB, again benefitting from playing lots of games and thus having great career stats. Was he better in any single season than Detmer, Manning, Ward, or many other QBs? I don't know I think it's easily debatable, and thus don't see the justification of his ranking being that much higher than those QBs.


I never said they didnt' belong on the list, just thought they were too high.

[oykib]

Well, I didn't even bother to look at the list. But I just wanted to play Devil's advocate.

But I am a big Frazier supporter. His Nebraska teams just rolled over the opposition. I think it's the wrong attitude to downgrade him because he's an option QB. The option (in one form or another) has been the most popular and prolific offense in college history.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by oykib

Well, I didn't even bother to look at the list. But I just wanted to play Devil's advocate.

But I am a big Frazier supporter. His Nebraska teams just rolled over the opposition. I think it's the wrong attitude to downgrade him because he's an option QB. The option (in one form or another) has been the most popular and prolific offense in college history.

I agree with your assessment of the option and I'm a big supporter of Frazier too (as I said he went to my high school). However I'm not so sure several other option QBs on that team with that tallent wouldn't have been just as good. For instance, Gill at QB of those teams would have been unstoppable too. Shoot Frazier's back up, who played in several games (I think he got killed in a plane crash) was unstopable in that offense too, and he wasn't even a classic option QB.

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by vtbub

Some pretty stunning omissions here.

No Staubach, Doc Blanchard, Glen Davis of Army.

I went to Middle School and High School with Doc Blanchards grandchildren (or maybe great grandchildren???), they were all athletes...Rhett played football, Mary Ellen was a swimmer (almost made the Olympics 2x) and LeAnne was a starting pitcher for our HS team when she was a Freshman...must run in the family if Doc was that good

[vtbub]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

???

Mr. Inside - check.
Mr. Outside - check.
Staubach - went to Navy.

The sentence was poorly structured, but the thought still stands.

[scooper]

75 is way too low for the Rocket.

[VPI97]

No Bruce Smith? (and no, I don't mean the HB from Minnesota)

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by oykib

Brown was a landslide winner of the Heisman, IIRC.

My recollection is different... he was in the race along with Craig Heyward of Pitt,Lorenzo White of Mich. State, and Don McPherson of Syracuse... and theer was very wide open speculation up until the vote as to who would win. When Brown wpon, most attributed it in large part to his having a great Junior year the previous season, as he really didn't dominate his senior season.

He was a very good college player, though.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by vtbub

The sentence was poorly structured, but the thought still stands.

Okay, if the original thought was "where is Roger Staubach?" (The other two are both listed, this was my main point above)

[QuikSand]

A guy who came to mind for me was Cornelius Bennett from Alabama -- only guy I remember watching who I actually searched for, and was disapointed not to see. Defensive players are pretty tough to judge, but he was really a great player in college.

I though Warren Sapp was a gfreat college player as well, but his name didn't jump right out to search for.

[moriarty]

Randy Moss? Didnt' he play like one season of Division 1 ball?

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I can't believe they made the mistake of putting Woodson on there but Peyton at 91. I thought everyone agreed that Heisman was a huge mistake.

Everyone agreed that Woodson's Heisman was a huge mistake? When did that happen. I don't think so. Woodson is one of what, two, defensive players ever to win a Heisman? The man was phenomenal. He made big play after big play after big play. As dominating and game changing a corner as college football has seen in a long, long time.

Then again, maybe you're refering to Rod Woodson?

[scooper]

While I'm no big fan of the skunkbears, I was happy to see a defensive and special teams star win it.