Best runningback of all time

[ActLikeYouCrow]

Re: Best runningback of all time

emmitt only had 5 great years, i agree. it is worth noting that smith won the 91 rushing title by 15 yards and barry averaged more per game. even if someone followed the notion that emmitt was a shell of himself because of all the playoff games he played (which i dont buy at 27), barry at his best was still better. barry topped 1800 yards twice, emmitt never did. barry averaged over 5 ypc five times in his career and 5.0 ypc was his career avg, emmitt only topped that in a season once. barry never rushed for under 1000 yards, emmitt did as a rookie.

even if you limit yourself to the 91-95 stretch where emmitt had the 4 rushing titles in 5 seasons barry still had a higher ypc during that stretch. plus in 94 barry had 37 less carries and still outgained emmitt by 399 yards on the ground. barry has two of the top 10 rushing seasons ever, emmitt has none in the top 20.

The15thunter, thats a nice story about the big plays and losses, but it didnt happen more often than not otherwise he wouldnt have had as much yardage as he did. he is the career leader in lost yardage, but its also worth nothing his losses suddenly dropped down to the nfl average once he got a fullback in 1997.

i said attacking barry based on his playoff numbers is flimsy, which it is especially without any kind of context. as was mentioned earlier walter did have two road playoff games in his prime. he had 60 and 67 yards. someone tried to make it seem like payton was over the hill during the super bowl season so it wasnt valid to compare his lack of great playoff numbers. during that 85 season he had 9 straight 100 yard games and finished 3rd in the nfl in rushing. even the greatest running backs can be contained, especially when a game is out of hand or a good defense isnt threatened by the opposing quarterback.

[PrettyT11]

Re: Best runningback of all time

emmitt only had 5 great years, i agree. it is worth noting that smith won the 91 rushing title by 15 yards and barry averaged more per game. even if someone followed the notion that emmitt was a shell of himself because of all the playoff games he played (which i dont buy at 27), barry at his best was still better. barry topped 1800 yards twice, emmitt never did. barry averaged over 5 ypc five times in his career and 5.0 ypc was his career avg, emmitt only topped that in a season once. barry never rushed for under 1000 yards, emmitt did as a rookie.

even if you limit yourself to the 91-95 stretch where emmitt had the 4 rushing titles in 5 seasons barry still had a higher ypc during that stretch. plus in 94 barry had 37 less carries and still outgained emmitt by 399 yards on the ground. barry has two of the top 10 rushing seasons ever, emmitt has none in the top 20.

Your post tells a nice story and all but you still didn't answer the question. It's cool though cause I knew that it couldn't be answered. I still don't see where these so call constant better numbers are. All you did here was point out specific seasons. I also find it kind of funny that you pointed out that Emmit failed to rush for a 1,000 yards as a rookie eventhough he was playing for a team that was coming off of a one win. But you are right he didn't break 1,000 yards as a rookie.

You pointed out the 94 season. The one season during that run that Barry won the rushing title over Emmit. Yess Barry had over 300 more yards than Emmit but at the same time Emmit scored 3 times as many TD's as Barry. That is an extra 86 points that Emmit put on the scoreboard. So what would you rather have 1,800 yards and 7 TD's or 1,500 yards and 21 TD's. Also you point out Barry had a couple of the top 10 season's. Barry is also the only player to have a single digit TD's in one of those seasons. Everybody else has him pretty much at least doubled up in TD's. You say that without question Barry was better at his best than Emmit was at his. That is very debatable. So I ask you or anybody else then what would you rather have 2,053 yards and 11 TD's or 1,773 yards and an at the time NFL record 25 TD's?? Again we are talking about over twice as many TD's. Those extra points on the board very well can be the difference between W's and L's.

I have already showed that during a very big and main part of their careers that Emmit averaged more yards and more TD's per year. I mean even if you look at his last season and compare the two yes Barry had over 100 more yards but again Emmit scored over 3 times as many TD's and their YPC was the same. Now that this pretty flawed and only yard based argument has been countered I again ask where are these consistently better numbers for Barry??

[The15thunter]

Re: Best runningback of all time

emmitt only had 5 great years, i agree. it is worth noting that smith won the 91 rushing title by 15 yards and barry averaged more per game. even if someone followed the notion that emmitt was a shell of himself because of all the playoff games he played (which i dont buy at 27), barry at his best was still better. barry topped 1800 yards twice, emmitt never did. barry averaged over 5 ypc five times in his career and 5.0 ypc was his career avg, emmitt only topped that in a season once. barry never rushed for under 1000 yards, emmitt did as a rookie.

even if you limit yourself to the 91-95 stretch where emmitt had the 4 rushing titles in 5 seasons barry still had a higher ypc during that stretch. plus in 94 barry had 37 less carries and still outgained emmitt by 399 yards on the ground. barry has two of the top 10 rushing seasons ever, emmitt has none in the top 20.

The15thunter, thats a nice story about the big plays and losses, but it didnt happen more often than not otherwise he wouldnt have had as much yardage as he did. he is the career leader in lost yardage, but its also worth nothing his losses suddenly dropped down to the nfl average once he got a fullback in 1997.

i said attacking barry based on his playoff numbers is flimsy, which it is especially without any kind of context. as was mentioned earlier walter did have two road playoff games in his prime. he had 60 and 67 yards. someone tried to make it seem like payton was over the hill during the super bowl season so it wasnt valid to compare his lack of great playoff numbers. during that 85 season he had 9 straight 100 yard games and finished 3rd in the nfl in rushing. even the greatest running backs can be contained, especially when a game is out of hand or a good defense isnt threatened by the opposing quarterback.

1. i'm not saying emmitt was a shell of himself, but i am acknowledging that he played the position in a much more physical way than barry did, battled injuries and also played in an entire season's worth of playoff games, which adds a year (or more, depending on how you view the nature of playoff footabll and how many carries he took in those runs) to his career.

2. and it did happen more often than not. the story goes that if barry had simply allowed himself to be tackled at the point of impact on the plays he lost more yardage on, he would have had the all-time rushing record by the time he retired. instead, he tried to turn every play into a home run and struck out.

[ActLikeYouCrow]

Re: Best runningback of all time

I also find it kind of funny that you pointed out that Emmit failed to rush for a 1,000 yards as a rookie eventhough he was playing for a team that was coming off of a one win.

thanks for playing, that says it all.
emmitt only scored 9 td in 1993 when dallas finished 2nd in scoring, was that one of emmitt's worst years? only an insane homer would say emmitt had any season in the same stratosphere as barry's 2000 yard season. you cherry picked the years when dallas was at its best and then fell back on the emmitt was in decline nonsense when the team was no longer as good. the thing with barry is you dont have to do that, he was dominant no matter who was around or what offense was run.

couple corrections, 11 is not a single digit and 4.2 isnt the same as 4.3. lol@answer the question, i'll repeat myself, barry got more yards every time he touched the ball than emmitt even during this supposed time when emmitt was at the top of his game with 4 rushing titles in 5 years. yes emmitt scored a lot more td's than barry during this stretch and over the course of his career, but barry did lead the league in td's twice and was in the top 5 four times. more td's dont always equal better season, emmitt had dozens more td's than barry in 1994, yet barry won nfl offensive player of the year so throw that logic out the window.

actually the story went sometimes defenders get in the backfield and instead of just standing there to get tackled he would try and avoid them, sometimes that meant turning a 3 yard loss into a 5 yard gain. personally i think barry turned a lot more negative plays into positive plays than he did the other way around. thats my view and i think the stats and game film fall on my side.

[ZB9]

Re: Best runningback of all time

ZB9 the problem with those examples are rison didnt consistently put up better numbers than rice, dickerson didnt put up better numbers than sanders, nor moon over montana other than passing yardage.

lol Sanders didnt put up better numbers than Smith. Smith has more yards and more TDs (most ever), more playoff rushing yards and TDs (most ever), more superbowl rushing yards and TDs (most ever), one of only 4 players with over 10,000 rushing yards and 400 receptions, etc.etc. Smith holds more NFL records than Sanders. Barry does hold the NFL record for negative rushing yards though

If you are talking about best single season yardage, then Dickerson has the record for the best single rushing season. He also played on a worse team than Sanders, although that is an absurd criteria to use and it's only reserved for Emmitt Smith discussions

when people mention the argument youre referring to, they are saying that a gap already exists in sanders favor regardless of what teams they played for and that it would have been even wider were their situations reversed. speculation sure, but not ridiculous considering barry put up 2000 yards in his first nfl season with a fullback.

Using "what if" and "would have" hypotheticals can be used for any player and it is a ridiculous criteria to use

When you do have to resort to such "what if they switched" hypotheticals as the basis of argument, then you lose the argument

[PrettyT11]

Re: Best runningback of all time

thanks for playing, that says it all.
emmitt only scored 9 td in 1993 when dallas finished 2nd in scoring, was that one of emmitt's worst years? only an insane homer would say emmitt had any season in the same stratosphere as barry's 2000 yard season. you cherry picked the years when dallas was at its best and then fell back on the emmitt was in decline nonsense when the team was no longer as good. the thing with barry is you dont have to do that, he was dominant no matter who was around or what offense was run.

I never said 93 was one of his best or worst years but if you are asking 93 clearly wasn't as good as 91,92,94,or 95. But guess what in 93 Emmit got more yards, more TD's, a higher YPC and more yards per game. So clearly Emmit had the better year between him and Barry.

I never said Emmit had a better year than Barry's 2,000 yard season. I did say however that his 95 season was debatable. I just simply asked which season would you rather your RB have 1,700 plus yards with an NFL record 25 TD's or 2,000 yards with 11 TD's??

I didn't cherry pick anything. All I did was respond to the wrong statment that Barry consistently and always put up better numbers than Emmit and others. Clearly like I stated during that 5 year span that was not the case. And if Barry was so much more dominate again why where his numbers during that time worse??

couple corrections, 11 is not a single digit and 4.2 isnt the same as 4.3. lol@answer the question, i'll repeat myself, barry got more yards every time he touched the ball than emmitt even during this supposed time when emmitt was at the top of his game with 4 rushing titles in 5 years. yes emmitt scored a lot more td's than barry during this stretch and over the course of his career, but barry did lead the league in td's twice and was in the top 5 four times. more td's dont always equal better season, emmitt had dozens more td's than barry in 1994, yet barry won nfl offensive player of the year so throw that logic out the window.

Couple of corrections for you. Clearly I was refering to his 94 season, which was a top 10 season all time in terms of yards, in which he only scored 7 TD's. That is a single digit. Second Barry lead the league in rushing TD's once. I also find if pretty funny that the only answer you can give during that time period is that Barry had a higher YPC. Since when did YPC become the most important stat for a RB??

And if we really wanted to be picky here Emmit did have the higher YPC in 92 and 93. So clearly Barry didn't get more every time he touched the ball. And during that period of 91 to 95 Emmit's was 4.5 to Barry's 4.7. Is that 0.2 really making that much a difference??

actually the story went sometimes defenders get in the backfield and instead of just standing there to get tackled he would try and avoid them, sometimes that meant turning a 3 yard loss into a 5 yard gain. personally i think barry turned a lot more negative plays into positive plays than he did the other way around. thats my view and i think the stats and game film fall on my side.

Lastly I never once said Barry wasn't a great back. I clearly stated in my first post here that he was the most elusive and exciting RB I have ever seen. I also clearly stated I could see if somebody picked one over the other and I just would rather have Emmit for my reasons. If you would rather have Sanders then I could also see that. I'm not arguing who was better or trying to convince anybody to change thier mind. My only argument here has been this flawed and wrong arguments about the numbers and the perceptions that are being thrown at both players for better or for worse. If you like Barry better fine but let's not try to diminish what Emmit did just to try and make Barry look better. They both are great RB's without anybody trying to throw dirt on one to make the other look clean.

[The15thunter]

Re: Best runningback of all time

i have decided to list each player's output against the same opponent in the same year. this doesn't account for good or bad games that they played in against opponent's the other guy didn't face that year, but is useful to see what each guy did against similar defenses.

1990

emmitt vs. giants
(game 2, 7-28, loss) 6 carries, 11 yards, 2 receptions, 12 yards
(game 4, 17-31, loss) 12 carries, 28 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 receptions, 38 yards

barry vs. giants
(game 10, 0-20, loss) 11 carries, 69 yards, 2 receptions, 10 yards

emmitt vs. redskins
(game 3, 15-19, loss) 17 carries, 63 yards, 2 receptions, 12 yards
(game 12, 27-17, win) 23 carries, 132 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 5 yards

barry vs. redskins
(game 8, 38-41, loss) 11 carries, 104 yards, 1 touchdown

emmitt vs. buccaneers
(game 5, 14-10, win) 23 carries, 121 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, -9 yards
(game 7, 17-13, win) 16 carries, 48 yards

barry vs. buccaneers
(game 1, 21-38, loss) 14 carries, 79 yards, 1 touchdown
(game 3, 20-23, loss) 15 carries, 52 yards, 2 receptions, 24 yards

emmitt vs. saints
(game 13, 17-13, win) 20 carries, 85 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 3 yards

barry vs. saints
(game 7, 27-10, win) 12 carries, 10 yards, 1 touchdown, 5 receptions, 72 yards

1991

emmitt vs. packers
(game 6, 20-17, win) 32 carries, 122 yards, 7 receptions, 21 yards

barry vs. packers
(game 1, 23-14, win) 18 carries, 42 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, 0 yards
(game 15, 21-17, win) 27 carries, 85 yards, 2 receptions, 13 yards

1992

emmitt vs. redskins
(game 1, 23-10, win) 27 carries, 140 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 receptions, 13 yards
(game 14, 17-20, loss) 25 carries, 99 yards, 5 receptions, 16 yards

barry vs. redskins
(game 3, 10-13, loss) 14 carries, 34 yards, 4 receptions, 23 yards

emmitt vs. bears
(game 16, 27-14, win) 20 carries, 131 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, 8 yards

barry vs. bears
(game 1, 24-27, loss) 19 carries, 109 yards, 1 touchdown
(game 15, 16-3, win) 20 carries, 113 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 48 yards

1993

emmitt vs. cardinals
(game 3, 17-10, win) 8 carries, 45 yards, 1 reception, 3 yards
(game 9, 20-15, win) 24 carries, 80 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 receptions, 102 yards

barry vs. cardinals
(game 4, 26-20, win) 23 carries, 90 yards, 2 receptions, 4 yards

emmitt vs. packers
(game 4, 36-13, win) 13 carries, 71 yards, 1 touchdown

barry vs. packers
(game 10, 17-26, loss) 17 carries, 75 yards, 2 receptions, 8 yards

emmitt vs. falcons

(game 10, 14-27, loss) 1 carry, 1 yard, 4 receptions, 9 yards

barry vs. falcons

(game 1, 30-13, win) 26 carries, 90 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, 27 yards

emmitt vs. vikings

(game 13, 37-20, win) 19 carries, 104 yards, 1 touchdown, 5 receptions, 26 yards

barry vs. vikings

(game 8, 30-27, win) 14 carries, 64 yards, 8 receptions, 44 yards

1994

emmitt vs. giants
(game 9, 38-10, win) 35 carries, 163 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 receptions, 13 yards

barry vs. giants
(game 8, 28-25, win) 26 carries, 146 yards, 2 catches, 22 yards

emmitt vs. 49ers
(game 10, 14-21, loss) 26 carries, 78 yards, 2 touchdowns, 6 receptions, 32 yards

barry vs. 49ers

(game 6, 21-27, loss) 22 carries, 95 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 receptions, 16 yards

emmitt vs. packers
(game 12, 42-31, win) 32 carries, 133 yards, 2 touchdowns, 6 receptions, 95 yards

barry vs. packers
(game 9, 30-38, loss) 15 carries, 47 yards, 8 receptions, 51 yards
(game 13, 34-31, win) 20 carries, 188 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 receptions, 17 yards

1995

emmitt vs. vikings
(game 3, 23-17, win) 20 carries, 150 yards, 2 touchdowns, 6 receptions, 12 yards

barry vs. vikings
(game 2, 10-20, loss) 13 carries, 35 yards, 9 receptions, 60 yards
(game 12, 44-38, win) 24 carries, 138 yards, 1 touchdown

emmitt vs. cardinals
(game 4, 34-20, win) 21 carries, 116 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 receptions, 53 yards
(game 16, 37-13, win) 24 carries, 68 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 receptions, 38 yards

barry vs. cardinals
(game 3, 17-20, loss) 24 carries, 147 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 receptions, 36 yards

emmitt vs. redskins
(game 5, 23-27, loss) 22 carries, 95 yards, 8 receptions, 38 yards
(game 13, 17-24, loss) 21 carries, 91 yards, 1 touchdown, 4 reception, 16 yards

barry vs. redskins
(game 7, 30-36, loss) 20 carries, 76 yards, 2 receptions, 4 yards

emmitt vs. packers
(game 6, 34-24, win) 31 carries, 106 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 receptions, 19 yards

barry vs. packers
(game 7, 21-30, loss) 18 carries, 124 yards
(game 9, 24-16, win) 22 carries, 167 yards, 3 receptions, 31 yards

emmitt vs. falcons
(game 8, 28-13, win) 26 carries, 167 yards, 1 touchdown, 5 receptions, 30 yards

barry vs. falcons
(game 9, 22-34, loss) 12 carries, 44, 4 receptions, 23 yards

emmitt vs. 49ers
(game 10, 20-38, loss) 18 carries, 100 yards, 1 touchdown, 6 receptions, 50 yards

barry vs. 49ers
(game 4, 27-24, win) 17 carries, 24 yards, 3 receptions, 18 yards

1996

emmitt vs. bears
(game 1, 6-22, loss) 18 carries, 70 yards, 2 receptions, 5 yards

barry vs. bears
(game 4, 35-16, win) 19 carries, 66 yards, 1 reception, 4 yards
(game 12, 14-31, loss) 21 carries, 107 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 6 yards

emmitt vs. giants
(game 2, 27-0, wins) 24 carries, 82 yards, 3 receptions, 12 yards, 1 touchdown
(game 12, 6-20, loss) 11 carries, 18 yards, 4 receptions, 24 yards

barry vs. giants
(game 8, 7-35, loss) 16 carries, 47 yards, 3 receptions, 20 yards

emmitt vs. eagles
(game 5, 23-19, win) 22 carries, 92 yards, 1 touchdown, 3 receptions, 30 yards
(game 9, 21-31, loss) 24 carries, 113 yards, 2 touchdowns, 4 receptions, 4 yards

barry vs. eagles
(game 3, 17-24, loss) 16 carries, 49 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 reception, 10 yards

emmitt vs. falcons
(game 7, 32-28, win) 15 carries, 50 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 7 yards, 1 touchdown

barry vs. falcons
(game 6, 28-24, win) 26 carries, 86 yards, 3 receptions, 13 yards

emmitt vs. 49ers
(game 10, 20-17, win) 26 carries, 81 yards, 1 reception, 11 yards

barry vs. 49ers
(game 16, 14-24, loss) 28 carries, 175 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 4 yards

emmitt vs. packers
(game 11, 21-6, win) 20 carries, 76 yards, 6 receptions, 16 yards

barry vs. packers
(game 9, 18-28, loss) 20 carries, 152, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, -1 yards
(game 15, 3-31, loss) 21 carries, 78 yards, 1 reception, -2 yards

1997

emmitt vs. bears
(game 4, 27-3, win) 13 carries, 43 yards, 1 reception, 1 yard

barry vs. bears
(game 3, 32-7, win) 19 carries, 161 yards, 1 reception, 3 yards
(game 13, 55-20, win) 19 carries, 167 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 8 yards

emmitt vs. giants
(game 4, 17-20, loss) 19 carries, 91 yards, 6 receptions, 24 yards
(game 16, 7-20, loss) 13 carries, 40 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 15 yards

barry vs. giants
(game 8, 20-26, loss) 24 carries, 105 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, 21 yards

emmitt vs. redskins
(game 6, 16-21, loss) 17 carries, 61 yards, 2 receptions, 23 yards
(game 11, 17-14, win) 21 carries, 99 yards, 4 receptions, 31 yards

barry vs. redskins
(game 10, 7-30, loss) 15 carries, 105 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 9 yards

emmitt vs. packers
(game 12, 17-45, loss) 11 carries, 59 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, 2 yards

barry vs. packers
(game 5, 26-15, win) 28 carries, 139 yards, 1 reception, 20 yards
(game 9, 10-20, loss) 23 carries, 105 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions, 21 yards

1998

emmitt vs. cardinals
(game 1, 38-10, win) 29 carries, 124 yards, 3 receptions, 15 yards
(game 10, 35-28, win) 26 carries, 118 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 receptions, 16 yards

barry vs. cardinals
(game 8, 15-17, loss) 27 carries, 107 yards, 6 receptions, 17 yards

emmitt vs. bears
(game 7, 12-13, loss) 16 carries, 78 yards

barry vs. bears
(game 5, 27-31, loss) 14 carries, 28 yards, 2 receptions, 17 yards
(game 10, 26-3, win) 24 carries, 114 yards, 1 reception, 7 yards

emmitt vs. eagles
(game 8, 34-0, win) 23 carries, 101 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 11 yards
(game 15, 13-9, win) 25 carries, 110 yards, 2 receptions, 9 yards

barry vs. eagles
(game 9, 9-10, loss) 20 carries, 140 yards, 3 receptions, 32 yards

emmitt vs. vikings
(game 12, 36-46, loss) 18 carries, 44 yards, 3 touchdowns, 4 receptions, 30 yards

barry vs. vikings
(game 3, 6-29, loss) 22 carries, 69 yards, 5 receptions, 29 yards
(game 7, 13-34, loss) 24 carries, 127 yards, 6 receptions, 51 yards

[SPTO]

Re: Best runningback of all time

I think a pretty instructive look at a couple stats might prove interesting:

Jim Brown

Rushing Yards per attempt: 5.2
Rushing Yards per Game: 104.3

Walter Payton

Rushing Yards per attempt: 4.4
Rushing Yards per Game: 88.0

Emmitt Smith

Rushing Yards per Attempt: 4.2
Rushing Yards per Game: 81.2

Barry Sanders

Rushing Yards per Attempt: 5.0
Rushing Yards per Game: 99.8


Seems like Sanders might have an edge in some respects due to the lengthened schedule and the short career compared to Sanders and Payton. We can't tell for sure if Sanders' numbers would've seen an obvious decline as he got older but with his running style it stands to reason that he would slow down and his numbers would reflect that. I thought it'd be interesting to take a look at those numbers. You guys can hash it out

[ZB9]

Re: Best runningback of all time

thanks for playing, that says it all.
emmitt only scored 9 td in 1993 when dallas finished 2nd in scoring, was that one of emmitt's worst years?

Emmitt couldnt play in 3 games that season (and Dallas went 0-3 in those games)

yet he still won the rushing title, and superbowl mvp (only running back to ever win rushing title, regular season mvp, and superbowl mvp in same season). yea I would say that was a decent season

couple corrections, 11 is not a single digit and 4.2 isnt the same as 4.3. lol@answer the question, i'll repeat myself, barry got more yards every time he touched the ball than emmitt even during this supposed time when emmitt was at the top of his game with 4 rushing titles in 5 years. yes emmitt scored a lot more td's than barry during this stretch and over the course of his career, but barry did lead the league in td's twice and was in the top 5 four times. more td's dont always equal better season, emmitt had dozens more td's than barry in 1994, yet barry won nfl offensive player of the year so throw that logic out the window.

actually the story went sometimes defenders get in the backfield and instead of just standing there to get tackled he would try and avoid them, sometimes that meant turning a 3 yard loss into a 5 yard gain. personally i think barry turned a lot more negative plays into positive plays than he did the other way around. thats my view and i think the stats and game film fall on my side.

A player is going to have a higher ypc when he is often taken out in short yardage situations. Although, that is not the only reason.

Emmitt was a completely different back than Barry obviously. He was a grinder and was depended on in short yardage (which is a style more conducive to winning, especially in the NFC East). It's interesting that you cherry pick ypc, but a grinder is obviously not going to average a higher ypc.

anyway, it simply depends on what style of back you prefer and in what type of offense. If you want want flash and amazing highlights from a player than can take it to the house on any given play, and if you want to run a wide open offense, then you take Barry. If Im going to run a power oriented offense, and I want a grinding back that will consistently move the chains in a playoff atmosphere in Giants stadium or Candlestick, I would certainly take Emmitt every time.

Both were all time great backs obviously. All of the "if you switched them to different teams" is fun to talk about, but it's BS. There is no way to know what they would do if we switched them, and we could use those types of hypotheticals for any player, not just Emmitt. I imagine a lot of WRs would have liked to switch with Jerry Rice's situation also, but that doesnt matter.

[Lumalu]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Barry has some of the best highlights I've ever seen.

[Rocky]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Emmitt couldnt play in 3 games that season (and Dallas went 0-3 in those games)

yet he still won the rushing title, and superbowl mvp (only running back to ever win rushing title, regular season mvp, and superbowl mvp in same season). yea I would say that was a decent season



A player is going to have a higher ypc when he is often taken out in short yardage situations. Although, that is not the only reason.

Emmitt was a completely different back than Barry obviously. He was a grinder and was depended on in short yardage (which is a style more conducive to winning, especially in the NFC East). It's interesting that you cherry pick ypc, but a grinder is obviously not going to average a higher ypc.

anyway, it simply depends on what style of back you prefer and in what type of offense. If you want want flash and amazing highlights from a player than can take it to the house on any given play, and if you want to run a wide open offense, then you take Barry. If Im going to run a power oriented offense, and I want a grinding back that will consistently move the chains in a playoff atmosphere in Giants stadium or Candlestick, I would certainly take Emmitt every time.

Both were all time great backs obviously. All of the "if you switched them to different teams" is fun to talk about, but it's BS. There is no way to know what they would do if we switched them, and we could use those types of hypotheticals for any player, not just Emmitt. I imagine a lot of WRs would have liked to switch with Jerry Rice's situation also, but that doesnt matter.

Again man, this is just crazy talk. It doesn't get much "vanilla" and grind it out than a Bobby Ross offense in the late '90's.

Barry put up 3500 yards in those two seasons.

[ANDROMADA 1]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Your post tells a nice story and all but you still didn't answer the question. It's cool though cause I knew that it couldn't be answered. I still don't see where these so call constant better numbers are. All you did here was point out specific seasons. I also find it kind of funny that you pointed out that Emmit failed to rush for a 1,000 yards as a rookie eventhough he was playing for a team that was coming off of a one win. But you are right he didn't break 1,000 yards as a rookie.

You pointed out the 94 season. The one season during that run that Barry won the rushing title over Emmit. Yess Barry had over 300 more yards than Emmit but at the same time Emmit scored 3 times as many TD's as Barry. That is an extra 86 points that Emmit put on the scoreboard. So what would you rather have 1,800 yards and 7 TD's or 1,500 yards and 21 TD's. Also you point out Barry had a couple of the top 10 season's. Barry is also the only player to have single digit TD's in those seasons. Everybody else has him pretty much at least doubled up in TD's. You say that without question Barry was better at his best than Emmit was at his. That is very debatable. So I ask you or anybody else then what would you rather have 2,053 yards and 11 TD's or 1,773 yards and an at the time NFL record 25 TD's?? Again we are talking about over twice as many TD's. Those extra points on the board very well can be the difference between W's and L's.

I have already showed that during a very big and main part of their careers that Emmit averaged more yards and more TD's per year. I mean even if you look at his last season and compare the two yes Barry had over 100 more yards but again Emmit scored over 3 times as many TD's and their YPC was the same. Now that this pretty flawed and only yard based argument has been countered I again ask where are these consistently better numbers for Barry??

Great Post. I love Emmitt. He was easily my favorite football player back in the day. I still have his rookie cards and autographed rookie of the year embosed framed photo. He was and still is an amazing person on and off the field. Of all the cowboys that i have meet he is probably the nicest.

[mudman]

Re: Best runningback of all time

lol Sanders didnt put up better numbers than Smith. Smith has more yards and more TDs (most ever), more playoff rushing yards and TDs (most ever), more superbowl rushing yards and TDs (most ever), one of only 4 players with over 10,000 rushing yards and 400 receptions, etc.etc. Smith holds more NFL records than Sanders. Barry does hold the NFL record for negative rushing yards though

If you are talking about best single season yardage, then Dickerson has the record for the best single rushing season. He also played on a worse team than Sanders, although that is an absurd criteria to use and it's only reserved for Emmitt Smith discussions

Using "what if" and "would have" hypotheticals can be used for any player and it is a ridiculous criteria to use

When you do have to resort to such "what if they switched" hypotheticals as the basis of argument, then you lose the argument

Everything you said is a pathetic argument in emmitts favor.

More playoff records? Really? Better team = more opportunities....terrible argument.

Forget the 'what if' arguments. It's a fact that emmitt ran behind one of the greatest olines ever and it's a fact that Sanders never had that luxury. It's pure blind homers that look at both careers and say that emmitt's is more impressive than Sanders. It's actually pretty difficult to find non-biased people who say emmitt > sanders....because objectively, Sanders was more impressive. Better #'s, better avg's on a clearly inferior team running an offense that was designed for passing.

[coogrfan]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Sanders was more impressive. Better #'s, better avg's on a clearly inferior team running an offense that was designed for passing.

Pleeeease.

If anything, the fact that Sanders spent several years in a Run and Shoot offense works against his claim to GOAT status. In a R&S the defense has fewer LB's on the field and is thinking pass first. It's relatively easy for a rb to gain yards in those circumstances.





Two examples to prove the point:

• In '93 the Oilers (a R&S team at that time) lost starting rb Lorenzo White for the season in week 8. His replacement, Gary Brown, rushed for just over 1000 yds (5.1/att) and 8 tds in only 8 games.
• Pardee's Houston Cougar teams had a rb named Chuck Weatherspoon. In four seasons at UH playing in the R&S he rushed for 3247 yards (8.22 yds/att). He remains the NCAA record holder for highest avg gain per rush for a season (1989 - 119 rushes for 1146 yds, 9.6 yds/att).

Needless to say, neither of these players went on to NFL immortality. Brown posted 1 more 1000 yd season as member of the Giants (although playing in a more conventional offense as a member of the NYG it took him an entire season to get there), while Spoon was never more than a backup in the pros.


Barry was a great runner, but the idea that he was somehow handicapped by playing in a Run and Shoot attack is ludicrous.

[ActLikeYouCrow]

Re: Best runningback of all time

those two examples hardly prove anything, especially when one is from college. what really worked in gary brown's favor is having two hall of famers on the oline, warren moon at qb and some good receivers. you take away those things and i dont think the run and shoot is as effective.

barry did play 3 years in the run and shoot. handicapped no, but the run and shoot did probably increase the negative plays barry had.