Best runningback of all time

[Playmaker76]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Emmitt Smith even as an Eagles fan I wouldn't shy away from saying he's the best.

1) He is the all-time yardage king
2) He was more consistent than most of the other choices. Almost every year in Dallas he racked up a stack of yards, and this was over the course of 11 seasons. Plus he was only one of four players in NFL history to have 21,000 yards from scrimmage.

[SuperNoVa27]

Re: Best runningback of all time

I know this is a very unpopular opinion and I'm probably going to get some heat for this.

But in my mind, LT was a much better RB than Emmit Smith.

[Yung Goat 404]

Re: Best runningback of all time

I Gotta Go With Barry Sanders.

[jth1331]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Man, all these arguments for Martin I just gotta chime in again.

One person said Martin performed at a high level, and was consistent. His stats fluctuated a lot actually, and the thing that ALWAYS gets me is his TD numbers. Don't compare Emmitt to him because Emmitt nearly doubled Martin in TD's.
Yardage is ridiculous to me to state why a guy is good. Touchdowns, touchdowns, touchdowns.
The NFL is still relatively so young, and we are finally getting guys into the whole stat thing, be prepared to see a lot of "average" guys with eye popping stats compared to current HOFers.
Case in point, look at receptions. A boat load of guys creeping up the receptions ladder.
Too many people look at receptions and yards and don't focus on TD's IMO. I mean, it boggles my mind we have guys in the top 10 in total TD's overlooked for the HOF. Well, only 1 for now in Carter, but Terrell Owens is 4th all time in total TD's. Moss is 5th. One guy who I think gets overlooked is Shaun Alexander at RB. The guy was a freakin TD machine. But I doubt he ever gets closely looked at for the HOF because he doesn't have the yardage to match it to folks.

[DukeC]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Man, all these arguments for Martin I just gotta chime in again.

One person said Martin performed at a high level, and was consistent. His stats fluctuated a lot actually, and the thing that ALWAYS gets me is his TD numbers. Don't compare Emmitt to him because Emmitt nearly doubled Martin in TD's.
Yardage is ridiculous to me to state why a guy is good. Touchdowns, touchdowns, touchdowns.
The NFL is still relatively so young, and we are finally getting guys into the whole stat thing, be prepared to see a lot of "average" guys with eye popping stats compared to current HOFers.
Case in point, look at receptions. A boat load of guys creeping up the receptions ladder.
Too many people look at receptions and yards and don't focus on TD's IMO. I mean, it boggles my mind we have guys in the top 10 in total TD's overlooked for the HOF. Well, only 1 for now in Carter, but Terrell Owens is 4th all time in total TD's. Moss is 5th. One guy who I think gets overlooked is Shaun Alexander at RB. The guy was a freakin TD machine. But I doubt he ever gets closely looked at for the HOF because he doesn't have the yardage to match it to folks.

WOW. Just.....

WOW.

Okey Doke. Okey Doke.

Yep, his stats sure did fluctuate. http://www.pro-football-reference.co...M/MartCu00.htm

They only thing that fluctuated was his TD numbers. And, despite that, he still has 90 Rushing TD's, which is good 12th All time.

Compare that to guys like Thurman Thomas (who played longer than Martin BTW) who have 65 Rushing TD's...http://www.pro-football-reference.co...T/ThomTh00.htm

Or even Earl Campbell who only had 74......or Tony Dorsett who only had 77....or guys like OJ Simpson and Herchel Walker who only have 61....http://www.pro-football-reference.co..._td_career.htm

I guess those guys weren't good either hrmm?

[Hooe]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Looking at how this poll has evolved over time, I find it interesting that apparently whether a running back helped lead a team to success is not nearly as valued as compared to whether a quarterback leads a team to success, even with regard to those who played in eras where the quarterback position did not have the premium placed on it that it does today.

To that note: Barry Sanders played in six playoff games in his entire career, and his team had a record of 1-5 in those games. Compare that to Curtis Martin (5-5, with 1 Super Bowl loss), Walter Payton (4-5, with 1 Super Bowl win), Ladainian Tomlinson (5-5), Earl Campbell (3-3), Marshall Faulk (7-5, with 1 Super Bowl win and 1 Super Bowl loss), or Emmitt Smith (12-5, with 3 Super Bowl wins).

This isn't meant to prop up Emmitt, though I acknowledge again that he was my choice in this poll and bringing up this point certainly would back him. My intent is moreso to pose this question: does whether a running back helped his team actually win games matter when determining relative greatness, along the same lines as when two quarterbacks are compared? Does it not matter at all, is it possible for some great running backs to be obviously greater than other great running backs despite not playing on winning teams? Is it a ridiculous question because the did-he-win-games comparison is flawed even when applied to quarterbacks and thus obviously also flawed for running backs?

[Sublime12089]

I will get hate for this but imo emmit smith is overrated on the goat discussion. He's top 5 but just barely.

Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2

[Champion8877]

Re: Best runningback of all time

I don't judge any player in the NFL based on rings, not running backs, offensive linemen, linebackers, nobody, not even quarterbacks.

It takes a full roster of great players to win a Super Bowl in the NFL. In my opinion Dan Marino is the 2nd best QB of all time, and no matter who you are you must recognize him as at the least top 5, no ring though. Are you going to say Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer are better than him because they have a ring to show for it? No.

Same thing with a running back. If they were not on a team that was able to put together a good enough roster to win, then we shouldn't hold it against the player individually.

With the NBA however, I am a little more willing to judge based on rings, since one superstar with same good role players can take lead a team to a title pretty much single handed. An NBA game can be dominated by one player, where an NFL needs almost every single player to perform at a high level each game and execute or they will not be getting a win.

[Rocky]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Looking at how this poll has evolved over time, I find it interesting that apparently whether a running back helped lead a team to success is not nearly as valued as compared to whether a quarterback leads a team to success, even with regard to those who played in eras where the quarterback position did not have the premium placed on it that it does today.

To that note: Barry Sanders played in six playoff games in his entire career, and his team had a record of 1-5 in those games. Compare that to Curtis Martin (5-5, with 1 Super Bowl loss), Walter Payton (4-5, with 1 Super Bowl win), Ladainian Tomlinson (5-5), Earl Campbell (3-3), Marshall Faulk (7-5, with 1 Super Bowl win and 1 Super Bowl loss), or Emmitt Smith (12-5, with 3 Super Bowl wins).

This isn't meant to prop up Emmitt, though I acknowledge again that he was my choice in this poll and bringing up this point certainly would back him. My intent is moreso to pose this question: does whether a running back helped his team actually win games matter when determining relative greatness, along the same lines as when two quarterbacks are compared? Does it not matter at all, is it possible for some great running backs to be obviously greater than other great running backs despite not playing on winning teams? Is it a ridiculous question because the did-he-win-games comparison is flawed even when applied to quarterbacks and thus obviously also flawed for running backs?

For one, I think the "did he win games/Super Bowls" argument is flawed even for QB's. Some of the greatest QB's ever - Marino, Fouts, Tarkenton, Moon, etc. have never won championships. Peyton, Favre, and Young have only won a single championship. Brady, Elway, and even Big Ben won championships when they're roles were minimized. Teams win championships...not single players. Quarterbacks have the ball 100% of the time on offense and often are asked to make plays on 3rd down and at the end of games. Therefore, they're going to be judged by their impact of the more closely than running backs.

I will say that nearly every Super Bowl winning RB that you mentioned had a great defense or a QB capable of engineering an explosive pass game. Sanders never had that. Heck, some of Payton's best years were when he played on some of the worst teams in the NFL.

[jth1331]

Re: Best runningback of all time

WOW. Just.....

WOW.

Okey Doke. Okey Doke.

Yep, his stats sure did fluctuate. http://www.pro-football-reference.co...M/MartCu00.htm

They only thing that fluctuated was his TD numbers. And, despite that, he still has 90 Rushing TD's, which is good 12th All time.

Compare that to guys like Thurman Thomas (who played longer than Martin BTW) who have 65 Rushing TD's...http://www.pro-football-reference.co...T/ThomTh00.htm

Or even Earl Campbell who only had 74......or Tony Dorsett who only had 77....or guys like OJ Simpson and Herchel Walker who only have 61....http://www.pro-football-reference.co..._td_career.htm

I guess those guys weren't good either hrmm?

1995 - 1400 yards, 14 TD's
1996 - 1100 yards, 14 TD's
1997 - 1100 yards, 4 TD's
Those 3 years saw a decline in yards, and then TD's.
2001-2004 saw spikes and downs in his stats as well. Differences of 200 yards, and differences in TD's.

and now you are starting to compare different eras. Sigh...
Yeah, just like old timer baseball players must suck looking at the new stats in baseball. Over time, athletes get better and thus, accumulate more gaudy stats. 30 years from now, Martin could be trumped in the stats categories. I mean, we are already seeing the effect on the passing stats, and soon the receiving stats. Rushing will be there as well.
Elway retired being #2 in passing yards, #3 in passing TD's.
15ish years later, he sits at #4 in yards and tied for 5th in TD's.
5 more years, he will probably be 6th or 7th in yards and 8th in TD's. And it will probably keep dropping in rank over time.
Comparing what a RB has done statistically now to a RB 20 years ago is irrelevant, just like in most sports.

[SPTO]

Re: Best runningback of all time

1995 - 1400 yards, 14 TD's
1996 - 1100 yards, 14 TD's
1997 - 1100 yards, 4 TD's
Those 3 years saw a decline in yards, and then TD's.
2001-2004 saw spikes and downs in his stats as well. Differences of 200 yards, and differences in TD's.

That's a decline? 2 to 300 yards difference in rushing is not THAT big of a decline unless you're barely hitting 1000 yards before said decline.

Regarding your note on '01-'04 those aren't really declining numbers and the only year where the drop off in TDs was truly bad was in '03 but he bounced back in '04.

The only year where there was a huge decline in yardage other than his last season was in '02 and if you look deeper into that season he didn't even get 300+ carries. I daresay if he got his regular 20ish carries a game he would've put up a 1300 yard season.

I don't see where you can say he had a real decline other than TDs. Even then, it's situational in that you don't know exactly WHY the TD numbers dropped. It could be anything from the QB throwing more TDs that year or Martin not being in too many red zone situations etc etc.

[DukeC]

Re: Best runningback of all time

1995 - 1400 yards, 14 TD's
1996 - 1100 yards, 14 TD's
1997 - 1100 yards, 4 TD's
Those 3 years saw a decline in yards, and then TD's.
2001-2004 saw spikes and downs in his stats as well. Differences of 200 yards, and differences in TD's.

and now you are starting to compare different eras. Sigh...
Yeah, just like old timer baseball players must suck looking at the new stats in baseball. Over time, athletes get better and thus, accumulate more gaudy stats. 30 years from now, Martin could be trumped in the stats categories. I mean, we are already seeing the effect on the passing stats, and soon the receiving stats. Rushing will be there as well.
Elway retired being #2 in passing yards, #3 in passing TD's.
15ish years later, he sits at #4 in yards and tied for 5th in TD's.
5 more years, he will probably be 6th or 7th in yards and 8th in TD's. And it will probably keep dropping in rank over time.
Comparing what a RB has done statistically now to a RB 20 years ago is irrelevant, just like in most sports.

Which just weakened your argument. You went from "Shaun Alexander should be considered for the Hall of Fame for his career TD's" to "You can't compare TD numbers across eras". Does that make sense to you? And if you want to talk consistency.....

Shaun Alexander had 5 GREAT YEARS. During that time span it was Him and LT for the top runningback position. He was a top 3 at the least during that time span. After that? He got injured and his production dropped off big time. He was barely averaging 3.5 yards a carry. 3 years after his best season the man was out of the league. http://www.pro-football-reference.co...A/AlexSh00.htm

Now, the only arguement that you can say has been inflated IS passing TD's because ,if you didn't know, Fran Tarkenton was the ALL TIME leader in passing TD's. He has since been passed. http://www.pro-football-reference.co...T/TarkFr00.htm. If anything it's probably Passing Yards becoming inflated and not TD's as to accumulate a ton of TD's is significantly harder than accumulating yards at the QB position.

Why do I know this? Because I was a fan of the Vikings and my grandad decided to educate me on football. I don't get my knowledge from stats (though they help support my point) I get it from actually watching games and reading about various NFL history. At least for the glamour positions. I couldn't name you a single offensive or defensive lineman other than Jonathan Ogden and Reggie White.

[55]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Some of the greatest QB's ever - Marino, Fouts, Tarkenton, Moon, etc. have never won championships.

Moon won five consecutive championships playing professional football, actually.

[mKoz26]

Re: Best runningback of all time

Moon won five consecutive championships playing professional football, actually.

LOL

Seriously, the CFL?

[ImTellinTim]

Re: Best runningback of all time

LOL

Seriously, the CFL?

CFL or not, it was impressive and wasn't a fluke.