The top 25 running backs of all time

[68JET11]

7 hours ago, RutgersJetFan said:

what was life like during the civil war 

Well at least we won seeing as I grew up in the North... That's more than I can say for the team I root for lmao...

[nj meadowlands]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:51 PM, Adoni Beast said:

1. Jim Brown

2. Walter Payton

3. Barry Sanders

***Everyone below is after a significant gap from the top 3***

4. LaDainian Tomlinson

5. Eric Dickerson

6. OJ Simpson

7. Gale Sayers

8. Earl Campbell

9. Emmitt Smith

10. Tony Dorsett

11. Marshall Faulk

12. Marcus Allen

13. Thurman Thomas

14. Franco Harris

15. Adrian Peterson

16. Terrell Davis

17. Curtis Martin

18.  Bo Jackson ***would be the only rival to Jim Brown if he didn’t have that injury. Would be much higher with more years played***

19. Larry Csonka

20. John Riggins

21. Roger Craig (all-time underrated player)

22. Jerome Bettis (can’t stand him at all)

23. Shaun Alexander

24. Jim Taylor

25. Marshawn Lynch

 

 

 

This looks right.

[#27TheDominator]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:00 AM, OilfieldJet said:

No Marion Motley?

Larz had you covered almost immediately!

On 2/4/2023 at 7:55 PM, Larz said:

 

[#27TheDominator]

There are guys that I can see running lower on the list because of durability or a lack of career length, like Sayers and Campbell.  OTOH, those guys are in the conversation for best ever.  If you needed one of these guys for a single game very few people are taking Curtis Martin or Emmit Smith, but I get why those guys are high up on the list because of the quality of their career overall.  Anybody taking either for a playoff run over a peak Earl Campbell is simply insane.  

IMO Brown, Payton, Sanders and Simpson are in that tier of best plus.   I guess Bo Jackson would be in that small sample size tier, but I personally found him to be the most overrated back ever.  He was Lamont Jordan to Marcus Allen's Curtis Martin.  I think he would have been way more pedestrian if he were forced to be the lead back. 

[chirorob]

Roger Craig does not belong on this list, IMO.

His top 3 seasons are 1502 (monster), 1054, and 1050.  After that, his next highest is 830

[chirorob]

39 minutes ago, #27TheDominator said:

There are guys that I can see running lower on the list because of durability or a lack of career length, like Sayers and Campbell.  OTOH, those guys are in the conversation for best ever.  If you needed one of these guys for a single game very few people are taking Curtis Martin or Emmit Smith, but I get why those guys are high up on the list because of the quality of their career overall.  Anybody taking either for a playoff run over a peak Earl Campbell is simply insane.  

IMO Brown, Payton, Sanders and Simpson are in that tier of best plus.   I guess Bo Jackson would be in that small sample size tier, but I personally found him to be the most overrated back ever.  He was Lamont Jordan to Marcus Allen's Curtis Martin.  I think he would have been way more pedestrian if he were forced to be the lead back. 

It's tough.   Earl had 3 ELITE years, 2 good years, and really, that's it.  But his first 3 are so elite, just unbelievable.

Emmit wasn't as elite, but he has years where between the regular season and the postseason he has 400+ carries.  He also led the league in rushing 4 times, won an MVP, and had other top 3 finishes.

I do think people sleep on Dickerson.  6878 yards in his first 4 seasons is unmatched.  I don't know that any other running back ever had that many yards in a 4 season span.  (Edit, Barry did, 6989 in 4 years)

[nycdan]

16 minutes ago, chirorob said:

It's tough.   Earl had 3 ELITE years, 2 good years, and really, that's it.  But his first 3 are so elite, just unbelievable.

Emmit wasn't as elite, but he has years where between the regular season and the postseason he has 400+ carries.  He also led the league in rushing 4 times, won an MVP, and had other top 3 finishes.

I do think people sleep on Dickerson.  6878 yards in his first 4 seasons is unmatched.  I don't know that any other running back ever had that many yards in a 4 season span.  (Edit, Barry did, 6989 in 4 years)

That's a good point on Dickerson.  And when you add in the receiving yards, he really does have a top-5 argument.  Certainly, at his peak, he's a guy you could argue for in that one game you have to win.  

For better or worse, people will never be able to separate Emmitt from his OLine, which was arguably on the the greatest in NFL history.  There's a reason Thomas Jones had his two best seasons ever at age 30 and 31.  He ran behind our dominant OLine.  Not saying Emmitt wasn't a great RB, but when you compare him to guys who had nothing close to that level of support, it has to be a factor.

My top-5, if I needed to win one game, are probably Brown, Campbell, Barry, OJ, and Payton or Dickerson in a coin flip.  Emmitt just can't hit that list for me.  Because if I had that OLine, the other guys would almost certainly be even better.

[OilfieldJet]

On 2/4/2023 at 6:55 PM, Larz said:

Great add Larz, thank you. Not sure how I missed this. Also, note his shoes.....

[Larz]

1 hour ago, OilfieldJet said:

Great add Larz, thank you. Not sure how I missed this. Also, note his shoes.....

Hi top chucks, gotta love it. There were many business decisions made tackling him for sure lol. 

[Sperm Edwards]

16 minutes ago, #27TheDominator said:

There are guys that I can see running lower on the list because of durability or a lack of career length, like Sayers and Campbell.  OTOH, those guys are in the conversation for best ever.  If you needed one of these guys for a single game very few people are taking Curtis Martin or Emmit Smith, but I get why those guys are high up on the list because of the quality of their career overall.  Anybody taking either for a playoff run over a peak Earl Campbell is simply insane.  

Potential friends & family aside, there isn't a HC anywhere who's picking Curtis Martin over Adrian Peterson, let alone Earl Campbell. How ludicrous. 

I'm more of someone who judges a RB at his very best, not for how many years he was technically usable as a starter. You get someone who was off the charts for 5 years that's enough to build a [non-Jets] team into a winner and contend for multiple seasons.

More than that doesn't hurt any, but it doesn't help the team more to have 10 pretty good seasons instead of about half that as one of the 5 best RBs in the game, and 1-2 as the outright very best. 

So I can spot too many on that list who were never, and Martin is included.

• Bettis same thing.
• Harris as well (swap him & a peer like Pruitt and is Harris still a HOFer and Pruitt not? His prime was a bit before my time (I remember him because of the Steelers' dominance, but not the league as a whole well enough to know who was better than whom), but the difference between him & a peer like OJ had to be like the difference between Derrick Henry & Melvin Gordon.
• Hall isn't worth addressing.

As a GM I'd rather a 3-4 year window (never mind a single year playoff run) with someone at his very best & there are over a dozen others I'd take 10x out of 10 over a whole lot of backs on this list. e.g. Jamal Lewis was basically a perfect RB whose #s were hurt by not just that 2nd yr preseason ACL but some split carries with other competent backs (after Priest, then Chester Taylor) & frankly any backs there were easy to key on with their crappy QBs. 

[#27TheDominator]

2 hours ago, chirorob said:

Roger Craig does not belong on this list, IMO.

His top 3 seasons are 1502 (monster), 1054, and 1050.  After that, his next highest is 830

I always thought of Roger Craig as a receiving back.  Guys like Ricky Waters, Deuce McAllister and hell even a guy considered kind of a bust George Rogers - he did have 18 TDs in a season - were better rushers.

2 hours ago, chirorob said:

It's tough.   Earl had 3 ELITE years, 2 good years, and really, that's it.  But his first 3 are so elite, just unbelievable.

Emmit wasn't as elite, but he has years where between the regular season and the postseason he has 400+ carries.  He also led the league in rushing 4 times, won an MVP, and had other top 3 finishes.

I do think people sleep on Dickerson.  6878 yards in his first 4 seasons is unmatched.  I don't know that any other running back ever had that many yards in a 4 season span.  (Edit, Barry did, 6989 in 4 years)

I am kind of an Earl fanboy.  He was a guy where you watched the game just to see what crazy sh*t he would do.  Plus I loved #00 Ken Burrough.  I certainly sleep on Dickerson.  I never liked him, but it was probably more of a style thing.  Too upright and there were some one year wonders like Billy Sims (see below, crazy that team had 3 studs that wore #20, Sims, Sanders and HOF CB Lem Barney) that I like better.  Never felt he was much better than McCutcheon (another guy that I had a strange affinity for).  Jamaal Anderson, the Dirty Bird, was another peak vs. career choice.  Soldi back, but in 1998 he had 115 ypg!

19 minutes ago, Sperm Edwards said:

Potential friends & family aside, there isn't a HC anywhere who's picking Curtis Martin over Adrian Peterson, let alone Earl Campbell. How ludicrous. 

I'm more of someone who judges a RB at his very best, not for how many years he was technically usable as a starter. You get someone who was off the charts for 5 years that's enough to build a [non-Jets] team into a winner and contend for multiple seasons.

More than that doesn't hurt any, but it doesn't help the team more to have 10 pretty good seasons instead of about half that as one of the 5 best RBs in the game, and 1-2 as the outright very best. 

So I can spot too many on that list who were never, and Martin is included.

• Bettis same thing.
• Harris as well (swap him & a peer like Pruitt and is Harris still a HOFer and Pruitt not? His prime was a bit before my time (I remember him because of the Steelers' dominance, but not the league as a whole well enough to know who was better than whom), but the difference between him & a peer like OJ had to be like the difference between Derrick Henry & Melvin Gordon.
• Hall isn't worth addressing.

As a GM I'd rather a 3-4 year window (never mind a single year playoff run) with someone at his very best & there are over a dozen others I'd take 10x out of 10 over a whole lot of backs on this list. e.g. Jamal Lewis was basically a perfect RB whose #s were hurt by not just that 2nd yr preseason ACL but some split carries with other competent backs (after Priest, then Chester Taylor) & frankly any backs there were easy to key on with their crappy QBs. 

I love BOTH Pruitts!  They wore tear away jerseys!  Lydell Mitchell was so good that Franco had to block for him.  Lawrence McCutcheon.  Pretty much agree, but I get why people see things differently.  Tomlinson was great catching the ball out of the backfield and he certainly found the end zone enough.

[jetswin]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:56 AM, Larz said:

Marion Motley. Still holds the record for YPA at 5.7 and also played linebacker. 

My father in law, RIP, played with him during the war for Paul Brown...he had great stories about him, apparently a very nice guy as well as a tremendous football player.

[Larz]

1 hour ago, jetswin said:

My father in law, RIP, played with him during the war for Paul Brown...he had great stories about him, apparently a very nice guy as well as a tremendous football player.

Wow ! That is really cool. Thanks for posting it ?

[Jetluv58]

I lived in Tampa long ago and watched Barry Sanders run 230 yards on the Bucs. Even though he killed us (I was a Bucs fan then) it was a beautiful thing watching that guy run.   Just now I thought of Ricky Bell RIP. Wonder what he might have become had he not passed away so young. 

[LockeJET]

On 2/4/2023 at 8:59 PM, New York Mick said:

A. Sanders (Bo if he didn’t get hurt), Brown, Payton 

B. LT, Faulk, OJ, Dickerson, Campbell, AP

C. Emith, TD, Riggins, Allen, Thomas, James, Sayers, Dorsett, Martin, Harris, Craig

D.  Alexandra, Barber, Taylor, Bettis, Holmes, Bell, Chubbs, Kamara, McCaffery, Csonka

No Henry anywhere?

[New York Mick]

4 hours ago, LockeJET said:

No Henry anywhere?

Yea. Near Csnoka

[#27TheDominator]

19 hours ago, #27TheDominator said:

I always thought of Roger Craig as a receiving back.  Guys like Ricky Waters, Deuce McAllister and hell even a guy considered kind of a bust George Rogers - he did have 18 TDs in a season - were better rushers.

I am kind of an Earl fanboy.  He was a guy where you watched the game just to see what crazy sh*t he would do.  Plus I loved #00 Ken Burrough.  I certainly sleep on Dickerson.  I never liked him, but it was probably more of a style thing.  Too upright and there were some one year wonders like Billy Sims (see below, crazy that team had 3 studs that wore #20, Sims, Sanders and HOF CB Lem Barney) that I like better.  Never felt he was much better than McCutcheon (another guy that I had a strange affinity for).  Jamaal Anderson, the Dirty Bird, was another peak vs. career choice.  Soldi back, but in 1998 he had 115 ypg!

I love BOTH Pruitts!  They wore tear away jerseys!  Lydell Mitchell was so good that Franco had to block for him.  Lawrence McCutcheon.  Pretty much agree, but I get why people see things differently.  Tomlinson was great catching the ball out of the backfield and he certainly found the end zone enough.

I left out my see below!

 

 

[#27TheDominator]

9 minutes ago, #27TheDominator said:

I left out my see below!

 

 

I left out my see below and it turns out that thanks to the NFL it is useless!

Those of us past our prime will know the play, but for the young guns that haven't seen it the extra clicks might be worthwhile. 

[Blackout]

On 2/5/2023 at 9:53 AM, rangerous said:

He carried those oiler teams.  I would rank

1. Jim brown, dominated the sport

2. Barry sanders, pure magic when carrying the ball

3. OJ, okay so he’s a murderer.

4. earl campbell. Carried those oiler teams

5. Adrian Peterson. Carried those Viking teams

breece hall? He needs a few more pelts in his belt before he breaks into any list.

 

 

How did Earl do in the 78 title game? Those fumbles hurt them

[BallinPB]

Barry Sanders is easily the number 1 running back of all time to me and it’s not even close.  I’m way too young to have seen Jim Brown play but it’s my understanding he was playing against guys who were moonlighting as plumbers.  I understand he can’t change the era he played in but I can’t let that go.

[chirorob]

14 minutes ago, BallinPB said:

Barry Sanders is easily the number 1 running back of all time to me and it’s not even close.  I’m way too young to have seen Jim Brown play but it’s my understanding he was playing against guys who were moonlighting as plumbers.  I understand he can’t change the era he played in but I can’t let that go.

All you can measure is the dominance.  Jim played 9 years, won the rushing title 8 times.   Took unbelievable punishment, and dished it out.   Held every major record, and average 100 yards per game over his career.

[Dupe]

On 2/4/2023 at 6:57 PM, Blackout said:

As dictated and decided by Blackout (aka me)

 

25 Breece Hall 

24 Frank Gore 

23 Terrell Davis 

22 Priest Holmes 

21 Larry Csonka

20 Jerome Bettis

19 Franco Harris

18 Shaun Alexander

17 Gale Sayers

16 Bronko Nagurski

15 Marcus Allen 

14 Earl Campbell

13 John Riggins

12 Steve Van Buren 

11 Red Grange

10 Marshall Faulk

9 Adrian Peterson 

8 Curtis Martin

7 OJ Simpson 

6 Emmitt Smith

5 Walter Payton

4 Barry Sanders 

3 Ladanian Tomlinson 

2 Eric Dickerson

1 Jim Brown 

 

I think this list is very accurate.  What do you guys think?

It’s kind of a shame that Herschel Walker is no where on this list though rightly so.  I would take him over many of theses guys.