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Where does Curtis rank among the best running backs?


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This was not a list "in order" at all. The first 9 guys were taken from someone else's post who also didn't list them in any order. After that I just threw names up there as they came to mind. And with that I still forgot a couple of people.

Nor was this a "who had the greatest career" list. Read the top of my post. This was a "If you're hand-picking one RB for a 1-3 season window to make a run at the superbowl" list, which is what I wrote word-for-word.

And if I've got a 3-year window where my team has a real shot at a superbowl, you bet your ass a pre-injury Terrell Davis is on my list. Who cares what he did 4 years past his prime. I'm looking at a 3-year window max. Here's something for fun. Try to find a game where Terrell Davis was mediocre in the playoffs. Keep in mind these are all playoff teams he's going up against. Not a bad game. Try to find a mediocre game. C'mon, everyone has one. Closest I could find was "only" 100 yds vs the NFL's #2 rush defense in the superbowl. But then, he did have another 50 receiving yards. Oh, and most important: they won the friggin' game. I doubt you could easily find 3 bad games he had in 3 years from '96-'98. THAT is dominating. CuMar? I can find more than that in every single season of his career.

Since I only started watching football around '78-79, I absolve myself for missing guys from the mid-70's and earlier. All I have to go by for them are stats, which don't tell the whole story. Plus it was 1am when I made that list.

TD has perhaps the greatest playoff numbers for any RB. He absolutely belongs in the HOF. Martin would have been lucky to get on the field playing with Davis in is prime.

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This was not a list "in order" at all. The first 9 guys were taken from someone else's post who also didn't list them in any order. After that I just threw names up there as they came to mind. And with that I still forgot a couple of people.

Nor was this a "who had the greatest career" list. Read the top of my post. This was a "If you're hand-picking one RB for a 1-3 season window to make a run at the superbowl" list, which is what I wrote word-for-word.

And if I've got a 3-year window where my team has a real shot at a superbowl, you bet your ass a pre-injury Terrell Davis is on my list. Who cares what he did 4 years past his prime. I'm looking at a 3-year window max. Here's something for fun. Try to find a game where Terrell Davis was mediocre in the playoffs. Keep in mind these are all playoff teams he's going up against. Not a bad game. Try to find a mediocre game. C'mon, everyone has one. Closest I could find was "only" 100 yds vs the NFL's #2 rush defense in the superbowl. But then, he did have another 50 receiving yards. Oh, and most important: they won the friggin' game. I doubt you could easily find 3 bad games he had in 3 years from '96-'98. THAT is dominating. CuMar? I can find more than that in every single season of his career.

Since I only started watching football around '78-79, I absolve myself for missing guys from the mid-70's and earlier. All I have to go by for them are stats, which don't tell the whole story. Plus it was 1am when I made that list.

Great choice in Terrell.

I am of the belief he is one of the greatest of alltime, regardless of length of his career. If you are going to have Gail Sayers up there, Terrell needs to be also.

TD's playoff career: 7 games-1104 YDs-12 TDs. He had 6-100 yard games, his worst effort was a 91 yard game against Jacksonville in 96. He only had 14 carries in that game.

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Depends on your definition of what makes a RB great. If you value longevity more, Curtis is a top-5 back as evidenced by his #'s. If you're hand-picking one RB for a 1-3 season window to make a run at the superbowl he's barely in the top 20.

More dominant in their prime in no particular order (but I'll start with dochc's):

  1. Jim Brown
  2. Gayle Sayers
  3. OJ
  4. Payton
  5. Dickerson
  6. Barry Sanders
  7. Emmitt Smith
  8. Tomlinson
  9. McNeill - if you never saw him play you won't agree
  10. Earl Campbell
  11. Jamal Lewis
  12. Marcus Allen
  13. Shaun Alexander
  14. Ahman Green
  15. Marshall Faulk
  16. Terrell Davis
  17. Tiki Barber
  18. Corey Dillon - consider who HE played for his first 6 seasons
  19. Tony Dorsett
  20. ~ tie with Martin, Thurman Thomas, and Bettis. Thomas always played for better teams. That being said, he did some amazing things with the football & was a better receiver than Martin. 21 TD's in 21 post-season games. Came up small in 3 of 4 superbowls, but then he was IN 4 superbowls. Bettis was a different type of runner so you can't just look at gross #'s; always seemed to take 2-3 guys to stop him & faced more 8-men-in-the-box than Martin ever did (had exactly two top-20 passing games behind him before age 30 and both were lousy teams chasing an opponent's lead most of the season).

Can't comment on guys I never saw like Czonka, Riggins, Leroy Kelly, & Jim Taylor.

Tony Dorsett would've also had that same 10-year streak (maybe even 11) but for the '82 strike & Dallas drafting Herschel Walker in '86 followed by another strike season in '87. Ditto Walter Payton, who only had the '82 strike season interrupt an 11-year stretch of 1000 yds. Chicago not being so desperate to feed one RB the ball 300x his rookie season is not a knock on Payton.

Priest Holmes is hard to evaluate b/c his OL was so dominant.

Taylor was a more dangerous runner at just about every point in his career (a career 4.5ypc is no joke & just about matches Martin at his best in any one season). A 230-lb back with WR speed, was a good receiver & broke tackles all over the place. In his prime he never had a bad game in the playoffs; but he didn't get the nickname "Fragile Fred" by dumb luck.

These things are all subject to opinion anyway. There are no definites since you can't replicate a player's career as though he played for a different team in different circumstances.

Love Freeman but Faulk was head and shoulders a better back in his prime because of his pass catching ability.

No Thurman Thomas?? Scratch that I see you have him at #20 barely.

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Martin was a good back, not great, but a good back for a really long time.

But if you have 1 game to win, Curtis Martin isnt in the top 50.

remember when he got 166 yards in his first playoff game in 96? or his 124 rushing yard + 2 TD game in the playoffs against Jacksonville in 98? Or his 174 rushing yard game in the snow against the Steelers in week 15 of 2003?

Curtis has had his great moments, including leading the league in rushing yards in 2004.

However, I'd take Sanders or Faulk if I have one game to win

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The list is for: if you had a 1-3 year window and you could take these players in their prime 3 years.

Martin never had to deal with the adversity of playing for the Bengals for his first 6 seasons. Or do you think he would've fared no better on the 90's Pats & Jets? Finally went to a good team with the Pats in '04 & outperformed Martin in his stellar year, ramming it down the throat of good & bad defenses alike, unlike Curtis.

Jamal Lewis in his prime was better than Martin in his prime. He's a scumbag & Martin's a nice guy. At their respective best, Lewis was better. Deal with it. A 240-lb RB with moves who broke tackles & ran like the wind. You want to talk about 8 men in the box with CuMar? Were Kyle Boller, David Wright, Jeff Blake, and Trent Dilfer with zero WR's keeping the safeties out of the box? I think not.

are u kidding me? so freeman mcneil was better in his prime than thurman thomas? And tell me about your greatest memories of Red Grange...lmfao

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remember when he got 166 yards in his first playoff game in 96? or his 124 rushing yard + 2 TD game in the playoffs against Jacksonville in 98? Or his 174 rushing yard game in the snow against the Steelers in week 15 of 2003?

Curtis has had his great moments, including leading the league in rushing yards in 2004.

However, I'd take Sanders or Faulk if I have one game to win

For every 1 of those games, he has 5 where he's managed like 30 yards until garbage time, if he ever gets more. I don't think Curtis is reliable against good defenses.

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