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Edgerrin James: Hall of Famer?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Aug 24, 2011.

  1. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Oh wow, that's so awesome. You own the Arizona Cardinals.
     
  2. RickStain

    RickStain Well-Known Member


    You could look at it that way. But is it really more HOF-worthy to give your team something they could have just as easily gotten from two okay backs with non-HOF careers?
     
  3. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    As for James, I had no idea he ranked 11th all-time in rushing. That's a pretty good feather in his cap that he finished that high despite shredding his knee in his third year. I probably wouldn't vote for him but I wouldn't argue his inclusion.

    That Curtis Martin had to wait to get in is a fucking crime. Outside of Jim Brown and Barry Sanders, was anyone ever that good for that long?
     
  4. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Payton and Emmitt, both quite a bit better in their primes and both among the league's top RBs for 9-10 years.
     
  5. cyclingwriter

    cyclingwriter Active Member

    Tony Dorsett and Franco Harris are standing up as well.
     
  6. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    You should ban yourself for that post. Walk on home, boy!
     
  7. NickMordo

    NickMordo Active Member

  8. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Exactly. I agree that Martin should be in already, but he was not in the same class with any of those guys.
     
  9. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    Curtis Martin had his best and busiest year in his 10th season in the league. He might still be going if Herman fucking Edwards could coach a lick and didn't have a lead foot when it came to running backs (see: Johnson, Larry).

    I will grant you all Payton, who also had his best and busiest season in his 10th year. He finished so quietly in 1987 that I thought he tapered off, but he really didn't. Came to a screeching halt.

    Emmitt's 10th year was outstanding (1397 yards, 4.2 YPC) but he was a hanger-on his last four years. I'd rather see someone fall off in a hurry, a la Payton and Martin, than hang on.

    Dorsett's 10th year: 748 yards, first sub-1,000 full season

    Harris' 10th year: 987 yards. But he'd had five sub-4.0 YPC seasons before that. Martin finished with four.
     
  10. No, they're completely meaningless. During that stretch when we had James, I correctly pointed out that he was the worst starting running back by a wide margin. Granted, he was facing Shaun Alexander, Steven Jackson and Frank Gore, but when you're paid the kind of money he was, you should at least make it a contest there. James' yards per carry was always well under four. That, and not 1,000 yards, is a far better measure of a running back.

    I don't have the hate for Emmitt, because I knew Emmitt was brought in to sell tickets and nothing else. Everyone knew Emmitt was washed up when we signed him at age 34 with 14 years of mileage in Dallas, and we didn't pay a huge premium for him anyway. James was just 28 and was brought in to make our rushing attack respected. It was a bigger joke than before.

    Lastly, your position that Edgerrin James is one of the best running backs we've ever had makes me laugh. Edgerrin James isn't close to one of the best running backs we've had. In three years in Arizona, his YPC was 3.64. Michael Pittman spent four years in the desert and had a YPC of 3.75. Michael freaking Pittman was more productive than Edgerrin James, and I'm supposed to be happy that I had to suffer through three years of watching Edge? Get real.
     
  11. The funny thing is, if he had retired after his days with Indianapolis, I probably would have placed him in the Hall of Fame. He was great for the Colts. But when he left for the Cardinals, he proved to be ordinary--and that's being kind. So the question is, was he really that good, or did Indianapolis just make him look good?

    I believe it's the latter, and that's why I say James has no business being in the Hall, even though his career YPC of 4 is right at what I say is the minimum to be considered elite. I also think it makes total sense that Curtis Martin has waited this long. His numbers aren't good either.
     
  12. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/rush_yds_career.htm

    For modern-era rushers, I think 12,000 career yards rushing looks like a pretty good cut line.

    http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/yds_from_scrimmage_career.htm

    But if you look at yards-from-scrimmage, that starts to make Barber, Janes and Warrick Dunn(!) look pretty damn good.
     
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