GOAT, RB CATEGORY

[Chef2]

FWIW:

I also added a 11-20 listing......

11. Adrian Peterson
12. Tony Dorsett
13. OJ Simpson
14. Roger Craig
15. Marcus Allen
16. Tony Dorsett
17. John Riggins
18. Bo Jackson
19. Jerome Bettis
20. Bronko Nagurski

What about Tony Dorsett?

12.

He so good Dorsett is at both 12 and 16?

Franco Harris at 16.

 

[Gator]

Again, we are all aware that Curtis Martin is No. 4 on the all-time rushing list, right? Scored 100 total touchdowns? Just checking here.

 

[Batman]

Emmitt Smith himself once said that if Barry Sanders had played behind that Cowboys line of the early 90s, he would've finished his career with 20,000 yards. That's good enough for me to make Sanders No. 3 and Smith No. 4.
Seems we've got a consensus on Brown at No. 1. Payton should be No. 2. He was probably the most complete back ever.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Again, we are all aware that Curtis Martin is No. 4 on the all-time rushing list, right? Scored 100 total touchdowns? Just checking here.

Isaac Bruce is fourth all-time in receiving yards. Where is he among your top 10 receivers?

 

[MisterCreosote]

Emmitt Smith himself once said that if Barry Sanders had played behind that Cowboys line of the early 90s, he would've finished his career with 20,000 yards. That's good enough for me to make Sanders No. 3 and Smith No. 4.

Sanders freelanced so much it could've rendered even the best blocking schemes obsolete. Remember when the Lions tried to have a fullback back there with him?

Smith was a perfect system running back. Sanders was the complete opposite.

 

[Gator]

Again, we are all aware that Curtis Martin is No. 4 on the all-time rushing list, right? Scored 100 total touchdowns? Just checking here.

Isaac Bruce is fourth all-time in receiving yards. Where is he among your top 10 receivers?

Yes, but he did it over 14 seasons. Martin is one of four men to rush for 14,000 yards and did it in 11. He rushed for more than 1,000 in 10 straight seasons to start his career. All I'm saying is he belongs in the top 20, probably 11 or 12. The OP left him out completely.

 

[Stoney]

FWIW:

I also added a 11-20 listing......

11. Adrian Peterson
12. Tony Dorsett
13. OJ Simpson
14. Roger Craig
15. Marcus Allen
16. Tony Dorsett
17. John Riggins
18. Bo Jackson
19. Jerome Bettis
20. Bronko Nagurski

Christ, so you don't even have Curtis Martin ranked in the Top TWENTY? Frickin absurd. You do realize he's the game's fourth all time leading rusher right?

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The more I think about it, the more I would put Payton No. 2, ahead of Sanders.

Sanders just had nobody else on most of those teams. At least Payton was on a few good teams (and arguably the greatest team of all-time) late in his career.

Payton was the first player who I watched as a kid who made my jaw drop. Sanders was the same way.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Roger Craig doesn't belong anywhere near the top 20 RBs of all-time, and definitely not ahead of Allen, Dorsett and Riggins.

I'm pretty sure those three were all first ballot Hall of Famers.

 

[MisterCreosote]

Again, we are all aware that Curtis Martin is No. 4 on the all-time rushing list, right? Scored 100 total touchdowns? Just checking here.

Isaac Bruce is fourth all-time in receiving yards. Where is he among your top 10 receivers?

Kerry Collins is 12th all-time in passing yards. Therefore, Kerry Collins is the 12th best quarterback of all time.

 

[93Devil]

FWIW:

I also added a 11-20 listing......

11. Adrian Peterson
12. Tony Dorsett
13. OJ Simpson
14. Roger Craig
15. Marcus Allen
16. Tony Dorsett
17. John Riggins
18. Bo Jackson
19. Jerome Bettis
20. Bronko Nagurski

Christ, so you don't even have Curtis Martin ranked in the Top TWENTY? Frickin absurd. You do realize he's the game's fourth all time leading rusher right?

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

If you look at a total career, yes. But if you talk about one game or most talented, he's in the top five.

 

[Batman]

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

Agreed. He'd be No. 1 on list of "shooting star" RBs, guys who had a brief but memorable impact on the game, but not on any all-time greatest lists.

 

[MisterCreosote]

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

Agreed. He'd be No. 1 on list of "shooting star" RBs, guys who had a brief but memorable impact on the game, but not on any all-time greatest lists.

Agreed, except he'd be No. 2, behind Terrell Davis.

 

[93Devil]

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

Agreed. He'd be No. 1 on list of "shooting star" RBs, guys who had a brief but memorable impact on the game, but not on any all-time greatest lists.

Agreed, except he'd be No. 2, behind Terrell Davis.

He had 1,400 touches in three years. That is almost criminal.

 

[Stoney]

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

Agreed. He'd be No. 1 on list of "shooting star" RBs, guys who had a brief but memorable impact on the game, but not on any all-time greatest lists.

Agreed, except he'd be No. 2, behind Terrell Davis.

I wouldn't even put Bo at No. 2 on the "brief but memorable impact" basis, and he's WAY behind Davis. Jackson never had a single thousand yard season and had only one season where he even came remotely close to that mark. It's absurd that his name even gets included in these discussions.

He was the best damn Tecmo Bowl player ever, though.

And, btw, I'd propose that No. 1 on the "brief but memorable impact" list should be Gale Sayers. Out of curiosity, can anyone justify how highly Sayers gets ranked on these lists on any basis other than the stories and highlights they've seen on NFL films?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Davis, Sayers and Jackson deserve their own list.

 

[Batman]

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

Agreed. He'd be No. 1 on list of "shooting star" RBs, guys who had a brief but memorable impact on the game, but not on any all-time greatest lists.

Agreed, except he'd be No. 2, behind Terrell Davis.

Didn't realize Davis' peak was an elite back as only about three years. I guess since he stuck around a couple of years after getting hurt, I thought he had a longer peak than that. He'd definitely qualify.
Christian Okoye and Billy Sims are two others that come to mind. Sims was like watching a primitive version of Barry Sanders, right down to the number and team.

 

[Batman]

And Bo Jackson's name belongs nowhere remotely near this discussion.

Agreed. He'd be No. 1 on list of "shooting star" RBs, guys who had a brief but memorable impact on the game, but not on any all-time greatest lists.

Agreed, except he'd be No. 2, behind Terrell Davis.

I wouldn't even put Bo at No. 2 on the "brief but memorable impact" basis, and he's WAY behind Davis. Jackson never had a single thousand yard season and had only one season where he even came remotely close to that mark. It's absurd that his name even gets included in these discussions.

He was the best damn Tecmo Bowl player ever, though.

And, btw, I'd propose that No. 1 on the "brief but memorable impact" list should be Gale Sayers. Out of curiosity, can anyone justify how highly Sayers gets ranked on these lists on any basis other than the stories and highlights they've seen on NFL films?

Jackson also never played more than 11 games in a season. If he'd have gone full-time with football, he likely would've had 1,000-plus yards all four years he was in the league.

And good call on Sayers. Completely whiffed on that one.

 

[Big Circus]

My standard in greatness discussions is, who would I rather have had for their entire career? So Gale Sayers and Earl Campbell fall well behind.

Adrian Peterson obviously needs to be on the list, and LaDanian Tomlinson should be higher. Otherwise, that list was somewhat reasonable, stunningly.

I thought about adding in Christian Okoye, Joe Morris, and Curt Warner just for ****s and giggles.

For ****s and giggles the RB you want on list is Najeh Davenport

 

[joe king]

Sanders made jaw-dropping plays and huge gains, but he also had loads of no gains and negative plays. He wasn't a guy you could count on to get a tough yard inside when you needed one. And he flat-out vanished in big games.

His spectacular ability puts him among the greats, but those issues leave him a step below a few others.

And I really can't believe O.J. Simpson doesn't seem to rank in anyone's list of 10 best running backs in history. A murderous lowlife scum he is, but he was also one of the greatest backs ever to play.