There hasn't been a Hall of Fame-worthy RB drafted in over a decade

[ThatJaxxenGuy]

I think there are RB's who've come out the last few years who are as talented or more talented than people in the hall but the bulk usage, longevity, and athletic ability of defenders, have all changed in the current era of football. 

Kamara has the talent of a hall of famer but probably lacks the volume stats. That's the story of a lot of running backs. 

As of right now though, Derrick Henry should be in the conversation. Besides the jedi ghost of Adrian Peterson he seems like one of the last great workhorse backs in the league. 

[scar988]

Just now, ThatJaxxenGuy said:

I think there are RB's who've come out the last few years who are as talented or more talented than people in the hall but the bulk usage, longevity, and athletic ability of defenders, have all changed in the current era of football. 

Kamara has the talent of a hall of famer but probably lacks the volume stats. That's the story of a lot of running backs. 

As of right now though, Derrick Henry should be in the conversation. Besides the jedi ghost of Adrian Peterson he seems like one of the last great workhorse backs in the league. 

I think there's a couple of guys who could do it. But I don't think teams use their backs the same way as they used to.

[Mazrimiv]

Comparing today's RB stats to RB's of 20 years ago is no more valid than comparing QB stats.  It's a completely different game.

[Kiwibrown]

Gurley was 2-3more seasons away from a hall of fame lock imo. His knee injury ruined his career.

Henry is two year away from being on the cusp of the hall of fame. 

If mccaffery stays healthy he makes the hall of fame. He will also be able to play on when his effectiveness as a runner drops off as a 3rd down back.

Kamara is a hall of fame level off offensive weapon.

Chub has some hall of fame numbers 5.0 ypc and over a 1k average with his 1st three years. 

If Barkley avoids injuries he will do enough to get into the hall of fame. 

[Landog3]

Kamara, McCaffrey, Henry, Chubb, and even Cook all have a shot. Multiple monster seasons from them all and all very young. Just need time. If they all stay healthy and have success the next 3-4 years, that will be a pretty good resume for them all. Hell, even throw in Lamar Jackson. He has been a pretty good running back for a couple years now 🤪

[sammymvpknight]

The running backs since Peterson have been pretty weak, relatively speaking. I was a big fan of Chris Johnson, Jamaal Charles, and Forte...but I don’t think that they are quite there.

But I think that the RBs draft in the past five years are really good. CMac, Kamara, Henry, Chubb, Jones, etc are really good players. The key is that their teams won’t just dump them, they have longevity, and durability. Big if...but I could see any of those guys doing it in the right circumstances. 

[HoboRocket]

4 hours ago, sammymvpknight said:

The running backs since Peterson have been pretty weak, relatively speaking. I was a big fan of Chris Johnson, Jamaal Charles, and Forte...but I don’t think that they are quite there.

But I think that the RBs draft in the past five years are really good. CMac, Kamara, Henry, Chubb, Jones, etc are really good players. The key is that their teams won’t just dump them, they have longevity, and durability. Big if...but I could see any of those guys doing it in the right circumstances. 

Yeah, it's crazy if you think about just how short shelf-life is now. Think about the 2015 class. Gurley, Johnson, and Ajayi were all cooked after just five seasons in the NFL. Some people think Zeke is slowing down and he was drafted in 2016, same year as Henry. It's just insane. We could start to see someone like Dalvin Cook slow down as early as this season. 

And it's not even like those 2015 RBs were scrubs. Jay Ajayi had a really impressive 2016 and then was great for the Eagles from the moment they traded for him through their Super Bowl victory. Just was dealing with basically the same thing as Gurley.

Gurley had an argument for being the most-talented RB in the NFL over the course of his first four years in the league, got outlasted by Peterson and Gore. 

David Johnson was incredible for the Cardinals every time he touched the ball in 2015 as part of a committee, earned a workhorse role in 2016 and was a monster, but was running like an old man by his fourth season. 

You could argue that the 2015 class just had a bunch of medical flags, but honestly, I think that's just part of being a running back now. Durability is down. You look at all the major RBs drafted since then, and they have their fair share of injury concerns, aside from the Invincible Derrick Henry.

• Leonard Fournette has had two good seasons for the Jags and a fantastic playoff run for the Bucs, but he's missed almost a quarter of possible games in his career so far (15 of 64) with injuries. 

• Christian McCaffrey is an incredible weapon, but he just missed 13 games due to injury, and prior to going down, he had a long of 15 yards through three games and was averaging less than 4 yards per carry (small sample size). 

• Alvin Kamara is also an incredible weapon, but he's only averaging about 250 touches per season and has started in just 35 of 60 games so far. He hasn't really dealt with a lot of missed time, luckily, but the Saints have also been managing his workload, and there is concern about whether or not he could hold up long-term as a runner. Still, he's on a good pace, but his workload might also prevent him from having some of the monster seasons compared to other candidates. He hasn't broken 1700 scrimmage yards in a season yet.

• Dalvin Cook had some injury concerns as a prospect and has missed nearly 20 games already. He's been incredible when he's been on the field and is a great example of the modern RB. And he's had some really good seasons so far, but even with some great years, he hasn't cracked 5,000 yards from scrimmage with the amount of time he's missed.

• Nick Chubb had some major health concerns as a prospect after some serious injuries at Georgia, but wisely decided to stay in school for his senior season to prove his injuries were behind him. He's been amazing so far, but he did miss four games this past season. Still, he's a dominant player and hopefully he can just get some more volume and hold up. 

• Saquon Barkley is basically what a RB would look like if you made it in a lab. He's such an incredible prospect with explosion to take it to the house each and every time he touches the football, amazing receiving prowess, but also serious size, leg drive, and power. And be ready has an elite season on his resumé, followed by a really good second season, but he missed time in year two and missed almost this whole past season. Already missed 17 games in three years, but if he can put the injuries behind him, he has all the talent in the world.

 

But yeah, anyways, injuries are just a part of it for RBs nowadays, and you're basically guaranteed to miss significant time. Which really hampers any of these players' chances for the hall, especially considering how the RBs from 2015 are all basically done, barring serious resurgence from Gurley.

[SkippyX]

Kamara has 58 TDs in 4 seasons. That is nuts.

• He's a 5.0 ypc back including 5.0 last season.

Kamara averages 102.7 yards from scrimmage per game. (Tiki Barber land) Almost everyone of the 18 above that number is in the HoF (or played like one)

• Ricky Watters should be in (even if he was ultra-arrogant)
• 2 of them were Texans who did not play long enough
  • I bet @ET80 can name both of them.
• Clinton Portis played like a HoF player, he just came up 25 games short due to injuries.
• Zeke, Cook, and McCaffrey are 4 through 6 on this list.
  • Zeke is a close to a lock barring major injury
  • Dalvin and Christian need to stay healthy and accumulate another 7-10 years.
• Billy Sims was like 95% Barry Sanders before Barry Sanders (only lasted 60 games though)

 

This leaves us with the human asterisk, Lev Bell.

• He did not play long enough in Pittsburgh but he played at a HoF level there (credit belongs to the offense, line, passing game, coaches and Bell)
• He has been 100% trash since then and he caused the split himself.
• He was on the active roster of a Super Bowl team for 3 months and he did not earn more than 2 touches in 3 playoff games on merit.
  • CEH and Williams split 53 touches (and they used WRs as RBs a bunch over Bell)

 

 

A bit on Ricky Williams Watters for those interested:

• He's got 103 TDs between playoffs and regular season.
• He has 5 pro bowls
• He is top 20 in yards from scrimmage among RBs
  • I get that Steven Jackson and Warrick Dunn are too, but they did not have Ricky's playoffs
• He has 1117 yards from scrimmage and 12 TDs in 11 playoff games
  • Roger Craig had 1447 and 9 in 18 playoff games
  • Marshall Faulk had 1121 and 8 in 12 games
• He had a 5 TD playoff game vs the Giants.
• He had a 3 TD Super Bowl (MVP level, though clearly Steve Young was the best that day)

He was both a star among stars in SF and a guy who carried schlock to the playoffs twice in Philly.

• The 1995-1996 Eagles QBs had 30 TDs and 37 picks. Ricky (and Charlie Garner) carried those teams
• His career ypc in the playoffs dropped to 3.8 because he got abused at the line on Philly and Seattle.
  • He still managed to be dangerous as a receiver in those games.

Edited March 2, 2021 by SkippyX

[Ty21]

On 2/11/2021 at 2:16 PM, SalvadorsDeli said:

Kamara and CMC are both on HoF paths right now. 

How wild would it be for Kamara to make it despite never rushing for 1k in a season 

[Ty21]

On 2/20/2021 at 11:51 AM, HoboRocket said:

Saquon Barkley is basically what a RB would look like if you made it in a lab. He's such an incredible prospect with explosion to take it to the house each and every time he touches the football, amazing receiving prowess, but also serious size, leg drive, and power. And be ready has an elite season on his resumé, followed by a really good second season, but he missed time in year two and missed almost this whole past season. Already missed 17 games in three years, but if he can put the injuries behind him, he has all the talent in the world.

Saquon is like Achilles, bathed in the river Styx for godlike ability, but his mom had massive hands that covered Saquons entire legs, leaving them vulnerable. 

[Ty21]

Derrick Henry is totally gonna burn out before even getting to the 30 wall

[scar988]

27 minutes ago, Ty21 said:

Derrick Henry is totally gonna burn out before even getting to the 30 wall

at RB, it's more like a 26 wall.

[HoboRocket]

2 hours ago, scar988 said:

at RB, it's more like a 26 wall.

You're not even exaggerating. So many RBs have faced this fate recently.

[TecmoSuperJoe]

On 2/12/2021 at 3:30 AM, Starless said:

And Roger Craig should have been inducted ages ago. 

Hopefully one day. He can only be in as a part of the senior class now. Sucks. But yeah, YFS should be the new standard through the voting lens. 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

17 hours ago, Ty21 said:

Derrick Henry is totally gonna burn out before even getting to the 30 wall

The thing that gives me pause is that we've never seen someone that big run that fast before. I think he has a good chance to play at a high level until he gets to 30. A reduction in carries would be ideal though. Vrabel needs to dial it back some.