Thoughts on my Top 10 RBS of all time

[RaidersAreOne]

On 7/23/2022 at 1:53 PM, biggie. said:

Emmitt Smith was a better player than Sanders.

[AkronsWitness]

12 hours ago, AngusMcFife said:

If Sanders is RB GOAT, why did they take him out on goal line plays? 

There has been a weird Barry Sanders fandom surge in the past 5-ish years. For decades it was pretty much a Michael Jordan-like consensus that Jim Brown was the best RB of all time. In the past few years somewhat out of nowhere people are starting sliding Barry in that #1 slot. Barry has been retired for 20+ years, why is it that around 2019 he started getting this newfound fandom all time great surge I dont know.

Did people just get bored of putting Jim Brown #1 and wanted something else to talk about?

Edited August 1, 2022 by AkronsWitness

[SkippyX]

@AkronsWitness Sanders' highlight package is unreal. That's what most of the young bucks have access to these days.

[AkronsWitness]

26 minutes ago, SkippyX said:

@AkronsWitness Sanders' highlight package is unreal. That's what most of the young bucks have access to these days.

Fair, I also think its because he was a receiving back similar to a lot of the current NFL RBs so its easier to draw comparisons. Jim Brown was more of a Derrick Henry running style that is often in modern day viewed as archaic and 'traditional'

[MWil23]

Marcus Allen is criminally underrated 

[SkippyX]

@AkronsWitness Jim Brown also has crazy highlights but they are fewer, grainy, and some are in black and white maybe.

I consider both to be incredible but Brown led the league in rushing every year but 1 and he had 18 TDs that year.

He also left early for the best reason of all. The NFL refused to pay him (or anyone) what he was worth so he went to make movies. The Browns were paying him 60k a year and he made 125k in his first lead role. He actually was put into a corner by Art Modell since The Dirty Dozen was still wrapping up filming at the start of training camp. Modell forced him to show up or retire instead of letting him show up late.

[AkronsWitness]

1 hour ago, SkippyX said:

@AkronsWitness Jim Brown also has crazy highlights but they are fewer, grainy, and some are in black and white maybe.

I consider both to be incredible but Brown led the league in rushing every year but 1 and he had 18 TDs that year.

He also left early for the best reason of all. The NFL refused to pay him (or anyone) what he was worth so he went to make movies. The Browns were paying him 60k a year and he made 125k in his first lead role. He actually was put into a corner by Art Modell since The Dirty Dozen was still wrapping up filming at the start of training camp. Modell forced him to show up or retire instead of letting him show up late.

If I can be a homer for just a moment, I would also say for arguments sake that Terrell Davis should be more considered. If greatness is defined by how good you were at your very best, it is extremely hard to find a better RB than Terrell Davis from 1996-1998--including the fact that he was utterly dominant in the playoffs averaging 151 YPG over 11 games.

He was just here for a good time, not a long time.

Edited August 1, 2022 by AkronsWitness

[SkippyX]

TD's 1996-1998 was just incredible. I agree he's the best playoff back of all-time.

He did not have the longevity of lots of others but his impact was obvious.

 

Its tough to say if that makes him #8 or #12 or #14 but he's a worthy HoF RB and a 2x champion.

[Mox]

On 7/27/2022 at 11:26 AM, lancerman said:

A few thoughts. 
 

1. you could put the top 3 in any order as long as they are the top 3. 
 

2. I think LT is too high. OJ, AP, Smith, and Dickerson all have strong arguments over him. 
 

3. Goes without saying but Smith is underrated here. Dude was a ******* stud. I find it weird that we talk about Frank Gore being a HOF’er for being meh and getting numbers for a bunch of years, but Smith gets discounted for being extraordinary for a long time at an MVP/OPOY/All Pro level because he didn’t have some of the peaks others did. 

What's the argument for Adrian over LT?

[Mox]

6 hours ago, AkronsWitness said:

There has been a weird Barry Sanders fandom surge in the past 5-ish years. For decades it was pretty much a Michael Jordan-like consensus that Jim Brown was the best RB of all time. In the past few years somewhat out of nowhere people are starting sliding Barry in that #1 slot. Barry has been retired for 20+ years, why is it that around 2019 he started getting this newfound fandom all time great surge I dont know.

Did people just get bored of putting Jim Brown #1 and wanted something else to talk about?

First, the people who grew up watching Barry grew up and starting posting. Second, this is not a last five years thing and certainly didn't randomly start in 2019. It's been going on for a minimum of a decade, and likely longer.

[lancerman]

2 hours ago, Bullet Club said:

What's the argument for Adrian over LT?

Pretty much the same accolades but AP is starting to have more longevity. AP was a better pure rusher, LT was a better hybrid. AP’s top 3 rushing years are overall better than LT’s top 3 with 06 being the exception. 
 

Pretty close for both, but I just prefer AP. AP had less support most of his career 

[seminoles1]

6 hours ago, MWil23 said:

Marcus Allen is criminally underrated 

1 great season.

[Jameson_Neat]

On 7/31/2022 at 9:00 PM, AngusMcFife said:

If Sanders is RB GOAT, why did they take him out on goal line plays? 

My guess is solely preservation.

Guy didn't have much of a problem scoring from goal to go situations early in his career but there was a distinct change in goalline touches in '93.

Unless you want to argue that Derrick Moore was a better goal line back.

[Mox]

3 hours ago, lancerman said:

Pretty much the same accolades but AP is starting to have more longevity. AP was a better pure rusher, LT was a better hybrid. AP’s top 3 rushing years are overall better than LT’s top 3 with 06 being the exception. 
 

Pretty close for both, but I just prefer AP. AP had less support most of his career 

I wouldn't necessarily call that a strong case. Also ignores the fact that Peterson was an awful receiver and blocker. He was a better rusher sure but the gap isn't large. The gap in everything else is massive. 

[MWil23]

10 hours ago, seminoles1 said:

1 great season.

For sure by today’s metrics, but splitting carries during his prime, especially with Bo, was a big part of that. He was also a TD machine and had a lot of playoff/Super Bowl success.