had Bo played full time and not blown out his knee, i can't imagine him not being in the top 5. i also can't imagine putting marshall faulk ahead of earl campbell, but that's just me.
LOL, what a great testament. I don’t think you can compare RB’s of different era’s because the game has changed so much over the years. It’s impossible to rank them and even more impossible to say one is the greatest ever, etc. That being said, Earl Campbell is the greatest running back in the history of the world.
Peterson should not be on this list, especially if Sayers didn't have enough to go on. His career could be ended at any any time. He could even be hit by a bus tomorrow and we are talking about his funeral. You just never know. This is just like putting LBJ in the top NBA players of all-time. He'll probably belong on this list in about 4-5 years, possibly surpassing Payton, Sanders, and Brown before all is said and done.
As far as running backs that I have personally watched play, Barry Sanders was the best. Consistently had a bad QB and a weak o-line AND every team's mission was to stop him...yet he still dominated. So exciting to watch. Second most exciting player I ever watched play was probably Vincent Edward Jackson...though he didn't play long enough due to his hip injury. Best all time? Dunno...maybe Jim Brown?
A gut that's barely played 2-1/2 years doesn't get to be considered for best ever. There's something to be said for actually doing it for a number of years. To me, it's 1) Walter Payton 1a) Barry Sanders
To folks that put Barry this high on your lists: Did you watch the games, or the ESPN highlights during Barry's career? For all of his flash and big play potential, he was not a "go-to" back in crunch time. Barry either got 20+ yards or negative 5. He was a fun player for sure, but he wouldn't make my top 5. I'd put him in front of Emmitt out of spite. I'm betting that most people expected Reggie Bush to be the same type of player when he was drafted. I did.
Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders should be the top four (in that order) as long as you aren't saying "best RB careers" ... in which case guys like Emmitt and Faulk might be higher for having longer productive careers. But you give me one game/season in their primes, and I'm taking any of those four RB's over Marshall Faulk, Emmitt Smith, or anybody else.
I think that has a lot to do with your O line. I remember TD always got 5 yards, but that was behind den o line. No way in hell TD is better than sanders.
That makes it even more impressive. Defenses could focus on trying to stop him and they still didn't succeed.
No, Barry would hang behind the line waiting for an opening. He rarely tried to create a hole, which was why he would always get large losses on plays, as well.
It's the line's job to create the hole. Their line was terrible. There's only so much you can do when the entire defense is allowed into your backfield. Sometimes he got away. Sometimes, he got tackled for a loss.
I watched all his games and you're completely wrong. When you're running behind a line that has one of their players nicknamed "Freeway" then you don't have much of a chance. Sanders was not a short yardage back because you could put 10 in the box against the teams. While Herman Moore was good and Brett Perrimen solid, they still had Scott Mitchell at QB. If you put Barry behind the Cowboys line, he would have smashed every record there was. He would have anyways if he had not retired. Unless you were a Lions fan (still am unfortunately), then I highly doubt you watched too many of their games. Why would you? I expected Bush to be much better then he is, but certainley not another Barry Sanders. In terms of the top 3 (and I'm biased), I rank them like this: 1.Sanders 2.Brown 3.Payton I don't have a problem with anyone putting those guys in any order though.
As a Texans fan, I’ve been very clear about my opinion of the Mario pick. (for those that have me on ignore, I liked it). But part of me sometimes wonders if Reggie would have fared better in our zone blocking scheme. If someone could’ve taught him how to take advantage of it (one cut, then go), it seems like he would’ve been the perfect fit.
