Top 5 Running Backs All Time

[shopson67]

Is 50th all time in yards/game enough to get into the HOF without the only other impressive stat being longevity? Maybe.

 

[Across The Field]

Is 50th all time in yards/game enough to get into the HOF without the only other impressive stat being longevity? Maybe.

I would say 3rd in all-time rushing yards and 4th all-time in yards from scrimmage is pretty impressive. 3rd most 1,000+ rushing seasons all-time is also pretty solid.

 

[Bald Bull]

Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith has to be in your top 5.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

It saddens me to see so many posts and no mention of Jim Brown.

Especially since Jim Brown will hold a record that no one else will ever attain...

Only back in NFL history to never carry the ball for a negative play.

 

[mrschaney]

1.Emmit Smith
2.OJ
3.Walter Peyton
4.Barry Sanders
5.Corey Dillon

 

[femurov]

1.Emmit Smith
2.OJ
3.Walter Peyton
4.Barry Sanders
5.Corey Dillon

No James Brooks? No Ickey Woods or Rudi Johnson?

 

[Shanemansj13]

1.Emmit Smith
2.OJ
3.Walter Peyton
4.Barry Sanders
5.Corey Dillon

 

[Robotech]

How many here actually saw him brown play?

we should do a legit thread in best rb you saw play. Think it may be a bit more valid.

Good point. I had Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Marshall Faulk, and Emmitt Smith, but my Jim Brown selection is based on sports history knowledge, and that is also mostly true for Payton, though I did catch the tail end of his career and I remember watching TV as a kid and they put up a graphic on how many times Payton would've climbed Mt. Everest with his number of rushing yards.

Top 5 I saw play:

1. Barry Sanders
2. Marshall Faulk
3. Emmitt Smith
4. Adrian Peterson
5. LT

Honorable mention: Frank Gore. I'd love to put him in the top 5, but I didn't because he's just not spectacular enough (or at all, arguably). So consistent, though, and if there is any position where total yards are most meaningful, it's as a running back. Yes, your blockers are important and are key to your success, but you still earn and pay for all of those yards.

 

[Robotech]

She can spell Andy Dalton, and that's all that matters.

 

[Robotech]

No James Brooks? No Ickey Woods or Rudi Johnson?

And I'm very surprised at the omission of Ki-Jana Carter.

 

[Battlelyon]

Jim Brown, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith has to be in your top 5.

No Mr.Smith doesn't

 

[Battlelyon]

Good point. I had Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Marshall Faulk, and Emmitt Smith, but my Jim Brown selection is based on sports history knowledge, and that is also mostly true for Payton, though I did catch the tail end of his career and I remember watching TV as a kid and they put up a graphic on how many times Payton would've climbed Mt. Everest with his number of rushing yards.

Top 5 I saw play:

1. Barry Sanders
2. Marshall Faulk
3. Emmitt Smith
4. Adrian Peterson
5. LT

Honorable mention: Frank Gore. I'd love to put him in the top 5, but I didn't because he's just not spectacular enough (or at all, arguably). So consistent, though, and if there is any position where total yards are most meaningful, it's as a running back. Yes, your blockers are important and are key to your success, but you still earn and pay for all of those yards.

No, Dickerson, you're funny

 

[PhillyGreen]

Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Jim Brown
Emmitt Smith
Earl Campbell

 

[PDay8810]

Barry Sanders
Walter Payton
Jim Brown
Emmitt Smith
Earl Campbell

I like these 5 the best. My order would be:
Brown
Payton
Sanders
Smith
Coin flip...Campbell or Dickerson

 

[Hank Kingsley]

Bo Jackson LOL

Had his career not been cut horribly short.....

This was a huge, fast man who could walk walls like in The Matrix. And The Matrix wasn't even made yet....

He really could have been top 3.