The 40 greatest running backs in NFL history, according to newarena.com. Decent mix of “old-timers” and more recent backs, though there are more than a couple of active and recently retired players who don’t belong. How young Christian McCaffrey ranks ahead of luminaries Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, and Jim Thorpe is beyond me (let alone how he made the list in the first place).
The list included “only” 26 hall of famers, but left off 22 HOF backs in favor of the likes of McCaffrey and LeSean McCoy. The writer must be from Buffalo, for at least a tenth of the list are Bills.
Sure its hard to compare backs from different eras. Hard to rank by stats when other factors also come into play: era, injury, etc.
Nice that Herschel Walker was named, though as a pro he completely outperformed the player just ahead of him: Bo Jackson. Herschel also had a better career than #20 Edgerrin James, #22 Shawn Alexander, #23 Marshawn Lynch, and #24 Frank Gore.
40. HOF Lenny Moore
39. RET Ricky Watters
38. ACT Christian McCaffrey
37. RET Eddie George
36. RET Tiki Barber
35. RET Fred Taylor
34. ACT LeSean McCoy
33. RET Ottis Anderson
32. RET Ricky Williams
31. RET Herschel Walker
30. RET Bo Jackson
29. HOF Ollie Matson
28. HOF Jim Taylor
27. HOF Larry Csonka
26. HOF Marion Motley
25. HOF John Henry Johnson
24. ACT Frank Gore
23. ACT Marshawn Lynch
22. RET Shawn Alexander
21. HOF Joe Perry
20. HOF Edgerrin James
19. HOF Terrell Davis
18. HOF Jerome Bettis
17. HOF John Riggins
16. HOF Franco Harris
15. HOF Thurman Thomas
14. HOF Curtis Martin
13. HOF Marcus Allen
12. HOF Tony Dorsett
11. ACT Adrian Peterson
10. HOF Earl Campbell
9. HOF Eric Dickerson
8. HOF Gale Sayers
7. HOF Marshall Faulk
6. HOF OJ Simpson
5. HOF LaDainian Tomlinson
4. HOF Emmitt Smith
3. HOF Walter Payton
2. HOF Barry Sanders
1. HOF Jim Brown
Hall of Famers not listed: Cliff Battles, Tony Canadeo, Bill Dudley, Frank Gifford, Red Grange, Joe Guyon, Clarke Hinkle, Elroy Hirsch, Paul Hornung, Leroy Kelly, Tuffy Leemans, Floyd Little, George McAfee, Hugh McElhenny, Johnny Blood McNally, Bronko Nagurski, Ernie Nevers, Fritz Pollard, Ken Strong, Jim Thorpe, Charley Trippi, and Steve Van Buren.
Notable non-HOF omissions: Chris Johnson. Roger Craig. William Andrews was better than some of these guys. And what about Todd Gurley? Shoot, might as well add Saquon Barkley to the list.
As usual, this list exists solely to generate web clicks. Guess it suckered me in, huh?
No comments:
Post a Comment