TSN's Top 10 College RB's of All Time

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

3 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Agree with all of this. I did see White play but I was really young. The signature plays I remember of him were leaps over the line for TD's at the goal line.

The more I think about this, the more I acknowledge this is a really, really shitty list. The writer looks like he's no more than 30.

I asked the question because I think-- it being the Internet-- we have a lot of people saying ZOMG FUCKING ARCHIE GRIFFIN and while they're not WRONG, per se, it just seems like an over the top way of expressing an opinion based on very little evidence. Griffin was a special running back and he had an advantage over someone like Earl Campbell in that Griffin was used properly his entire career, and his talent was maximized where Earl had to wait until his senior year to really breakout.

"Special" isn't "transcendent", though, and when you are making a list of the absolute best players in a 150-year old sport, they need to be transcendent. Bo Jackson was the best player from his sophomore season. Herschel Walker was the best player from his first game. Ricky Williams shared the backfield with a bunch of other future pros and played on teams that lost 17 games in four years, yet still broke a 20-yr old career record. The term "video game numbers" was invented for what Barry Sanders did in 1988. Those guys were transcendent. 

Davis, meanwhile-- he is at best the third-best runner USC's ever had. Not within a mile of OJ Simpson or Marcus Allen, and I doubt he was better than Reggie Bush or Anthony Davis. He was the #1 running back for four seasons and has the numbers to show for it. 

[DanTheHorn 4849]

3 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

This list makes me ragey

The defender's right toe is on the five yard line and his butt hits the goal line when he lands. If you see that run and still don't have the man in a top 10 list you are a troll or stupid. Ron Dayne was not top 10 even after watching him run.

Edited September 27, 2019 by DanTheHorn

[C-Man 26536]

2 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I asked the question because I think-- it being the Internet-- we have a lot of people saying ZOMG FUCKING ARCHIE GRIFFIN and while they're not WRONG, per se, it just seems like an over the top way of expressing an opinion based on very little evidence. Griffin was a special running back and he had an advantage over someone like Earl Campbell in that Griffin was used properly his entire career, and his talent was maximized where Earl had to wait until his senior year to really breakout.

"Special" isn't "transcendent", though, and when you are making a list of the absolute best players in a 150-year old sport, they need to be transcendent. Bo Jackson was the best player from his sophomore season. Herschel Walker was the best player from his first game. Ricky Williams shared the backfield with a bunch of other future pros and played on teams that lost 17 games in four years, yet still broke a 20-yr old career record. The term "video game numbers" was invented for what Barry Sanders did in 1988. Those guys were transcendent. 

Davis, meanwhile-- he is at best the third-best runner USC's ever had. Not within a mile of OJ Simpson or Marcus Allen, and I doubt he was better than Reggie Bush or Anthony Davis. He was the #1 running back for four seasons and has the numbers to show for it. 

Griffin's senior year wasn't as good statistically-speaking as his junior year. He only scored 4 TDs as a senior. Teammate Pete Johnson rushed for 1000+ yards and 25 TDs. I saw something on this one time but I think Johnson poached a bunch of goal-line TDs. Still, Griffin being the only 2-time Heisman winner is a little silly.

Marcus Allen rushed for 2427 yards as a senior -- ON 433 carries!!!!!!! (36 totes per game)

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

1 minute ago, DanTheHorn said:

Ron Dayne was not top 10 even after watching him run.

I would love to hear a Dayne defender make a case for him that did not involve statistics. He wasn't a sprinter, he wasn't a killdozer like Earl or Herschel, he couldn't cut like Simpson or Sanders-- he was just a good-sized, decent-speed running back in a run-first offense who started for 3.5 years. 

Stats are a terrible way to rank these players. David Klingler is still statistically significant in college football history based on the record book. Anyone want to argue he's one of the best 100 QBs you've ever seen? 

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

5 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Griffin's senior year wasn't as good statistically-speaking as his junior year. He only scored 4 TDs as a senior. Teammate Pete Johnson rushed for 1000+ yards and 25 TDs. I saw something on this one time but I think Johnson poached a bunch of goal-line TDs. Still, Griffin being the only 2-time Heisman winner is a little silly.

The two-Heisman thing is totally silly. Freshman and sophomores weren't even eligible, de facto, until Tebow and Manziel/Winston. Herschel Walker didn't win two because voters literally said "oh, can't vote for a freshman" and George Fucking Rogers won it in 1980. I expect that within 15 years, we'll have three two-time winners (counting Griffin). It's just a fluke it's held this long. 

Griffin's senior year win was a career-achievement award-- best player on the best team, set an NCAA record by rushing for 100-yds in 31 straight games. 

Edited September 27, 2019 by SwanderedTalent

[Aqua Buddha 13905]

41 minutes ago, oSuJeff97 said:

I feel like this comes up a lot with these types of lists.

I don't think anyone would ever dispute that Barry Sanders' 1988 season was the greatest single season that any running back - maybe any player - has ever had in college football.

But since he was behind Thurman Thomas, that was the only year he was a full-time starter at RB.  (He was, however, first-team All-American kick returner in '87)

So I'll listen to the argument that other college RBs had better total careers, simply because they were multi-year starters.

But yeah - even given the single season, #6 seems a tad low.

I don't have the stat in front of me but Barry Sanders rushed almost a full 2 yards per carry more than most of these guys.  That's astounding.

[C-Man 26536]

18 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

I don't have the stat in front of me but Barry Sanders rushed almost a full 2 yards per carry more than most of these guys.  That's astounding.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/barry-sanders-1.html

Sanders rushed for 7.6 yards per carry on 344 carries his senior year for 2628 yards and 37 TDs.

[C-Man 26536]

Reggie Bush rushed for 8.7 yards per carry his Heisman season.

[Loco 3752]

2 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Reggie Bush rushed for 8.7 yards per carry his Heisman season.

yeah but more than half of those were yards after check

[Aqua Buddha 13905]

8 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Reggie Bush rushed for 8.7 yards per carry his Heisman season.

Sanders also ran 344 rushes.  Bush only had 200.

[C-Man 26536]

12 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

Sanders also ran 344 rushes.  Bush only had 200.

Correct.

[Jiggy-Z 3419]

18 hours ago, closetojumping said:

I guess any list like this has to include Archie Griffin and Ron Dayne, but I wish they didn't have to be included. I mean, yeah, they have numbers and trophies, but neither was an all-time great compared to the others on the list or other guys like Earl Campbell or Marshall Faulk. Also, I know he's a fucking murderer and piece of human shit, but OJ Simpson didn't even make the honorable mentions? I wasn't alive when he played, but I thought he was electric? 

I was lucky enough to watch Marshall Faulk at SDSU and I know that it's an also-ran school, but that guy was unfuckingbelievable to watch, and his NFL career proved it wasn't a small school fluke. I was surprised they listed him at all. He tends to get shorted.

OJ used to just knife through those defenses unmercifully. 

[Jkwellborn 6536]

OJ used to just knife through those defenses unmercifully. 

He was truly a slashing runner.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

OJ not on that list is criminally influenced.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

1 hour ago, C-Man said:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/barry-sanders-1.html

Sanders rushed for 7.6 yards per carry on 344 carries his senior year for 2628 yards and 37 TDs.

LOL yeah... and if you add his bowl stats, that jumps up to 2,850 yards on 373 carries (7.6 ypc) and 42 (!) TDs.  That's in 12 games.... and he really only played 4 full quarters in maybe 4-5 of those games.

The numbers are just freaking astonishing.  

[mr.goodkat 464]

2 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

I think a lot of people just don't remember the Great Dayne's career.  The dude literally steamrolled people, Earl Campbell style.  Not saying he isn't a little overvalued, but the above quoted list is stupid.  Benson, Murray, McAllister, Lynch, and Sproles were nowhere near what Ron Dayne was.

ron dayne was a bum . that is my opinion and i would prefer everyone of those backs to ron dayne if i had a choice . point is he doesn't belong on a top 10 all time list . even if he buttfucked your bruins . and yes i remember his career i just don't think he was special / transcendent 

[hookem48 4603]

19 hours ago, T-shirt Sip said:

Dickerson should be in the top 10. 

the hooker killer keeps him out

[Wally Fairway 5465]

LOL at including Doak Walker, not that he want great. But open that thing to all time and then you get Elroy Crazylegs Hirsch and Jim Thorpe. Hell after that you might as well name Gil Thorp.

Any list that doesn't start with Earl is just a water off my time to review.

[hookem48 4603]

If Herschel played his senior year and just ran for his average he'd have 7,000 yards, dude was a badass.

[BabaYaga 15116]

1 hour ago, mr.goodkat said:

ron dayne was a bum . that is my opinion and i would prefer everyone of those backs to ron dayne if i had a choice . point is he doesn't belong on a top 10 all time list . even if he buttfucked your bruins . and yes i remember his career i just don't think he was special / transcendent 

RD was a lesser version of Jermone Bettis.  Large and hard to tackle.  Moved well for a big guy in space.  But he wasn't a transcendent back as mentioned, and was lucky enough to stay healthy despite being the overwhelming majority of the offense that system utilized.  

[tbone_ 13968]

Barry Sanders was the best running back to ever buckle up a chin strap.

[Walden Ponderer 12638]

I can forgive a UCLA fan for not realizing Dayne doesn't belong in the conversation. If the only time you ever saw Rashaan Salaam play was when he played Texas, you'd think he was Top 10 material, too.

The fact is, though, neither was in Earl's time zone, let alone zip code.

[Scooter Monzingo 820]

On 9/27/2019 at 8:35 AM, Onboard 2.0 said:

Archie won heismans back to back I believe. I think that gives him some juice over many on your list.

Didn’t Simms have scoreboard over Archie? That pretty much takes Archie down 10 spots. I just don’t rate Archie as high as many others do. Especially when considering the rule changes that have taken place since the 70’s.

Not to mention, even people who are not Texas fans, know damn good and well Earl was a bad ass. 

[Fastbreak 3886]

On 9/28/2019 at 4:35 AM, BabaYaga said:

RD was a lesser version of Jermone Bettis.  Large and hard to tackle.  Moved well for a big guy in space.  But he wasn't a transcendent back as mentioned, and was lucky enough to stay healthy despite being the overwhelming majority of the offense that system utilized.  

I would take Ironhead Heyward over RD. True story, he has the greatest passing stats of all-time :). 3-3, 102 yards and a TD.

[Bama Llama 1435]

Agree Charles White is not in top ten but I did personally see him run wild vs favored Bama in '78 in Bham.

 OJ's long game winning run vs UCLA alone (sorry SB) in '67 was enough to put him in the top ten.  Note Bud Wilkinson calling OJ "this boy" in the clip. He and Chris Schenkel sound like Fred Rogers on the air.   Too bad college OJ became psycho Bizarro head lopping killer OJ.  The problem with excluding Doak Walker, et al., from the list is that you now have to put time brackets on the list and delete the "all-time."  Shit, I'm channeling the county agent from Green Acres.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Bama Llama
Grammar-o

[Bluemoon3287 56]

Hank Kimball ?  I think you’re looking for Hank Kimball....

[Homercles 10162]

On 9/27/2019 at 1:40 PM, oSuJeff97 said:

LOL yeah... and if you add his bowl stats, that jumps up to 2,850 yards on 373 carries (7.6 ypc) and 42 (!) TDs.  That's in 12 games.... and he really only played 4 full quarters in maybe 4-5 of those games.

The numbers are just freaking astonishing.  

What gets me about the man, despite his incredibly humble nature, was that he put up those numbers behind what had to be a very poor/vanilla offensive line in an age before you used the pass to setup the run and Nebraska was juicing everyone.  

In addition to not having Earl on there, that’s my other chief complaint about this list...in the context of what he had to work with (80’s OSU and playing for the Lions), the sheer stat lines put up by sanders deserve higher than #6.  

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

1 hour ago, Bama Llama said:

The problem with excluding Doak Walker, et al., from the list is that you now have to put time brackets on the list and delete the "all-time." 

Right. They might have been 5'7", 150 lbs, but college football as we know it wouldn't have existed without Chic Harley and Red Grange. Statistics from that era are pretty spotty and game footage almost non-existent, so there's little else to go on but contemporary accounts and we know how reliable those are (imagine some space alien in the year 3154, "here's an article from something called TexAgs, apparently Texas A&M was QBU in the 21st century")

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

54 minutes ago, Homercles said:

What gets me about the man, despite his incredibly humble nature, was that he put up those numbers behind what had to be a very poor/vanilla offensive line in an age before you used the pass to setup the run and Nebraska was juicing everyone.  

and no one's come legitimately close in 30 years since, the guy was truly one of a kind

[oSuJeff97 3435]

2 hours ago, Homercles said:

What gets me about the man, despite his incredibly humble nature, was that he put up those numbers behind what had to be a very poor/vanilla offensive line in an age before you used the pass to setup the run and Nebraska was juicing everyone.  

Actually IIRC, the offensive line on the '88 team was quite good. I mean, they weren't Nebraska's line with their "extra vitamins" as Gundy called it (lol), but they were stacked with seniors who all had 3-4 years as starters.

And OSU's offense did have some variety to it with Gundy throwing to Dykes and Mayfield.

But neither of those take away from the ridiculousness of Sanders' numbers.  

[NeverMarryAStripper 21765]

1 hour ago, SwanderedTalent said:

Right. They might have been 5'7", 150 lbs, but college football as we know it wouldn't have existed without Chic Harley and Red Grange. Statistics from that era are pretty spotty and game footage almost non-existent, so there's little else to go on but contemporary accounts and we know how reliable those are (imagine some space alien in the year 3154, "here's an article from something called TexAgs, apparently Texas A&M was QBU in the 21st century")

We don't keep hard copies of anything anymore, it's all in 1s and 0s in the cloud and will be completely obliterated when our civilization falls.  Future historians will assume that we completely lost the ability to read and write shortly before we destroyed ourselves.

[tbone_ 13968]

I’d agree with those top 3 and add Herschel.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21765]

I’m still sore from watching Earl hit those poor defensive backs

[Beau Vine 53625]

On 9/26/2019 at 11:20 PM, Valmy77 said:

It seems a bit arbitrary to pronounce Charles White as the best of all those legendary USC tailbacks but...I mean sure I guess.

Hell, I think he was... other than OJ.  

I also think Herschel Walker is the most overrated RB in NCAA history, even before this thing.

[Beau Vine 53625]

On 9/27/2019 at 11:17 AM, SwanderedTalent said:

Herschel Walker didn't win two because voters literally said "oh, can't vote for a freshman" and George Fucking Rogers won it in 1980.

GTFO, Rogers had 1800 yards, 6.0 ypc, 14 TD and was the leading returning Heisman vote getter.  He won it wire to wire.  

Herschel only won one because the voters decided they couldn't let him leave college without winning a Heisman.  Dickerson crapped bigger than Herschel in 1982.

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

16 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

GTFO

No, you GTFO. South Carolina was a four-loss also-ran in 1980. Walker was the best player at the most important position on the best team in the country. He should have won it that year. 

[Huckleberry 32144]

8 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

No, you GTFO. South Carolina was a four-loss also-ran in 1980. Walker was the best player at the most important position on the best team in the country. He should have won it that year. 

So Greg McElroy should have won it in 2009? I mean he was the best player at quarterback for Alabama that year.

Also, stop giving a shit about the Heisman.

Edited October 4, 2019 by Huckleberry

[SwanderedTalent 5761]

12 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

So Greg McElroy should have won it in 2009? I mean he was the best player at quarterback for Alabama that year.

Also, stop giving a shit about the Heisman.

I would explain what you're missing in your first remark but I don't want to be accused of giving a shit about the Heisman.

 

[mr.goodkat 464]

30 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

No, you GTFO. South Carolina was a four-loss also-ran in 1980. Walker was the best player at the most important position on the best team in the country. He should have won it that year. 

i get it ,i too want the heisman to be cool again . but what does best team in the country have to do with it ?