Top 50 Running Backs

[SorthNarolina]

Adrian Peterson isn't even a top 5 running back anymore. Yeah he might give you a highlight real stiff arm or run every now and then, but then 2 plays later cough the ball up. If he fixes his fumbling problem he can take back #1 again, until then there are running backs that might not have his insane genetics but don't give the ball away all the time.

edit- Rice, Drew, Johnson, and DWill all run without a hall of fame quarterback sitting behind them, too.

I don't remember AP having a HoF QB behind him for 2 years either. It's not like he suddenly gets pushed to the side because Favre is under center. You can just discredit a guy for having good players around him.

Rice has a beastly defense, amazing fullback, and a good, young QB. I guess he shouldn't be the running either.

AP fumbles too much to be considered the consensus best and he wasn't really as effective as he should have been last year. That's why he's not #1, Favre doesn't matter.

[Swarly]

I don't remember AP having a HoF QB behind him for 2 years either. It's not like he suddenly gets pushed to the side because Favre is under center. You can just discredit a guy for having good players around him.

Rice has a beastly defense, amazing fullback, and a good, young QB. I guess he shouldn't be the running either.

AP fumbles too much to be considered the consensus best and he wasn't really as effective as he should have been last year. That's why he's not #1, Favre doesn't matter.

This isn't 2 seasons ago. Fact is: AP had a better a) offensive line, and passing game than the other running backs last year, and still struggled.

[pepaw]

Even with Williams and Stewart the order should be reversed. Granted Williams had 1/10 of a yard more per carry but if you look at yards after contact, Stewart gained an average of 3.3 while Williams gained 2.6. And Stewart caused 44 missed tackles while Williams caused 27.n The one area that Williams did better was blocking which wasn't mentioned.

Honestly if this list was based on who did the best per opportunity, Jamal Charles should be number 1 not number 10. Certainly he shouldn't be below 3 IMO.

I am not trying to give you grief but you asked for constructive criticism. I give you an A for ambition and willingness to stick your neck out but honestly you need to state your criteria for rating them up front so people have a perspective for agreeing or disagreeing. Like rate them on elusiveness or power or who will get the most yards per carry or even total yards rather than just top 50 backs for 2010. It is too subjective and random for comparison.

Your post brings up good points but one thing to be fair to D Will is the fact that he saw most of his playing time in 09 when the offense was horrible due to horrid QB play and the offense was entirely too predictable with 8 sometimes 9 playing for the run.

Where as when J Stew got to thrive with Matt Moore at the helm making defenses actually respect our passing game and just the overall phenomenon of momentum in sports which is truly something spectacular and I don't see how there will ever be a stat to "measure" it.

However at the same time in J Stew's defense I dont think we've seen him play an NFL down at 100% and he played great with back up defensive linemen(who did play great) and those stats you showed are impressive.

[beastson]

Looking at Peterson's number of carries, can't help but wonder if Fox is smarter than most coaches regarding how he has used Stewart and Williams. Peterson is getting 350 or so carries a year compared with Williams 200+. Peterson seemed to be running out of gas towards the end of last season. Maybe he was overused.

He'll be done before he hit 30... sorta like LT

[OneBadassCat]

Peterson being ranked #1 just shows how much smoke espn media can blow up people's asses. However let's be honest the difference between the best and top 10 isn't that huge, unless the players are truly exceptional. There is a hell of alot of luck, especially with injuries and the surrounding talent that makes a player look like the best. You could say that Deangelo, Jackson, Johnson and Rice are each #1 and you wouldn't be wrong from a talent perspective. Personally I'll take J Stew over Peterson they are pretty much the same RB but I think JS has bit more "bowling ball" aspect to his game, kind of like Jones Drew.

And how the hell can you say that AP is the hardest working RB in the game? Did you investigate each RB jackass?

[CharlotteBeer.com]

And how the hell can you say that AP is the hardest working RB in the game? Did you investigate each RB jackass?

Someone struck a nerve. :eek:

You could say that Deangelo, Jackson, Johnson and Rice are each #1 and you wouldn't be wrong from a talent perspective.

How the hell can you say that Deangelo, Jackson, Johnson and Rice all have the same amount of talent? Did you investigate each RB jackass?

[nosuchthingasapanther]

Your post brings up good points but one thing to be fair to D Will is the fact that he saw most of his playing time in 09 when the offense was horrible due to horrid QB play and the offense was entirely too predictable with 8 sometimes 9 playing for the run.

Where as when J Stew got to thrive with Matt Moore at the helm making defenses actually respect our passing game and just the overall phenomenon of momentum in sports which is truly something spectacular and I don't see how there will ever be a stat to "measure" it.

However at the same time in J Stew's defense I dont think we've seen him play an NFL down at 100% and he played great with back up defensive linemen(who did play great) and those stats you showed are impressive.

stewart more than his fair share of 8-9 man fronts in the games he featured.

the giants game being the prime example.

after smith broke his arm, carolina made zero attempts to hide the fact that they were going to run the ball...as a matter of fact, there were about 19 run plays called and maybe 2 passing after smith left the game. stewart rushed for 97 yards on 11 attempts. it would have been 150 yards on 12 attempts had there not been a holding panalty on king.

the same carried over into the saints game. his 60+ yard td run was against a 9 man front...and that was the 2nd play of the game. no passing game had developed yet.

minnesota stacked the box and couldn't stop him either.

one can argue that the run game made matt moore successful and not the other way around. all moore had to do was not make mistakes.

[SorthNarolina]

stewart more than his fair share of 8-9 man fronts in the games he featured.

the giants game being the prime example.

after smith broke his arm, carolina made zero attempts to hide the fact that they were going to run the ball...as a matter of fact, there were about 19 run plays called and maybe 2 passing after smith left the game. stewart rushed for 97 yards on 11 attempts. it would have been 150 yards on 12 attempts had there not been a holding panalty on king.

the same carried over into the saints game. his 60+ yard td run was against a 9 man front...and that was the 2nd play of the game. no passing game had developed yet.

minnesota stacked the box and couldn't stop him either.

one can argue that the run game made matt moore successful and not the other way around. all moore had to do was not make mistakes.

Minnesota also starting blitzing Moore heavily in the 2nd which is when he really capitalized just like a good QB should. Very impressive game.

[pepaw]

stewart more than his fair share of 8-9 man fronts in the games he featured.

the giants game being the prime example.

after smith broke his arm, carolina made zero attempts to hide the fact that they were going to run the ball...as a matter of fact, there were about 19 run plays called and maybe 2 passing after smith left the game. stewart rushed for 97 yards on 11 attempts. it would have been 150 yards on 12 attempts had there not been a holding panalty on king.

the same carried over into the saints game. his 60+ yard td run was against a 9 man front...and that was the 2nd play of the game. no passing game had developed yet.

minnesota stacked the box and couldn't stop him either.

one can argue that the run game made matt moore successful and not the other way around. all moore had to do was not make mistakes.

The Giant's defense had thrown the towel in by the second half. Their defensive coordinator was a joke and their season was over.

Yes the 60 yard run was impressive that was against Saint's back ups was impressive.

Minnesota was desimated in every way that game. Do you have the game still on your DVR? Do you mean to tell me its the same amount of run favoring defense that we saw when Jake was playing?

Yes the run game can make any QB successful. However I think good QB play makes a huge difference in openings for a running game. Ex Jake delhomme 08 vs 09 and the running stats that followed.

For the record I don't personally have an opinion on which RB is better, I <3 them both and think they're even.

[OneBadassCat]

Someone struck a nerve. :eek:

How the hell can you say that Deangelo, Jackson, Johnson and Rice all have the same amount of talent? Did you investigate each RB jackass?

It's pretty close.

[Mage]

It's pretty close.

No, it really isn't.

AD is a freakish athlete. You don't find many, if any, guys as big as he is running that fast.

[OneBadassCat]

No, it really isn't.

AD is a freakish athlete. You don't find many, if any, guys as big as he is running that fast.

And there is no one with DWill/Ray Rices acceleration, Deangelo's vision or Chris Johnson's speed. There is something special about each of them for their respective style. JS>AP, he murders anyone in his way just like Jackson does and how AP did his first year.

[N'wahlinsCayenne]

I guess yards per carry mean nothing. Pierre Thomas was third in YPC for RB's who had 140 carries or more last year.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categorystats?archive=false&seasonType=REG&d-447263-o=2&statisticPositionCategory=RUNNING_BACK&conference=null&d-447263-s=RUSHING_AVERAGE_YARDS&experience=null&d-447263-n=1&season=2009&qualified=true&Submit=Go&tabSeq=1&d-447263-p=1

[panthers55]

Your post brings up good points but one thing to be fair to D Will is the fact that he saw most of his playing time in 09 when the offense was horrible due to horrid QB play and the offense was entirely too predictable with 8 sometimes 9 playing for the run.

Where as when J Stew got to thrive with Matt Moore at the helm making defenses actually respect our passing game and just the overall phenomenon of momentum in sports which is truly something spectacular and I don't see how there will ever be a stat to "measure" it.

However at the same time in J Stew's defense I dont think we've seen him play an NFL down at 100% and he played great with back up defensive linemen(who did play great) and those stats you showed are impressive.

If you look at our quarterback play from a passing or running perspective, there isn't much difference between when Delhomme or Moore was in as far as the playcalling or running/passing percentages except for 2 games when we ran most of the time. They both aired it out, Jake was just more of an equal opportunity guy who let the defense catch his balls as well. Teams had to be very aware of when Jake passed otherwise they wouldn't be there to pick it off. LOL

You could argue that Moore made it easier for Stewart or that Stewart made it easier for Moore, together they meshed.

But it was a good point about Williams. It will make this year very interesting especially with Wiliiams in a contract year.