Barry Sanders

[VersusTheMoose]

Sanders and Smith were drafted 1 year apart and had such a large contrast in talent surrounding them for the entirety of their playing careers. Smith has the records, but many knowledgeable football people consider Sanders the better back (including myself). I think it is a fair question, and a natural question for all football fans to ask themselves.

But I do agree with you, it is unfair to point to this one particular case and forget all the other players who were not in an ideal situation. Few players do play in the ideal situation, but the previously mentioned contrast between the two teams is so great so it is hard not to ponder.

Imagen if Megatron played with Montana/Young...

 

[Raptorman]

A couple of things here. Scott Mitchell had one good year that he threw for over 4,000 yards.That’s it. His average the other years on the Lions was for a 16 game season would be around 3,200. And he never completed more than 60% of his passes in his career.Not something that special.As far as Perriman, Moore and Morton being on the team with Sanders,Perriman waswith the team from 91-96, Morton from94-98, And Moore from 91-98.Moore and Perriman both had good years in 95 and 96 with both having over 1,000 yard years.Morton in 95 had 590.After Perriman left in 96, Morton and Moore had a 1,000 yard season in 97.So in 1995 they had their best chance at doing something, unfortunately for them some guy in Green Bay was throwing more yards and TD’s than Mitchell. It’s not always about the yards that win games. Yeah, they had some good players on team, but it is a team game after all.

 

[El Guapo]

I think that Steve Smith's attitude often precludes fans from discussing him in a GOAT discussion. I'm not saying that it's right, but that it's likely a contributing factor. Gonzalez is one of the greatest tight ends. I don't think that many people doubt that.

Barry gets the special treatment, because...well...he was so dang special. People always like to wonder about what could have been. It's natural

 

[ivo610]

I think that Steve Smith's attitude often precludes fans from discussing him in a GOAT discussion. I'm not saying that it's right, but that it's likely a contributing factor. Gonzalez is one of the greatest tight ends. I don't think that many people doubt that.

Barry gets the special treatment, because...well...he was so dang special. People always like to wonder about what could have been. It's natural

But what would Gonzalez numbers look like with a legit QB? I mean he is 2nd all time in receptions already.

 

[tynimiller]

Sanders=greatest RB...also the guy the Lions took his passion and desire to play and destroyed it.

 

[AmishMafia]

I greatly admire Barry for his play and for his humble attitude. Never spiking the ball after a big play, just going about his business. I also admire him for hanging it up on his own terms. People arguing here that he should have went for the record - really? I doubt Barry gave records all that much thought at the time. I base that on his humble attitude.

As far as him being the GOAT. I would definitely say, no. Barry's playing style was all about the big play. He would dance in the back field hoping for something to open up. If something did, he would rip off a 20 yard run. If not, he is tackled for a loss. This style of play makes for a few great ESPN highlights every game, but in the end, costs his team lots of possessions. He was not a consistent "Move the chains" kind of back. Therefore, if I had to pick a RB for my dream team, there would be a dozen names ahead of Barry on that list.


Ladanian Thomlinson
Marshall Faulk
Eric ****erson
Jim Brown
Walter Payton
Tony Dorsett
Emitt Smith

Adriann Peterson (Thanks Ivo) - although his negative is fumbling, they are about even.

Maybe I will have a tough time coming up with a full dozen, I can't think of any more off the top of my head. Don't get me wrong, given the chance I would love to have Sanders on the team, I would just teach him not to dance so much. But a great all around person to have on your team.



I have searched, but I cannot find a stat that shows how many negative yard plays a RB has. I would bet that Barry has far more than anyone else in the top 20 all-time rushers.

 

[ivo610]

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[lambeaulambo]

Why is Barry the only one that gets this argument? I never hear this for anyone else. I wish Steve Smith had played his career with a QB so we could argue if he was a top 5 WR of all time. I wish Tony Gonzalez played with a legit QB his whole career so we watch him break Jerry Rice's records. This isnt an attack on you in anyway, its just a pet peeve that a player gets the benefit of the doubt on what his career could have been, when Emmitts was as good of a career as a RB could have had.

I think Emmitt benefitted from a MUCH better O line than Barry Sanders, and its not even CLOSE. Just comparing apples to apples.

 

[lambeaulambo]

I greatly admire Barry for his play and for his humble attitude. Never spiking the ball after a big play, just going about his business. I also admire him for hanging it up on his own terms. People arguing here that he should have went for the record - really? I doubt Barry gave records all that much thought at the time. I base that on his humble attitude.

As far as him being the GOAT. I would definitely say, no. Barry's playing style was all about the big play. He would dance in the back field hoping for something to open up. If something did, he would rip off a 20 yard run. If not, he is tackled for a loss. This style of play makes for a few great ESPN highlights every game, but in the end, costs his team lots of possessions. He was not a consistent "Move the chains" kind of back. Therefore, if I had to pick a RB for my dream team, there would be a dozen names ahead of Barry on that list.


Ladanian Thomlinson
Marshall Faulk
Eric ****erson
Jim Brown
Walter Payton
Tony Dorsett
Emitt Smith

Adriann Peterson (Thanks Ivo) - although his negative is fumbling, they are about even.

Maybe I will have a tough time coming up with a full dozen, I can't think of any more off the top of my head. Don't get me wrong, given the chance I would love to have Sanders on the team, I would just teach him not to dance so much. But a great all around person to have on your team.



I have searched, but I cannot find a stat that shows how many negative yard plays a RB has. I would bet that Barry has far more than anyone else in the top 20 all-time rushers.

Eric ****erson? No. he would have run right into the O tackle and fell on his back in Detroit.
LT? Had a very good line.
Faulk? Had a very good line.
Dorsett? Had an exceptional line.

When I think about this argument, I think of the Wisconsin Badgers with Ron Dayne: He had holes to run through that were enormous. You put Barry bananas on a team of that nature, and he would not have had to dance and shift, he would have made one cut, and PEACE.

 

[HyponGrey]

Keith Byars anybody? Gotta admire a back who runs flat-footed over his own teammate for not blocking

 

[toolkien]

For what it's worth, from pro-football-reference and their "approximate value" (AV) calculation, then taking a player's AV divided by games played, for all players with no minimum game floor -

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/av_career.htm

Top twenty-five in AV/game -

Jim Brown - 1.52
Jack Christiansen - 1.18
Aaron Rodgers - 1.06
Peyton Manning - 1.06
Arnie Weinmeister - 1.06
Bill George - 1.03
Alan Ameche - 1.03
Andy Robustelli - 1.02
Jack Ham - 1.02
**** Stanfel - 1.01
Terrell Davis - 1.01
Steve Young - 1.01
**** Butkus - 1.01
Jack Lambert - 1.00
Yale Lary - 1.00
Bobby Boyd - 1.00
Jack Butler - 1.00
Patrick Willis - 1.00
Tom Brady - 0.99
Barry Sanders - 0.99
Alan Page - 0.99
Lawrence Taylor - 0.98
Reggie White - 0.98
Ray Lewis - 0.98
Phillip Rivers - 0.98

Jim Brown by a country mile.

And if anyone cares, Favre is #1 in total AV, 97th in AV/game with a 0.84. 55 HOFers ahead in AV/game, 10 of them QB's, with Brady and P Manning first ballot HOF QB's as well. How much does one credit for longevity?

 

[13 Times Champs]

The value of a pick does not equate to ones overall value. Although I think we are tilting at windmills here between Sanders and Walter Payton, I give the edge to Payton because he stuck with it through and through. Payton also played on some pretty lousy Bear teams. He like Sanders was the only offense for a lot of Bear teams. But he never quit. Walter Payton has the rushing record and a Super Bowl as a result.

 

[AmishMafia]

Eric ****erson? No. he would have run right into the O tackle and fell on his back in Detroit.
LT? Had a very good line.
Faulk? Had a very good line.
Dorsett? Had an exceptional line.

When I think about this argument, I think of the Wisconsin Badgers with Ron Dayne: He had holes to run through that were enormous. You put Barry bananas on a team of that nature, and he would not have had to dance and shift, he would have made one cut, and PEACE.

I think ****erson was the best runner ever.
Brown was the most dominant RB ever.
LT I think was the best all-around RB. I don't think he had a good line through most of his career, let alone 'very good'.
Faulk was the best recieving RB - and still a very good RB

If you want to look at ESPN highlights - then yes, Barry was the best. But as far as 'moving the chains' on any given play - which is very important I believe in an effective offense - then I would be putting Barry down the list.

 

[DevilDon]

Barry is my favorite running back all time. It's hard to argue he's the best ever. But he was a delight to watch. His humility was a thing of beauty and his moves and balance were stunning.
And yea Amish, ****erson was a dominating force. I think he'd get my vote as best ever.