Could Adrian Peterson be the best RB of all time?

[Thor]

Trouble is there are 2 arguments that aren't related.

There is the position of RB as a whole(which is what the title of this thread(

There is the art of running the ball.

I am old enough to have watched OJ Simpson play.

 

With that if we are talking about the title of this thread, what RB would you want to be on the field if your team had a 4th and 1 from the fifty yard line with 45 seconds left in the Super Bowl and 2 timeouts and was trailing.

Should be a running play, but if you are going to pass you want a guy who can pick up a blitzer, or maybe catch a swing pass. Remember, this is one play for the Super Bowl.

 

My list

Walter Payton Not only the best running back, the best football player I have seen

Marcus Allen One yard was a given and he even moved to fullback for a few years

Emmit Smith Even though he had a great O line he was never tackled for a loss

After that it is a tossup between a bunch of guys but Adrian is in the conversation

 

If you are talking about the art of running the ball I wouldn't put either Marcus Allen or Emmit in there but that is where Barry Sanders and OJ and Eric Dickerson come into play. Adrian would have to be strongly considered to be in the top few.

[Willihammer]

I think you are either onto something or yo u're on something, Thor. There isn't a lot of space to argue against Emmitt Smith in terms of greatness. He holds too many records and most of them handily. Who you like as a runner, is personal opinion. I like Barry Sanders.

[Thor]

I loved to watch Barry and OJ run but I would never hand off to them on 4th and 1 with the Super Bowl on the line. 4th and 35 maybe.

[DaveW]

I think you also have to discount the era's of which some of these players played. Brown/OJ and even to a lesser extent Smith all played in an era when the league was quite a bit less "pass happy" and the speed/strength was no where where it is now. There is a reason why RB's career expectancy's are constantly going down.

 

I'm not discounting what guys like OJ and Brown did, but if Peterson keeps this up for another 4-5 years (no reason why he can't) he has to be in the conversation of best ever.

[Thor]

OJ got his 2000 yards in a 14 game season. Jim Brown is still the only runner to average over 100 yards per game for a career.

 

IF Peterson is blessed with another 5 years he will be in the conversation as the best ever.

[TheLeviathan]

IF Peterson is blessed with another 5 years he will be in the conversation as the best ever.

 

Career stats can be misleading. I prefer to talk about a back's ability to dominate a game and then let the career stats fall where they may. LT could never dominate a defense like Peterson, Sanders is the only back I've ever seen capable of this with the ball in his hands that compares.

[DaveW]

OJ got his 2000 yards in a 14 game season. Jim Brown is still the only runner to average over 100 yards per game for a career.

 

IF Peterson is blessed with another 5 years he will be in the conversation as the best ever.

 

Peterson has also the same exact YPA as OJ had.

 

Jim Brown is tough to compare to, since he played his last game almost 50 years ago, no? The game was a TON different back then and Brown had a relatively short career. But he is certainly in the top few of all time. Right now I think my personal rankings go (assuming Peterson continues at this pace for 3 more years then has another 3 or so years of very good play): Sanders, OJ, Peterson, Brown, and Smith (its absurd how much talent he was surrounded by)

 

If Peterson continues to improve, no reason he can't be the GOAT

[Thor]

I think you guys are still talking about the art of running the football, in which cas I would rank Sanders at the top but there is no way I would hand him the ball on 4th and 1 from the 50 with the Super Bowl on the line.

 

ps you can look it up, he has the most carries for loss in the history of the NFL along with his nearly 5 yd average.

[TheLeviathan]

I think you guys are still talking about the art of running the football, in which cas I would rank Sanders at the top but there is no way I would hand him the ball on 4th and 1 from the 50 with the Super Bowl on the line.

 

ps you can look it up, he has the most carries for loss in the history of the NFL along with his nearly 5 yd average.

 

That's true but in that situation I may take a guy like Bettis or Mike Alstott.

[Brock Beauchamp]

ps you can look it up, he has the most carries for loss in the history of the NFL along with his nearly 5 yd average.

 

That tends to happen when you play your entire career behind a Detroit Lions offensive line.

[DaveW]

That's true but in that situation I may take a guy like Bettis or Mike Alstott.

 

Tim Tebow.

[snepp]

Tim Tebow.

 

That's Tim Tivow.

[asmus_ndsu]

Ill put in my 2 cents without reading the responses thus far..

 

best running back of all time, not yet, time will tell. If he stays healthy i think yes but hes had too short of a career thus far to say.

 

if the question was is he potentially the best.. I think everyone would agree yes.

 

now if you asked me if hes having the best running back season of all time? I would say absolutely (even if he doesnt break the record). I would even go as far to say hes having the best season of any nfl player of all time

[Reginald Maudling's Shin]

That's Tim Tivow.

2013 MN Viking starting QB Tim Tevow.

[Benchwarmerjim]

it seems hard to compare players in the NFL because style of play, and the players themselves (bigger, faster, more film study, etc), change so much. Todays game is so much different than when Jim Brown player. Hell, its different from when Barry Sanders retired 15 years ago..

 

To me, the conversation should be more like 'Will Adrian Peterson be an Inner Circle HOF player?'

[Fatt Crapps]

What a bum. Couldn't even get a measly record.

 

O-V-E-R-R-A-T-E-D!