10 greatest college RBs? (1 Viewer)

[draftfreak]

Here is my list...

10. Marcus Allen, USC
9. Ron Dayne, Wisconsin
8. O.J. Simpson, USC
7. John Cappeletti, Penn St.
6. Archie Griffith, Ohio St.
5. Bo Jackson, Auburn
4. Marshall Faulk, San Diego St.
3. Barry Sanders, Oklahoma St.
2. Hershell Walker, Georgia
1. Ricky Williams, Texas

 

[Saintman2884]

5 should be 1, draft. Bo Jackson was the type of RB that comes around once about every 10-20 years in college football. He had the power just to blow you off the line and run for like 300 yards in a game at any level. WE talk about Reggie Bush collegiate career, Bo had the type of career that defines very few people in the NCAA. He had that HOF potential and he would be the rushing champ today if it hadnt been for the injury in 1990, that robbed him of a great career, maybe the best ever to play this game.
Its a damn shame Bo never got the acolades that Faulk and Sanders got in their careers, he had the talent In my mind, its almost a crime what the Bengals did to him and his career, all Bo has in his career is Auburn and a few Pro Bowls with the Raiders in the late 80's, that is not fair to Bo and what his greatness could have been, he would be in the HOF if only he hadnt gotten injured in that playoff game. Its like Archie Manning in a way, his greatnesss was apparent to everybody in the NFL, coaches and players alike, he just had idiot for an owner and dim witted FO people to harm him in the end.

Archie didnt deserve what he got in the NFL, he deserved better, and I hate John Mecm for failing on that instance. In fact Mecom is an idiot beng an owner in the first place all those years he had this team.
I mean that too. At least Bo had Al Davis to help him get some good mileage on his career, Archie didnt have any to speak of, he had to earn his.

 

[DCSaints_Fan]

Red Grange should be somewhere up there

 

[MLU]

1) Barry Sanders: Started one season and broke 29 NCAA records and as far as I know still holds the single season rushing and all-purpose yards record. Oh and they didn't play 12 and 13 game seasons then. Averaged 238 rushing yards per effing game, people (295 total yards per game). Damn you Thurman Thomas.

2) Archie Griffin: Two Heismans. No further explanation needed.

3) Bo Jackson: A devastating combination of speed and power. Had he chosen someone other than Auburn, then maybe he'd be #2, but no higher.

4) Marshall Faulk: His performance in the pros solidifies the legitimacy of his performance in college. No, it just wasn't because SDSU played mediocre defenses. Damn you Curley Hallman.

5) Herschel Walker: Every college football fan knows his name and his stats. He was so good that Ole Miss fans chanted his name as he whipped their team. He finished as the runner up to the Heisman as a sophomore (Marcus Allen won it) and won it his junior year.

6) Ricky Williams: Played like a man among boys. Broke the career collegiate rushing record.

7) Red Grange: October 18, 1924 (yeah, I had to look it up) as a freshman he returns a kickoff 95 yards for a TD and scores three more touchdowns totaling 167 yards in the next twelve minutes of gametime against a Michigan defense that had only given up four touchdowns the previous two seasons.

8) Ernie Nevers: Another old school player that once scored all six touchdowns and four extra points to drop 40 points on the Bears. Excelled in baseball as well. When Glenn (Pop) Warner was asked to choose the best football player of all time between two guys he coached (Nevers and Jon Thorpe) he went with Nevers.

Both Grange and Nevers stand out in an era where all players went both ways in subpar equipment, thus shortening their careers.

9) Ron Dayne: See #6 but dressed in red.

10) Marcus Allen: The first college running back to break the 2,000 yard barrier deserves mention. Averaged 36 carries a game in 1981, still the NCAA record.

Snubbed because I had to pick ten: OJ Simpson, Mike Rozier, Tony Dorsett, Charles White, Byron White, Doak Walker, Earl Campbell and Ed Marinaro.

 

[CT Saints Fan]

1) Barry Sanders: Started one season and broke 29 NCAA records and as far as I know still holds the single season rushing and all-purpose yards record. Oh and they didn't play 12 and 13 game seasons then. Averaged 238 rushing yards per effing game, people (295 total yards per game). Damn you Thurman Thomas.

2) Archie Griffin: Two Heismans. No further explanation needed.

3) Bo Jackson: A devastating combination of speed and power. Had he chosen someone other than Auburn, then maybe he'd be #2, but no higher.

4) Marshall Faulk: His performance in the pros solidifies the legitimacy of his performance in college. No, it just wasn't because SDSU played mediocre defenses. Damn you Curley Hallman.

5) Herschel Walker: Every college football fan knows his name and his stats. He was so good that Ole Miss fans chanted his name as he whipped their team. He finished as the runner up to the Heisman as a sophomore (Marcus Allen won it) and won it his junior year.

6) Ricky Williams: Played like a man among boys. Broke the career collegiate rushing record.

7) Red Grange: October 18, 1924 (yeah, I had to look it up) as a freshman he returns a kickoff 95 yards for a TD and scores three more touchdowns totaling 167 yards in the next twelve minutes of gametime against a Michigan defense that had only given up four touchdowns the previous two seasons.

8) Ernie Nevers: Another old school player that once scored all six touchdowns and four extra points to drop 40 points on the Bears. Excelled in baseball as well. When Glenn (Pop) Warner was asked to choose the best football player of all time between two guys he coached (Nevers and Jon Thorpe) he went with Nevers.

Both Grange and Nevers stand out in an era where all players went both ways in subpar equipment, thus shortening their careers.

9) Ron Dayne: See #6 but dressed in red.

10) Marcus Allen: The first college running back to break the 2,000 yard barrier deserves mention. Averaged 36 carries a game in 1981, still the NCAA record.

Snubbed because I had to pick ten: OJ Simpson, Mike Rozier, Tony Dorsett, Charles White, Byron White, Doak Walker, Earl Campbell and Ed Marinaro.

Excellent analysis. But...

Where's VY? :dunno:

 

[JimEverett]

Billy Sims was the greatest college football running back I have ever seen

 

[MLU]

D'oh! I knew I forgot someone. He only makes the snubbed list though...

 

[Bishop]

What about Dickerson?

 

[Saint Will]

H. Walker was the best college RB in the history of the game.

If he comes back for a 4th year, he shatters all yardage records in the game that still would stand today.

 

[bclemms]

H. Walker was the best college RB in the history of the game.

If he comes back for a 4th year, he shatters all yardage records in the game that still would stand today.

I agree that Walker should be in the top 5 of any list but there is no way that Barry Sanders should be anywhere but #1 regardless if it is college or pro.

 

[Saint Will]

This is college only...would take Walker over Sanders anyday of the year.

 

[bclemms]

This is college only...would take Walker over Sanders anyday of the year.

I know it is college only and I still think he is #1 among college backs. Here is why.


1. Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State (1988)
The only serious question when composing this list was "Who's No. 2?" Sanders season was the only college football player's campaign to rank in ESPN.com's "End of the Century" list covering all sports. Rattle this off next time your bar buddies say someone's having a great season:

Sanders rushed for 2,628 yards, an NCAA record.

He had 3,249 total yards, an NCAA record.

Sanders scored 39 TDs (37 rushing, 1 kick return, 1 punt return), an NCAA record.

He averaged 7.6 yards per carry.

He rushed for 300+ yards in four games.

That was during the 11-game regular season. In the Holiday Bowl against Wyoming, he ran for 222 yards and 5 TDs. In three quarters. He sat out the fourth, as OSU won 62-14.

Sanders had replaced Thurman Thomas at Oklahoma State, and nobody expected that kind of season from the junior, who had rushed for 603 yards the year before. But who'd expect that kind of season from anyone?

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/collegefootball/seasons.html

My argument of why he is the greatest RB in college will be the same argument you have to why he is not. I don't expect to change your opinion and am not trying too.

Here is my argument. Had Barry Sanders not had Thurman Thomas in front of him he could have actually seen the field his Freshman and Sophmore years. His Junior season was the one season in which he actually started and look what he did. He completely re-wrote the record books in his first try and while doing so he put a huge distance between him and the next guy. I know it was one season but just as you said about Hershel if he came back I have to believe he would have done it again, especially after watching what he did at the next level with some of the worst talent the NFL had to offer around him.

 

[MLU]

Barry Sanders smokes them all. Not only did he set those single season records, but no one has come close to them before or since. It's very likely that no will either in an 10 game schedule. Barry trumps all.

In all honesty, I should have left #2 blank to emphasize the edge he holds...

 

[sainTS]

I agree with Saint Will. Hershel Walker won a national championship by himself in college at Georgia. None of the others on the list single-handedly won the championship in college.

 

[draftfreak]

The one reason I put Ricky Williams at number 1 is because of the way he played and the way he finished. As a longhorn, he could've come out early, he didn't. He could've taken plays off, he didn't, and he holds most records in the book. Is he a better overall player than Sanders or Dickerson, or a couple others, probably not, but in college, he was the best I ever saw, and I did watch Sanders in '88 quite a bit. (I think sanders is the best athlete I've ever seen) I remember in '88 when OSU played OU. Sanders wasn't as super effective in that one game against truly super competition. I remember how fun he was to watch though. Still, RW is the best college back I ever saw. Sheer power, determination, a man among boys for 4 years.