Q. Who is the best running back of all time?
The scouting report
By JOEL BUCHSBAUM, Contributing editor
As published in print December 29, 1997
|
We asked several people who’ve been
around the NFL for years to compare the skills of all-time great RB’s Barry Sanders
and Jim Brown.
| Skills |
Barry Sanders |
Jim Brown |
| Run skills and vision |
10 |
9+ |
| Brown had great vision, while Sanders seems to
have eyes all over his head. |
| Power and strength |
7 |
10 |
| Brown was as powerful as any back and could carry
tacklers. Sanders has tremendous strength in his legs. |
| Ability to avoid and elude |
10+ |
9 |
| Brown had exceptional run vision and would always
make the first tackler miss. Sanders is as elusive and as hard to tackle as any back
who’s ever played the game. |
| Short-yardage ability |
6 |
10 |
| Brown was a great short-yardage and goalline
runner. At various points during his career, Sanders has been pulled in goalline
situations. |
| Durability |
9 |
10 |
| Brown played nine years and never missed a game.
Sanders has missed only seven games in nine seasons. |
| Receiving skills |
6 |
7 |
| Not a big part of the game for either back, but
Brown was a bigger target who seemed more natural catching the ball and running after the
catch. |
| Blocking |
5 |
6 |
| Brown could be a terrific blocker when he wanted
to be, but he was a featured back. Sanders’ size makes it much harder for him, and he
is a featured back, as well. |
| Fumbles and ball security |
8 |
6 |
| Sanders is amazing in that he rarely fumbles in
spite of a style seemingly conducive to fumbling. He fumbled 10 times as a rookie but only
25 times over the next seven years. Brown averaged a fumble almost every other game but
also was carrying the ball an awful lot in traffic. |
| Scale: 10=rare; 9=exceptional; 8=excellent; 7=very
good; 6=good; 5=average; 4=below average; 3=mediocre; 2=poor; 1=unacceptable. |
Michael Lev says Barry Sanders was best RB
of all time
Ron Pollack says Jim Brown is best RB ever
Opinions from NFL authorities
The scouting report
Dominance in their respective eras
Back to main page |
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