Alright, let's have everyone list who they consider a great running back as of right now. Stats shouldn't say it all as what they can do on the field that can't be measured should be part of your decision to rank greatness. I am curious to see how many RB's we consider to be great. Here are mine in no particular order...

Shaun Alexander
LaDanian Tomlinson
Larry Johnson
Clinton Portis
Tiki Barber
Edgerrin James

After that in my opinion, there a re a lot of very good backs. So I got six that are great as of right now. Nas, TM, Coach, Beardown, others let's see where we all stand.

You forgot Thomas Jones.

Jim Brown
Walter Payton
Sir Mix A-Lot
Barry Sanders
J-Lo

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@audioidkid

Well done Doug.

Wow, now I see why TM and you are not seeing eye to eye. I think we just value things differently here.

Steven Jackson has yet to run for 1200 yards and has looked really good, but I don't have him being great yet.

Warrick Dunn is definitely underrated and a part of a team that has led the league in rushing two years in a row. I do think he is somewhat a product of the system and could struggle mightily if it wasn't for his zone blocking. He'd be in my very good list.

Jamal Lewis. As fo today? Right now? He was great in the past, but last year was nothing to consider great. This year maybe he will return to form, but hell then I'd put Corey Dillon and 5 others guy too if that's your reasoning.

Reggie Bush...I dn't even know if I comment on this. He has done nothing in the NFL to be great yet. I just don't know about that at all. He very well could be this year, but I don't put him on that list as of August 24th.

So basically 1/3 of the NFL has "great running backs." Not telling you that you're wrong, just throwing that stat out there.

If you really read my Warrick Dunn comment you would notice that I specifically believed he would struggle outside of his system. He was not "great" when he was with Tampa. While he is a shifty quick moving back, I still think he could handle being on a lot of team in the NFL. With Larry Johnson, I don't think he needs that system to be a great running back. That's my difference with those two. Sure LJ's system helped, but I feel he would do great on about 25 other NFL teams.

On Lewis, I said as of today August 24. So I assume you are going to give him a bye on last year's performance. That's fine with me, but then there's really no way in hell you can leave Corey Dillon off that list then. He has been "great" on Cincy and NE and last year was his first down year.

I like your four player list much better and I almost went that route.

I asked for a list of greatness only, not top ten. That's what I was trying to figure out. What your perception of greatness was. I can tell you as a Colts fan that while Edge wasn't a guy that was going to break 60 yard runs, he runs so damn hard, So many times I've seen runs that should be -2 yards, 0 yards, or a 1 yard gain go for 4, 7, or 11 yards. Damn hard runner. Great hands out of the backfield. Catches extremely well. He also is a top 5 pass blocking back in the entire league. To me, there is no question with him at all.

Darnell Autry.

He's also in my top ten for bouncers...thus, a double threat.

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Couldn't disagree with you more telling me I'm a biased Colts fan and thats why i think that highly of Edge. I've seen him play way more than you. Ask any intelligent NFL fan who has seen at least 20 entire games of Edge playing. Are you honestly going to dispute he isn't a top 5 pass blocking back? What is it you think about Edge that wouldn't automatically make him a great back? Tell me what I am missing here?

Well for one thing - Indy's O-Line. If he puts up similar numbers this year with that porous line of turnstiles in the desert then he makes your list.

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Two brothers... One speaks no English, the other learned English from watching "The Wide World of Sports." So you tell me... Which is better, speaking no English at all, or speaking Howard Cosell?

Well for one thing craftybeaver I can show you my unbias about the Colts and tell you right now they are one of the most OVERRATED offensive lines in the league. That line isn't as good as the sports media make them out to be. They only thing they do well is block off of stretch runs and still a stretch play is more of a QB-RB thing as far as setting up a successful run. This O-line is average. Peyton Manning gets rid of the ball quicker than any other QB inthe NFL. We know he doesn't run out of the pocket much and so, if this average O-line he has to throw quickly which he does. Think about the times when the Colts lose badly. What happens? The O-line is pathetic and because Peyton isn't mobile, he gets sacked The O-line is so bad that Edge has to stay back there a lot and block for Peyton. Trust me, "the o-line" is not a benefactor for Edge. Its average. I'd love to see what he could do with a top 5-10 offensive line in the league. Obviously, that won't be the case this year.

I hear you Ryan. We'll see when they line up on Sundays. I'm sure the Edge has a lot to prove those who said he was the 4th best offensive player on the Colts the last few years. I hope the O-Line holds up for him in Zona, however, they look like the Beloved from a few years back. Warner's gonna go down and go down often. Hope pretty boy Leinert's playbook is somewhere near his mirror and Hollywood scripts.

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Two brothers... One speaks no English, the other learned English from watching "The Wide World of Sports." So you tell me... Which is better, speaking no English at all, or speaking Howard Cosell?

FU, Woodridge for placing me in the others category. Just for that I will not thrill you with my brilliance.

Reggie Bush is a "great" back before playing in one game? And we think the media over-hypes players..

One thing that this thread proves is that many of us have different definitions of the word "great". By my definition, there are three who are on a fast track to earning a spot in Canton: LT, Alexander and Edge. The rest were, could be, might be or should be...but aren't now.

Gotcha. I read the title of the thread "great backs" and then your first post with your list of ten and replied to that....before reading the entire thread. Why do I not include Tiki? Good question. His career stats are solid and he's been a durable and dependable back. He just doesn't wow me with his moves or open field running. The others do.