Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith?
- Thread starter NatSmck
- Start date
Yes Richard, but at USC Charles White kept Marcus Allen on the bench and as a lead blocker for Charles mostly because of seniority. Both were Heisman winners.
Nevertheless, Marcus, IMHO was by far the best of the two. So, who was the best between Thurman and Barry? Thurman was great but I'll have to take Barry all the way.
emmitt wouldnt be there IF barry wouldnt have retired.....
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R.I.P. Zach Culpepper (1980-1998)
Another vote for Barry.
I'm one who thinks most high-profile RBs are overrated. Any reasonably competent back can look good behind a great OL. BUT, Sanders was an exception like none I've ever seen. To be honest, Emmitt was mostly in the right place at the right time. If he had played at Detroit, he wouldn't even be considered for this question.
People seem to forget Sander's days at Oklahoma State. He was spectacular there too.
I'm one who thinks most high-profile RBs are overrated. Any reasonably competent back can look good behind a great OL. BUT, Sanders was an exception like none I've ever seen. To be honest, Emmitt was mostly in the right place at the right time. If he had played at Detroit, he wouldn't even be considered for this question.
People seem to forget Sander's days at Oklahoma State. He was spectacular there too.
BT,
true, he wasn't on the list, but it's pretty clear (correct me anyone if i'm wrong) that this is a debate over which of the two is the best RB ever...otherwise all the talk about the rushing record would be somewhat out of place.
my point is that any discussion of "great" running backs MUST include payton. he's the best, regardless of stats, titles, or whatever. emmitt and barry were two of the greatest, but payton was the BEST!
just my opinion, but i think it has a sound basis in fact.
RTR
Actually what this debate was really meant to focus on was which type of runningback is preferred. A workhorse back...or a flashy back. As I said earlier I would rather have the back that can get the consistent 3 to 4 yards per carry than the guy that can break a huge run but more often than not loses 2 to three yards. It is very hard to sustain drives like that. And I realize that Detroit didn't have the best offensive line but it wasn't the worst either. In my opinion Barry hurt Detroit with his inability to get first downs consistently. I am not meaning to step on any toes, I just like a more ball control type of offense.
If you gave Barry Sanders the same OLine that Emmit had, he still would have danced three times before hitting the hole. Barry is NOT a back where you say "off right tackle" and he'd run there. he might change his mind even before the snap.
Barry was easily the better RUNNER, Emmitt was easily the better RUNNING BACK.
jmho
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I am afraid you are SO right. If we brought in Bill Walsh to coach the Offense we would still have JC at QB. You can't polish a turd.
-WSPTIGER on an AU board
Barry was easily the better RUNNER, Emmitt was easily the better RUNNING BACK.
jmho
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I am afraid you are SO right. If we brought in Bill Walsh to coach the Offense we would still have JC at QB. You can't polish a turd.
-WSPTIGER on an AU board
Another thing to conceder is that Emmitt played in a more balanced offence than Barry. Troy Aikman at QB, and Michael Irvin
at WR, and I think best of all Jay Novacek at TE. You couldn't just stop Emmitt and beat the Cowboys. Barry on the other hand was the Lion's offence. You stop him, You beat the lions. I was one of them Cowboy haters. But that does change the facts, Barry Sanders was a better back than Emmitt.
But that's not to say that Emmitt wasn't great,Becouse he most certainly was.
at WR, and I think best of all Jay Novacek at TE. You couldn't just stop Emmitt and beat the Cowboys. Barry on the other hand was the Lion's offence. You stop him, You beat the lions. I was one of them Cowboy haters. But that does change the facts, Barry Sanders was a better back than Emmitt.
But that's not to say that Emmitt wasn't great,Becouse he most certainly was.
your point is well taken. i too, would rather have a workhorse back.
what a lot of people forget is that barry probably lost a couple thousand yards rushing because he regularly got tackled behind the line playing "happy feet."
whether those lost yards were attributable to the line, lack of fullback in the single-back set, or lack of vision on his part is an open question.
on topic, however, i'd rather have emmitt...he was a more complete back i think. i don't know about receiving, but he was a much better blocker than barry if i remember correctly.
Why did Wayne Fonts take Barry out in goal line situations? Sanders wasn't used much in goal line. Emmitt was an every down and every situation back!
EMMITT - the all-time leader! Barry - the guy who quit!
Barry Sanders is one of the greatest of all time. If he had the O-line Emmitt did then there would be no question. Barry carried the Lions on his back for years. And of course he was so much fun to watch
.
I know this has nothing to do with running the ball, but Barry had a lot of class. Did anybody ever see him spike a ball after a TD? He always played with class. By the way who was the DB that blew his knee out trying to keep up with Barry's juke?
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"Alabama players don't win Heisman Trophies, Bama Teams win national championships"
(Paul "Bear" Bryant)
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"Alabama players don't win Heisman Trophies, Bama Teams win national championships"
(Paul "Bear" Bryant)
Did you ever see Emmitt spike the ball? No, he didn't do that. Emmitt was also a class act. All you can do is speculate on what Barry woulda, coulda, shoulda done. There is no speculation on #22. Emmitt did it! He's the all-time leader!
No offense BamaJeff, But it has been said (and I believe it) That the no removing your helmet on the field rule was invented becouse of Emmitt. Poor sportsmanship is not what I call class. This is no attack on you so don't get pi**ed at me.
I wasn't speculating anything!
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"Alabama players don't win Heisman Trophies, Bama Teams win national championships"
(Paul "Bear" Bryant)
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