I wish everything was as easy as ranking quarterbacks because once I sat down and did running backs it got complicated….quickly. It wasn’t until the 80’s was there a true RB and FB position. In the past these were interchangeable and in some seasons you would see a FB be the RB and vice versa because it just didn’t matter. It was also hard to go back and compare years, yards per carry and touchdowns of each player even though Pro Football Reference was great with statistics. So here they are:
- Corey Dillon (1997-2003)
- James Brooks (1984-1991)
- Rudi Johnson (2001-2007)
- Essex Johnson (1968-1975)
- Harold Green (1990-1995)
- Archie Griffin (1976-1982)
- Larry Kinnebrew (1983-1987)
- Ickey Woods (1988-1991)
- Pete Johnson (1977-1983)
- Cedric Benson (2008-2011)
- Boobie Clark (1973-1978)
- Joe Mixon (2018-Present)
- Jeremy Hill (2017-2019)
- Giovani Bernard (2013-Present)
- Charles Alexander (1979-1985)
- Paul Robinson (1968-1972)
- BenJarvus Green-Ellis (2012-2013)
- Jess Philips (1968-1972)
- Stanford Jennings (1984-1990)
- Garrison Hearst (1996)
- Charlie Davis (1974)
- Stan Fritts (1975)
The caveat above is that they had to be starters and make some sort of season impact. For example I did not include Larry Johnson because he was so short lived. It was also easy to come up with the first three RBs but after that when you get to the older guys like Larry Kennebrew, Pete Johnson and Boobie Clark I could only base it off of statistics because I never saw these guys play.
Certainly this is not the perfect list and these rankings can be hotly debated (and probably will be). I was surprised myself to see that I put Rudi Johnson above players like Harold Green and Archie Griffin. I also forgot how great Cedric Benson was for us after he left the Bears. If anything this was fun to do and I hope you guys give me some good (or bad) feedback on this one.