How many of CFB's all-time best running backs hail from the SEC?
The SEC produces great running backs year in, year out. How many of those SEC greats deserve to be recognized as college football greats is an ongoing debate.
Bleacher Report recently ranked its all-time top 16 running backs in college football. For much of the list, the SEC was noticeably absent until Bo Jackson was named No. 6 all-time. Five spots later, Herschel Walker closed out Christopher Walsh’s list at No. 1:
To give an idea of how good Herschel Walker was, consider that he led Georgia to the national championship and finished third in Heisman Trophy voting as a freshman. His 1,616 rushing yards set an NCAA freshman record that stood until 1996.
Walker went on to finish second for the Heisman in 1981, when he had a career-best 1,891 rushing yards before finally winning the award in 1982. He’s the only player in history to finish in the top three in Heisman voting after each of his three college seasons.
Not many people – besides Auburn fans – are going to argue with Walsh having Walker at No. 1. A bigger question for SEC fans is which conference legends belong in the discussion for the sport’s all-time best. Here is Bleacher Report’s full 16:
16. Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma)
15. Jim Thorpe (Carlisle)
14. O.J. Simpson (USC)
13. Jim Brown (Syracuse)
12. Ron Dayne (Wisconsin)
11. Earl Campbell (Texas)
10. Marcus Allen (USC)
9. Doak Walker (SMU)
8. Charles White (USC)
7. Red Grange (Illinois)
6. Bo Jackson (Auburn)
5. Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh)
4. Archie Griffin (Ohio State)
3. Ricky Williams (Texas)
2. Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State)
1. Herschel Walker (Georgia)
The list covers more than 100 years of football, with Thorpe’s career going back to 1907. When Saturday Down South previously ranked the SEC’s all-time best running backs, Darren McFadden came in at No. 3. One has to wonder if an up-and-down NFL career has kept McFadden from being in the same conversation as college football’s all-time greats outside the SEC.
Peterson vs. McFadden is an interesting comparison as they played in two of the same three seasons (2005-06). McFadden has an advantage in career rushing yards (4,590 yards to 4,041 yards) while also throwing seven touchdown passes as a wildcat quarterback. Peterson has one more rushing touchdown (42 to 41). Injuries limited Peterson’s career to 31 games, a reason Walsh put him on the list.
What do you think, SEC fans? Would McFadden, Billy Cannon, Kevin Faulk or any other SEC running back make your top 16 over someone on the Bleacher Report list?
I notice they only went with power 5 schools, except for the dead guys. Not including Marshall Faulk and Walter Payton just because of where they went to school is just stupid. Besides, Payton probably played with more NFL players in college at JSU than half the FBS teams field. And Faulk, yes at SDSU, but at a different time, posted a stellar career including what most fans and experts agree is the single greatest freshman season of all time. I agree with the first three, for sure though.
All they did was go with old guys who played during a much different era. Players like Derrick Henry or Leonard Fournette would have been Gods compared to those players. This is more a nostalgia list than a list based on actual talent.
Walkers best year was average compared to todays players.
What are you a soccer fan?
Haha. Every rb looks good behind that o line at Bama. Fournette we’ll never know cause the play calling sucked. Plus that lowest vertical jump in the draft score.
are you dumb or just plain stupid? most of the stats that the older players accumulated were only based on 11 or less games. Conference championship games, bowl games and more regular season games help inflate the stats of those like Derrick Henry and Leonard Fournette. For example, Herschel Walkers best season was 1891 yds in 11 games, 171 yds/game. Derrick Henry’s ONE season as a starter was 2219 yds in 15 games, 141 yds/game. Leonard Fournette’s best season was 1953 yds in 12 games, 162 yds/game. Bo Jackson’s best season was 1786 yds in 11 games, 162 yds/game
Not winning the heisman is what hurts mcfadden (even though he got snubbed the 1st time around). He was heisman runner up 2 years in a row, but no one remembers that
SEC players are historically snubbed. People forget that, too. A media booby prize awarded by guys who hail mostly from schools not in the SEC. It used to be a Big10/ND award, then OU and the PAC got some love. Remember David Palmer, Peyton Manning, Archie Manning (Theisman who was second would have made more since than Plunkett), or even players from other schools who got snubbed, like Steve McNair, walter Payton, Jerry Rice, and the list goes on and on. Defensive players from across the country get snubbed on a regular basis, until an SEC player is up for it then history gets made and someone gets jipped. I’m not saying Dak should have won, but he should have been in New York in 2014, and in the conversation the following year. Archie Griffin was no doubt a Heisman running back, but there is a reason the only player to repeat is from OSU. Tebow, Manziel, both should have two (Winston was a more than stellar Freshman, but Manziel did better on worse team, not to mention a rapist makes Manziel look like a choirboy.) Though, Tebow got screwed not by the voters but by that archaic voting system. At least McCoy and Bradford were phenomenal. Everybody screams that the media has a bias for the SEC, they aren’t old to remember that it took an partially automated system to give us a chance, even then the pollsters still want USC and OSU and anybody but some southern school. And yeah you can look at one instance, like 2008 or 1994, and say, “But Salaam or Bradford or whoever was a phenomenal talent.” and you would be right. But when the guy from the media darling, the bigger school, or the title contender gets the nod every single time, something is off. Mcfadden didn’t win for one simple reason, he went to Arkansas.