Although the running back position continues to be overlooked as analytics advance in the NFL, the luxury of a true bell-cow will always be desired. Of the all-time rushing leaders list, just 6 of the top-25 were drafted after 2000. This is for a multitude of reasons (shelf life of running backs today, teams favoring a committee in the backfield, etc.) but all signs point towards the league-wide trend lessening team’s traditional ground attack.

So, even though the top-ten players in terms of Approximate Value all played in better eras for the running back, how would their numbers look compared in the same timespan?

With about 1,200 more touches than second-most on the list, Emmitt Smith still easily leads in the volume statistics after his 13-year career. In a position that ages the poorest of any of the four major sports, playing into your mid-30s is an achievement in itself. There are only 7 players in NFL history with over 100 rushing attempts after age 35, and even at this point of his career, Smith averaged 63 yards a game. 

But even before this, Smith had arguably the longest prime of the list, going 11-straight seasons with over 1,000 rushing yards. It took him up until his age-34 season to finally have a below-average season in yards per attempt and compiled almost double the rushing touchdowns of the group’s average. But, how much of this separation does he owe to his career longevity?

With everyone given the same number of touches, Marcus Allen looks to be the greatest traditional ground rusher while Marshall Faulk creates further separation as a receiving back.

When we talk about halfbacks with abnormal longevity in their careers, Allen is at the top of that list as well. Going back to that list of over-35-year-old rushers, Allen leads the group in attempts with 537, with 4.14 yards per attempt. Allen was one of the most consistent running backs in Raiders history, who found a way to revitalize his career in Kansas City, which gave him the benefit in true running back statistics over some of the shorter primes in the rest of the group.

 Faulk (’94-’05) on the other hand was ahead of his time in terms of using the running back in the passing game. 

Playing amid the biggest peak in RB receptions, Faulk saw 19.4% of his career touches coming through the air, with the next closest percentage being over 3 percentage points behind. While Faulk was no slouch when given the ball on a handoff, averaging 4.31 yards per attempt, he is a completely different player once you consider his ability to aid the quarterback on the checkdown, improving his yards per touch number to second-best in the group at 5.21. 

But, at number one in this metric, alongside yards per rush and yards per game, is the loudest opponent to Smith being the true GOAT of the position. Barry Sanders compiled quite a resume in his 10-year career. Sanders is 1 of 8 players to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season, never posted a sub-1,000-yard rushing season in his career, and of the list above is the only player to average more than 5 per touch, rush, and reception. At the rate Sanders was going for his career, it would have taken him 29 more games to be the all-time rusher. A total that is not difficult to picture by any means, especially when you consider that Sanders would be just 1 of 2 players all-time to average over 100 rushing yards per game for their career, joining Jim Brown after inflation. 

Who else do you think should be considered in this debate? Leave a comment to see how that player would compare!