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The way the newspapers and websites are acting, you'd think Emmitt Smith is about to re-invent the wheel. Personally, I can't accept the notion that he's going to be the most prolific runner in NFL history.

For me, and even before I joined the Mustang Nation, Eric Dickerson was the most exciting runner I'd ever seen. His upright position when running cut quite a figure, and he had that burst of speed when he cut upfield and burst through the line that made fans sit up and take notice, and made defensive coordinators crank up their PaceMakers a notch or two.

For my money, here are the best runnings backs I've ever seen.

1. Walter Payton
2. Eric Dickerson
3. O.J. Simpson
4. Gayle Sayers
5. Barry Sanders
6. Earl Campbell
7. Billy Sims
8. John Riggins
9. Marcus Allen
10. Emmitt Smith

I'm not claiming Emmitt isn't a great back - he obviously is. But what kind of numbers would Payton, Dickerson and Simpson put up if they'd had Aikman, Irvin, Novacek and Harper around them to keep defenses honest? The Bears had Bob Avellini at quarterback for much of Payton's career, and who knows who their receivers were. Who did Dickerson have around him? Flipper Anderson? Henry Ellard? Decent guys, but hardly the kind of receivers that defenses had to work their gameplan around. Who else was on Buffalo's offense when Simpson was running all over the place? I don't know either.

As far as I'm concerned, Dickerson was a far better running back than Emmitt, no matter how man yards he ends up with.

As much of a total jerk as the man is personally, Tony D belongs on that list too.

So do Marshall Faulk and maybe even (when healthy) Edgerrin James

For a complete running back who could scare defenses to death, Thurman Thomas has to be on that list. He could beat a team so many ways.

But I agree with you, Phil Fan - Dickerson was a much better running back than Emmitt. He had no passing game to keep a defense honest when he was in L.A. or in Indianapolis, and the best offensive line he ever played behind was Jackie Slater and four fat guys. He did it all, and almost all by himself.

I never got to see Sayers play, so I'll take Walter Payton and Eric Dickerson at 1 and 2 (not sure which order) as the greatest backs I ever saw.

Headed to Houston.
GO PONIES

You have got to be joking me. John Riggins had no finese. I prefer Christian Okoye over Riggins if you wanna talk about fat runners.

I meant to say finess. Thanks

you guys are so young! too bad you never had the pleasure of watching Jim Brown carry the ball. He may have been the best running back the NFL has ever seen. He averaged over 5 yds a carry and wasn't always running behind pro-bowl blockers. People were surprised when he retired in what seemed to be his prime, not unlike Barry Sanders. Gayle Sayers is another one you would have enjoyed.

Rogers:
Maybe you meant "finesse"?

Good call, Charleston. Maybe I hadn't had enough coffee when I wrote my list - how I could leave Jim Brown off my list is unclear. In terms of being someone who can scare a defense, I'd have to slide him in at #8, ahead of Riggins (who was a monster, but he was more sheer power than gamebreaking ability). That bumps Emmitt Smith out of my top 10, although I've thought about this and I'm starting to think about leapfrogging him ahead of Marcus Allen.

for pure "power" runners, I've got to say that Jim Brown and Earl Campbell are the two most punishing runners I've seen in my lifetime. The combination of speed and strength made them very difficult to bring down solo. Look at Brown's stats for average per carry and number of touchdowns per carry and it's hard not to call him the best ever. He didn't quit because he was beaten up like most guys do. I think he just wanted to go "Hollywood" when he was at the top of his game.

When you talk about fast, quick, elusive guys, I like Gayle Sayers, O.J. Simpson & Barry Sanders, although not necessarily in that order.