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NFL.COM Best Running backs

DX-TEX

#TomSavageDontCare
Arian is the best all round RB in the league. AP is a better power runner but doesnt do much in the pass game. Same with MJD.
 

SAMURAITEXAN

All Pro
Yep. Arian is more complete RB than others. Doesn't make much mistake and able to maximize yards whenever he touches football.

Go Arian!!!
Go Texans!!!
 

powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
Arian is the best all round RB in the league. AP is a better power runner but doesnt do much in the pass game. Same with MJD.
Mjd is one of the best all purpose backs in the league.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
The NFL.com voting went:
Foster - 4
McCoy - 3
Rice - 2
Forte - 1 (Casserly. Does that even count?)

That's the order I would put them in, as well. Foster is the back without a hole in his game. He's the best blocker, and the best receiver out of this bunch. His speed rivals McCoy's. His power equals Forte and Rice. Foster's competition as best RB would be a healthy Adrian Peterson.
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
There's one thing that Foster does better than anyone in the league, imo. It's a skill that amazes me at times, one he takes quiet pride in...
 

False Start

On # 69
I think Arian is in the top 3. The one guy compared him to Eric Dickerson, and I have been saying that since 2010. His upright running style, down to the way he makes his cuts.

Looking at some of the reader's comments... :littlelol:

Everyone thinks their RB is the best. That's a homer/fanatic for you though. I cant say I haven't been guilty of the same thing. :kubepalm:

Some of them, just crack me up though. Fred Jackson?
 

The Medic01

Waterboy
I think Arian is in the top 3. The one guy compared him to Eric Dickerson, and I have been saying that since 2010. His upright running style, down to the way he makes his cuts.

Looking at some of the reader's comments... :littlelol:

Everyone thinks their RB is the best. That's a homer/fanatic for you though. I cant say I haven't been guilty of the same thing. :kubepalm:

Some of them, just crack me up though. Fred Jackson?
I know usually I try to argue but I'm done with that. I know what they will say
Ravens fans will say:rice because of what he does in the passing game and his consistency
Eagles :McCoy because of touchdowns and speed
Bears:Forte for god knows why
Vikings:Peterson (I can't argue this guy is the best)
I will say Foster is a power runner elusive fast has amazing vision and is an amazing pass blocker. Then they say
"oh the ZBS inflates his numbers" then I will respond "Then how come nobody else we had did good".
/rant over
 

Allstar

Bona fide
I see a lot of devil's advocate in the article, particularly by Casserly. They encouraged their writers to make sure they made different choices to create a debate, a la PTI/Around the Horn. I do think Arian having the most supporters was not a coincidence though ;)
 

Ryan

THIS YEAR
I know usually I try to argue but I'm done with that. I know what they will say
Ravens fans will say:rice because of what he does in the passing game and his consistency
Eagles :McCoy because of touchdowns and speed
Bears:Forte for god knows why
Vikings:Peterson (I can't argue this guy is the best)
I will say Foster is a power runner elusive fast has amazing vision and is an amazing pass blocker. Then they say
"oh the ZBS inflates his numbers" then I will respond "Then how come nobody else we had did good".
/rant over


Forte is one of the best in the league, easily. I compare his skills to Foster in alot of ways but don't think he is as good of a pure runner. McCoy is very good but i don't think he is anything higher than 5th best at this point but he's still only 23.
 

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
Forte is one of the best in the league, easily. I compare his skills to Foster in alot of ways but don't think he is as good of a pure runner.
That gives too much credit to Forte IMO. Good solid runner who is also a receiving threat. He's a Domanick Davis. Compare this - Forte in 4 years, 29 total TD's. Foster the last 2 years, 32 TD's. Heck DD had 28 TD's in three partial seasons on a crap football team.
 

Lucky

Ride, Captain, Ride!
Staff member
this couldn't be further from the truth... mccoy is much faster than arian.
Really? Have they run 40's side by side? When was the last time Arian was caught from behind? Foster has 9 40+ yard plays over the past two seasons to McCoy's 8. I say they're very comparable.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
this couldn't be further from the truth... mccoy is much faster than arian. that being said, i'd still take arian over mccoy any day since speed isn't everything.
There's track speed and there's game speed.

There is NO WAY Arian Foster is a 4.7 40 guy. I had read somewhere that he was nursing an injured hamstring at the Combine but his Pro-Day 40 was in that same range.

But in game situations, he runs away from people. He ran away from the Buccs defensive backs, he ran away from the Titans defensive backs. I can't recall a time where he's reached the open field and been able to get going where someone has caught him from behind.

And that's the real test of a guy's speed.

Terrell Davis was the same way. A 4.6 guy on the track but he always seemed faster than everyone chasing him once he hit an opening.
 

otisbean

Veteran
Contributor's Club
There's track speed and there's game speed.

There is NO WAY Arian Foster is a 4.7 40 guy. I had read somewhere that he was nursing an injured hamstring at the Combine but his Pro-Day 40 was in that same range.

But in game situations, he runs away from people. He ran away from the Buccs defensive backs, he ran away from the Titans defensive backs. I can't recall a time where he's reached the open field and been able to get going where someone has caught him from behind.

And that's the real test of a guy's speed.

Terrell Davis was the same way. A 4.6 guy on the track but he always seemed faster than everyone chasing him once he hit an opening.
I remember reading about Arian having a hamstring issue as well. If it was tweaked at the combine, I would bet it was still an issue at his pro day. Hammys can be quite pesky. Watching him run on film, I would guess that Arian would be a 4.5 guy.

On of the tricky things with the 40 is the start, it's impossible to run a good time with a bad start. Guys that look fast on film but run slower times on the track probably had an issue with this. If you watch Kendall Wright this year at the combine on both his 40s he got a weird start, it almost looked like he slightly stumbled coming out of his 3 pt stance. As a result, his times were surprisingly slow.
 

powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
I think on the field their long speed is very comparable. But, they couldnt appear more different in how they look when they run. Af is a very fluid long strider. He "glides" on the field and it looks effortless. He looks slower because of that style even if they cover the same amount of ground in the same time. Mccoy is just the opposite. Lots of short choppy steps when he runs and cuts etc...

As an aside on foster, he has fantastic field vision while he runs. I think thats the biggest factor in his success.
 

powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
Forte is great and all but Arian Foster is worth 20 Fortes in the Red Zone.
I had forte on my fantasy team last year and he was GREAT but he lost a lot of redzone touches because of how chicago used their backs. Forte did all the heavy lifting to get across the field. Once they got to the redzone barber (or was it jacobs?) stole a lot of scoring opportunities.
 

GP

Go Texans!
One guy picked Rice....then said "I had covered Rice since his days at Rutgers..." and I just laughed. Oh, OK. I see. No bias or anything there.

A lot of those analysts don't want to say Foster because that inherently gives the Texans street cred. They'll choose a guy who plays for a Eagles-Bears-Ravens team because it makes their pick of that RB look more credible. Choose a RB on a more high-profile team.

I don't think it's the homer in me that says Foster is the best RB. The guy is special on many levels. His best attribute is that Barry Sanders-like ability to create something out of nothing. You can see defense's sort of shrink away from their duties when Foster begins putting on a clinic on the field, their body language changes...they just sort of start watching his moves instead of trying to really tackle him. They become spectators.
 

powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
I dont think he could ever take over a game in the passing area. Arian can so that gives him the edge.
Yup. I'd rather have af. But mjd does quite well in the passing game. Hes the only bona fide offensive threat the jags have had for years yet he averages 46.3 receptions a season...thats hardly a liability. I have seen him take over games as a reciever.
 

Playoffs

Hall of Fame
There's one thing that Foster does better than anyone in the league, imo. It's a skill that amazes me at times, one he takes quiet pride in...
Poetry?
LOL. That. too.

Foster is one of the best I've seen at minimizing hits, slipping big hits. You rarely see a defender get a clean hit on him. It's a subtle skill, but one that is sooo important for longevity. If I'm a GM ... with ZBS offense that has a history of eating RBs ... I love it.

He glides when he runs, but still is able to finish a play with that extra bit of effort to avoid solid contact so he can get up & do it again. Impressive! :fostering: :fostering: :fostering:
 

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
Foster is one of the best I've seen at minimizing hits, slipping big hits. You rarely see a defender get a clean hit on him. It's a subtle skill, but one that is sooo important for longevity. If I'm a GM ... with ZBS offense that has a history of eating RBs ... I love it.

He glides when he runs, but still is able to finish a play with that extra bit of effort to avoid solid contact so he can get up & do it again. Impressive! :fostering: :fostering: :fostering:
This is a trait I have noted. Emmitt Smith was fantastic at it - small space movement accompanied by incredible use of his hands. (Not saying they are otherwise the same). People like to say Tate runs more physically. I would reverse that and say Foster minimizes contact better.

Totally different body type but another long strider who you really judged his speed on the fact people weren't catching him or were getting passed. I know people will hate this because it involves the Cowboys but - Tony Dorsett. Watch the legs.
 

dream_team

Hall of Fame
If I had to choose one out of the four mentioned in the article for the Texans, I'd go with Foster. Foster is the perfect fit for the system we run.

I love watching LeSean McCoy, the guy is amazing and has more "WTF?" runs than Foster does. But he dances too much to not be as effective as Foster in the Texans' scheme.

Forte is a tougher runner than Foster, but he doesn't cut as quick. Foster is much better in that stretch play we all know and love.

I'm not a big fan of Ray Rice. Not saying he's not good, and I'd be happy if he was a Texan (if Foster wasn't around)... but he'd be #4 on this list for me.

Now getting that out of the way, there isn't a doubt in my mind, the best RB in the whole league is still Adrian Petersen. He's the 2nd best back I have ever watched (after Barry). I know people will knock him by saying he isn't a good receiver, so he's not an all-around back. I think that's crap... he's a decent receiver, but the Vikings simply don't use him in that manner all that much. This guy would excel in any system behind any OL.
 

powda

The bridge between stupid and useless is short.
Anybody can run for positive yardage thru a clean gap. To me one of the best measuring tools of a quality back is to watch yardage after contact. Once in a great while i'll think to myself af could've got more yards had he cut left or right or whatever but thats not often. He consistently makes the right cut and consistently gains 2-3 yards after contact given a real opportunity. We're fortunate to have him.
 

MEGA SWATT

All Pro
I think on the field their long speed is very comparable. But, they couldnt appear more different in how they look when they run. Af is a very fluid long strider. He "glides" on the field and it looks effortless. He looks slower because of that style even if they cover the same amount of ground in the same time. Mccoy is just the opposite. Lots of short choppy steps when he runs and cuts etc...

As an aside on foster, he has fantastic field vision while he runs. I think thats the biggest factor in his success.
Bingo!:bravo:
 

infantrycak

Hall of Fame
Here is another video of Dorsett - Dorsett. Now compare the stride to Foster - Ignore the music and once again look at the legs.

By the way look in the background and the one time you clearly see him get passed by someone it is (a) because he is letting his blocking work just like Foster did last year on his longest run with Jacoby and (b) happens to be a WR who turned out to be the gamble the Texans were taking with Jacoby, Tony Hill (another 3rd rounder). Foster is a good 30 lbs heavier but their leg movement is very similar.

This is what I was talking about earlier and I wish Arian could get better at because I think he has the ability. Watch Emmitt's use of his non-ball carrying hand (has to be the best ever in this regard) - Link Emmitt constantly used his off hand for balance and tackle avoidance.
 
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281

Veteran
Really? Have they run 40's side by side? When was the last time Arian was caught from behind? Foster has 9 40+ yard plays over the past two seasons to McCoy's 8. I say they're very comparable.
i'm honestly just going with seeing both of them play... foster has got good speed and is smoother runner but lesean just seems more explosive and seems to have more straight line speed. just my perception, whatever that's worth. again, i think foster is a better and more well rounded running back.
 
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