Career statistics can be very misleading, since a player can hang around for a bunch of meaningless years but really pad his totals. Six years ago, Doug came up with a system that only counted the receiving yards a player recorded after his first 1,000 receiving yards each season.

I’m going to do something similar for running backs, but instead will focus on individual game performances. I have game logs for every running back (post-season included) for every game since 1960. What I did was zero out all rushing yards in games where a player had 50 or fewer rushing yards; in the remaining games, I only gave those runners credit for the rushing yards they gained after their first 50 rushing yards. The “RYov50” column shows the running back’s career rushing yards after removing the first 50 rushing yards he had in every game; the next column shows each player’s career rushing yards (since 1960, including post-season), and the first “Perc%” column shows the ratio of the “RYov50” column to the career rushing yards. A higher percentage means the player spent most of his time as the lead back for his team, while a lower percentage indicates that the player spent significant time in a committee and/or stuck around for several years past his prime. Obviously for still active players, the percentage column could be misleading as they may not have entered the decline portion of their careers just yet.

The #50YG column shows how many games the player had over 50 rushing yards, and the next column shows what percentage of games the running back gained over 50 yards. For players like Jim Brown, this study only includes his seasons starting in 1960, and for active players, 2012 data is *not* included:

Rk	Running back	G	Tms	RYov50	RshYd	Perc%	#50YG	Perc%	Last Yr
1	Emmitt Smith	243	dal-crd	9013	19941	45	186	77	2004
2	Walter Payton	199	chi	8204	17358	47	154	77	1987
3	Barry Sanders	159	det	8196	15655	52	131	82	1998
4	Eric Dickerson	152	ram-clt-rai-atl	7114	13983	51	116	76	1993
5	Curtis Martin	178	nwe-nyj	6691	14896	45	142	80	2005
6	LaDainian Tomlinson	180	sdg-nyj	6207	14152	44	127	71	2011
7	Jerome Bettis	204	ram-pit	6007	14336	42	132	65	2005
8	Edgerrin James	161	clt-crd-sea	5917	13098	45	125	78	2009
9	Tony Dorsett	189	dal-den	5617	14122	40	133	70	1988
10	Fred Taylor	161	jax-nwe	5498	12308	45	112	70	2010
11	Thurman Thomas	201	buf-mia	5371	13516	40	119	59	2000
12	O.J. Simpson	136	buf-sfo	5359	11285	47	92	68	1979
13	Franco Harris	192	pit-sea	5275	13676	39	133	69	1984
14	Marshall Faulk	188	clt-ram	5235	12881	41	113	60	2005
15	Corey Dillon	158	cin-nwe	4939	11749	42	103	65	2006
16	Jamal Lewis	137	rav-cle	4805	11033	44	99	72	2009
17	Clinton Portis	117	den-was	4715	10137	47	91	78	2010
18	Jim Brown	86	cle	4715	8755	54	74	86	1965
19	Tiki Barber	161	nyg	4701	10924	43	97	60	2006
20	Earl Campbell	120	oti-nor	4677	9827	48	77	64	1985
21	Terrell Davis	86	den	4651	8747	53	75	87	2001
22	John Riggins	182	nyj-was	4639	12348	38	111	61	1985
23	Shaun Alexander	132	sea-was	4632	10017	46	84	64	2008
24	Eddie George	150	oti-dal	4613	11217	41	105	70	2004
25	Ricky Watters	155	sfo-phi-sea	4267	11309	38	114	74	2001
26	Ottis Anderson	174	crd-nyg	4253	10706	40	103	59	1992
27	Marcus Allen	236	rai-kan	4193	13590	31	123	52	1997
28	Ahman Green	152	sea-gnb-htx	4053	9726	42	85	56	2009
29	Ricky Williams	151	nor-mia-rav	3986	10089	40	86	57	2011
30	Thomas Jones	187	crd-tam-chi-nyj-kan	3968	11104	36	99	53	2011
31	Priest Holmes	110	rav-kan	3966	8393	47	74	67	2007
32	Steven Jackson	117	ram	3842	9161	42	87	74	2011
33	Warrick Dunn	191	tam-atl	3802	11496	33	105	55	2008
34	Adrian Peterson	76	min	3477	7020	50	63	83	2011
35	Stephen Davis	136	was-car-ram	3451	8523	40	80	59	2006
36	Gerald Riggs	135	atl-was	3390	8308	41	70	52	1991
37	Frank Gore	102	sfo	3334	7788	43	73	72	2011
38	Jim Taylor	115	gnb-nor	3296	8406	39	70	61	1967
39	Robert Smith	104	min	3225	7408	44	70	67	2000
40	George Rogers	98	nor-was	3214	7454	43	70	71	1987
41	Terry Allen	135	min-was-nwe-nor-rav	3169	8831	36	82	61	2001
42	Freeman McNeil	148	nyj	3125	8706	36	65	44	1992
43	Larry Johnson	83	kan-cin-was-mia	3039	6255	49	48	58	2011
44	Willis McGahee	127	buf-rav-den	2991	7774	38	72	57	2011
45	Garrison Hearst	131	crd-cin-sfo-den	2978	8225	36	80	61	2004
46	Maurice Jones-Drew	95	jax	2890	6902	42	62	65	2011
47	Wilbert Montgomery	110	phi-det	2882	7307	39	68	62	1985
48	Leroy Kelly	144	cle	2880	7691	37	75	52	1973
49	Chris Warren	161	sea-dal-phi	2859	7804	37	73	45	2000
50	Lawrence McCutcheon	114	ram-den-sea-buf	2852	7265	39	68	60	1981
51	Curt Warner	103	sea-ram	2838	7093	40	64	62	1990
52	Michael Turner	114	sdg-atl	2835	6848	41	55	48	2011
53	Chris Johnson	64	oti	2824	5717	49	51	80	2011
54	Deuce McAllister	97	nor	2673	6257	43	53	55	2008
55	Herschel Walker	190	dal-min-phi-nyg	2629	8357	31	74	39	1997
56	Rodney Hampton	107	nyg	2583	7091	36	61	57	1997
57	Travis Henry	88	buf-oti-den	2561	6086	42	55	63	2007
58	Willie Parker	82	pit	2556	5849	44	48	59	2009
59	Larry Csonka	158	mia-nyg	2548	8972	28	83	53	1979
60	Earnest Byner	214	cle-was-rav	2534	9100	28	77	36	1997
61	Rudi Johnson	93	cin-det	2521	6035	42	55	59	2008
62	Lydell Mitchell	107	clt-sdg-ram	2489	6752	37	60	56	1980
63	Joe Morris	113	nyg-cle	2472	6138	40	52	46	1991
64	William Andrews	86	atl	2457	6077	40	55	64	1986
65	Chuck Muncie	116	nor-sdg	2441	7218	34	67	58	1984
66	Billy Sims	62	det	2436	5239	46	49	79	1984
67	Wendell Tyler	117	ram-sfo	2402	6953	35	65	56	1986
68	Chuck Foreman	117	min-nwe	2365	6810	35	64	55	1980
69	James Brooks	169	sdg-cin-cle-tam	2355	8178	29	59	35	1992
70	Mike Pruitt	143	cle-buf-kan	2352	7445	32	61	43	1986
71	Brian Westbrook	130	phi-sfo	2332	6926	34	61	47	2010
72	Roger Craig	181	sfo-rai-min	2326	9030	26	78	43	1993
73	Larry Brown	107	was	2322	6374	36	55	51	1976
74	Jamal Anderson	84	atl	2213	5612	39	49	58	2001
75	Natrone Means	94	sdg-jax	2208	5865	38	55	59	1999
76	Antowain Smith	136	buf-nwe-oti-nor	2169	7431	29	67	49	2005
77	James Wilder	118	tam-det	2128	6124	35	50	42	1990
78	Gale Sayers	68	chi	2125	4956	43	43	63	1971
79	Charlie Garner	152	phi-sfo-rai-tam	2116	7559	28	69	45	2004
80	Paul Lowe	99	sdg-kan	2111	5385	39	46	46	1969
81	Duce Staley	119	phi-pit	2105	6249	34	57	48	2006
82	Calvin Hill	151	dal-was-cle	2101	6441	33	56	37	1981
83	Greg Pruitt	161	cle-rai	2086	5729	36	47	29	1984
84	Delvin Williams	98	sfo-mia	2071	5640	37	46	47	1980
85	Mark van Eeghen	137	rai-nwe	2002	7275	28	66	48	1983
86	Cedric Benson	96	chi-cin	2002	6056	33	55	57	2011
87	DeAngelo Williams	81	car	1979	5110	39	48	59	2011
88	Floyd Little	117	den	1978	6323	31	56	48	1975
89	James Stewart	107	jax-det	1964	6003	33	59	55	2002
90	Ray Rice	67	rav	1947	4821	40	46	69	2011
91	Barry Foster	58	pit	1928	4227	46	37	64	1994
92	Joe Cribbs	105	buf-sfo-mia	1919	5580	34	48	46	1988
93	Greg Bell	85	buf-ram-rai	1912	5317	36	46	54	1990
94	Jim Nance	97	nwe-nyj	1907	5401	35	48	49	1973
95	Clem Daniels	104	kan-rai-sfo	1906	5137	37	47	45	1968
96	Neal Anderson	117	chi	1890	6445	29	63	54	1993
97	Mike Garrett	108	kan-sdg	1815	5667	32	51	47	1973
98	Don Perkins	110	dal	1805	6501	28	60	55	1968
99	Christian Okoye	81	kan	1784	4982	36	46	57	1992
100	Arian Foster	36	htx	1778	3382	53	28	78	2011

I like this table because it puts Earl Campbell ahead of Thomas Jones even though Jones had more career rushing yards. Obviously this isn’t perfect, but it’s nice to at least remove some of the value associated with what I’d call “junk” games.

Roger Craig comes in with the lowest percentage of “RYov50” to career rushing yards, which makes sense. He only had 20+ carries in 20 of his 181 career games; Craig was an excellent player, but he wasn’t used as a workhorse back. Seeing Larry Csonka next to him is surprising, although so much of his reputation is tied to his playoff performances. In 12 career playoff games, Csonka had 20+ carries in half of them, including a 33-carry performance in Super Bowl VIII. But he only had 18 regular season games with 20+ carries in 146 career games; like most teams of that era, Miami employed a true running back committee, and Csonka was Miami’s fullback.

On the other side of the coin, no surprise to see Jim Brown leading the list; I suspect little would change if we had his full career game logs. If you sort by the first “Perc%” column and look at only the retired running backs, you essentially get a who’s who list of running backs who had great peaks and did not stay around for the junk years: Brown, Terrell Davis, Barry Sanders, Eric Dickerson, Larry Johnson, Earl Campbell, Priest Holmes, Walter Payton, and O.J. Simpson.

Fred Taylor is 15th on the career rushing list and 16th if you include post-season, as John Riggins passes him; but he vaults Franco Harris, Marcus Allen, Thurman Thomas, Marshall Faulk and Riggins once you discount the first 50 rushing yards of every game. He’s one of those players who struggled to stay healthy when he was younger, but he was an elite player whenever he was on the field.

You get some interesting results if you sort by the second “Perc%” column. I’m surprised to see that despite running for over 9,000 yards, Earnest Byner only hit the 50-yard mark in 36% of his games. Meanwhile, Terrell Davis hit that barrier in 87% of his games. Curtis Martin has been called a compiler by some, but he wasn’t sticking around for junk years: he topped 50 yards rushing in 80% of his games. That criticism is probably more apt for Jerome Bettis; despite ranking 5th on the career rushing list, Bettis only hit 50 yards in 65% of his games. Marcus Allen met that threshold just 52% of the time, an indication of how long he hung around as a role player and how much Al Davis hated him.

Using 50 as the benchmark is an arbitrary number. What if we changed it to 75? That’s what I did with the table below; next to the rank column, I included the player’s previous rank (i.e., where he ranked in the Yards over 50 metric): ^[1]Note: I am using the same set of 100 players as before.

Rk	PrvRk	Running back	G	Tms	RYov75	RshYd	Perc%	#75YG	Perc%	Last Yr
1	3	Barry Sanders	159	det	5311	15655	34	99	62	1998
2	1	Emmitt Smith	243	dal-crd	4955	19941	25	130	53	2004
3	2	Walter Payton	199	chi	4878	17358	28	112	56	1987
4	4	Eric Dickerson	152	ram-clt-rai-atl	4568	13983	33	89	59	1993
5	5	Curtis Martin	178	nwe-nyj	3675	14896	25	93	52	2005
6	6	LaDainian Tomlinson	180	sdg-nyj	3590	14152	25	79	44	2011
7	12	O.J. Simpson	136	buf-sfo	3395	11285	30	64	47	1979
8	7	Jerome Bettis	204	ram-pit	3280	14336	23	90	44	2005
9	8	Edgerrin James	161	clt-crd-sea	3170	13098	24	92	57	2009
10	10	Fred Taylor	161	jax-nwe	3091	12308	25	78	48	2010
11	18	Jim Brown	86	cle	3058	8755	35	57	66	1965
12	14	Marshall Faulk	188	clt-ram	2948	12881	23	73	39	2005
13	20	Earl Campbell	120	oti-nor	2942	9827	30	60	50	1985
14	9	Tony Dorsett	189	dal-den	2921	14122	21	80	42	1988
15	21	Terrell Davis	86	den	2919	8747	33	57	66	2001
16	11	Thurman Thomas	201	buf-mia	2914	13516	22	79	39	2000
17	17	Clinton Portis	117	den-was	2786	10137	27	64	55	2010
18	23	Shaun Alexander	132	sea-was	2783	10017	28	61	46	2008
19	15	Corey Dillon	158	cin-nwe	2753	11749	23	70	44	2006
20	16	Jamal Lewis	137	rav-cle	2698	11033	24	67	49	2009
21	19	Tiki Barber	161	nyg	2655	10924	24	64	40	2006
22	13	Franco Harris	192	pit-sea	2627	13676	19	77	40	1984
23	24	Eddie George	150	oti-dal	2436	11217	22	68	45	2004
24	31	Priest Holmes	110	rav-kan	2407	8393	29	54	49	2007
25	22	John Riggins	182	nyj-was	2317	12348	19	77	42	1985
26	28	Ahman Green	152	sea-gnb-htx	2304	9726	24	51	34	2009
27	29	Ricky Williams	151	nor-mia-rav	2206	10089	22	56	37	2011
28	26	Ottis Anderson	174	crd-nyg	2147	10706	20	62	36	1992
29	34	Adrian Peterson	76	min	2067	7020	29	50	66	2011
30	30	Thomas Jones	187	crd-tam-chi-nyj-kan	1987	11104	18	55	29	2011
31	32	Steven Jackson	117	ram	1974	9161	22	61	52	2011
32	43	Larry Johnson	83	kan-cin-was-mia	1962	6255	31	38	46	2011
33	25	Ricky Watters	155	sfo-phi-sea	1960	11309	17	69	45	2001
34	36	Gerald Riggs	135	atl-was	1948	8308	23	47	35	1991
35	27	Marcus Allen	236	rai-kan	1904	13590	14	63	27	1997
36	33	Warrick Dunn	191	tam-atl	1877	11496	16	54	28	2008
37	37	Frank Gore	102	sfo	1865	7788	24	48	47	2011
38	35	Stephen Davis	136	was-car-ram	1859	8523	22	53	39	2006
39	38	Jim Taylor	115	gnb-nor	1808	8406	22	47	41	1967
40	53	Chris Johnson	64	oti	1808	5717	32	33	52	2011
41	40	George Rogers	98	nor-was	1777	7454	24	46	47	1987
42	39	Robert Smith	104	min	1744	7408	24	47	45	2000
43	42	Freeman McNeil	148	nyj	1711	8706	20	42	28	1992
44	52	Michael Turner	114	sdg-atl	1697	6848	25	36	32	2011
45	58	Willie Parker	82	pit	1538	5849	26	35	43	2009
46	46	Maurice Jones-Drew	95	jax	1537	6902	22	47	49	2011
47	47	Wilbert Montgomery	110	phi-det	1535	7307	21	41	37	1985
48	54	Deuce McAllister	97	nor	1532	6257	24	37	38	2008
49	44	Willis McGahee	127	buf-rav-den	1517	7774	20	47	37	2011
50	41	Terry Allen	135	min-was-nwe-nor-rav	1484	8831	17	49	36	2001
51	51	Curt Warner	103	sea-ram	1483	7093	21	39	38	1990
52	57	Travis Henry	88	buf-oti-den	1477	6086	24	34	39	2007
53	49	Chris Warren	161	sea-dal-phi	1459	7804	19	44	27	2000
54	48	Leroy Kelly	144	cle	1434	7691	19	42	29	1973
55	45	Garrison Hearst	131	crd-cin-sfo-den	1421	8225	17	48	37	2004
56	50	Lawrence McCutcheon	114	ram-den-sea-buf	1409	7265	19	44	39	1981
57	66	Billy Sims	62	det	1409	5239	27	32	52	1984
58	63	Joe Morris	113	nyg-cle	1395	6138	23	34	30	1991
59	61	Rudi Johnson	93	cin-det	1379	6035	23	39	42	2008
60	56	Rodney Hampton	107	nyg	1300	7091	18	43	40	1997
61	64	William Andrews	86	atl	1258	6077	21	40	47	1986
62	62	Lydell Mitchell	107	clt-sdg-ram	1254	6752	19	42	39	1980
63	55	Herschel Walker	190	dal-min-phi-nyg	1195	8357	14	44	23	1997
64	78	Gale Sayers	68	chi	1189	4956	24	31	46	1971
65	74	Jamal Anderson	84	atl	1183	5612	21	31	37	2001
66	69	James Brooks	169	sdg-cin-cle-tam	1149	8178	14	38	22	1992
67	60	Earnest Byner	214	cle-was-rav	1147	9100	13	35	16	1997
68	70	Mike Pruitt	143	cle-buf-kan	1139	7445	15	38	27	1986
69	71	Brian Westbrook	130	phi-sfo	1138	6926	16	34	26	2010
70	73	Larry Brown	107	was	1128	6374	18	37	35	1976
71	100	Arian Foster	36	htx	1124	3382	33	23	64	2011
72	83	Greg Pruitt	161	cle-rai	1122	5729	20	28	17	1984
73	68	Chuck Foreman	117	min-nwe	1120	6810	16	37	32	1980
74	65	Chuck Muncie	116	nor-sdg	1110	7218	15	43	37	1984
75	80	Paul Lowe	99	sdg-kan	1104	5385	21	32	32	1969
76	91	Barry Foster	58	pit	1090	4227	26	31	53	1994
77	75	Natrone Means	94	sdg-jax	1079	5865	18	34	36	1999
78	67	Wendell Tyler	117	ram-sfo	1077	6953	15	41	35	1986
79	77	James Wilder	118	tam-det	1068	6124	17	33	28	1990
80	93	Greg Bell	85	buf-ram-rai	1066	5317	20	27	32	1990
81	84	Delvin Williams	98	sfo-mia	1060	5640	19	32	33	1980
82	81	Duce Staley	119	phi-pit	1057	6249	17	32	27	2006
83	86	Cedric Benson	96	chi-cin	1044	6056	17	28	29	2011
84	87	DeAngelo Williams	81	car	1026	5110	20	27	33	2011
85	94	Jim Nance	97	nwe-nyj	1025	5401	19	27	28	1973
86	90	Ray Rice	67	rav	1009	4821	21	28	42	2011
87	72	Roger Craig	181	sfo-rai-min	1000	9030	11	35	19	1993
88	95	Clem Daniels	104	kan-rai-sfo	1000	5137	19	28	27	1968
89	59	Larry Csonka	158	mia-nyg	990	8972	11	42	27	1979
90	82	Calvin Hill	151	dal-was-cle	986	6441	15	32	21	1981
91	92	Joe Cribbs	105	buf-sfo-mia	958	5580	17	30	29	1988
92	79	Charlie Garner	152	phi-sfo-rai-tam	952	7559	13	29	19	2004
93	76	Antowain Smith	136	buf-nwe-oti-nor	902	7431	12	38	28	2005
94	99	Christian Okoye	81	kan	898	4982	18	25	31	1992
95	89	James Stewart	107	jax-det	872	6003	15	32	30	2002
96	88	Floyd Little	117	den	864	6323	14	32	27	1975
97	97	Mike Garrett	108	kan-sdg	831	5667	15	26	24	1973
98	96	Neal Anderson	117	chi	746	6445	12	28	24	1993
99	85	Mark van Eeghen	137	rai-nwe	713	7275	10	33	24	1983
100	98	Don Perkins	110	dal	683	6501	11	30	27	1968

Barry Sanders jumps Emmitt Smith for the top spot here and O.J. Simpson rises to seventh place. Franco Harris, who ranks 9th in career rushing yards ^[2]Remember, this is shorthand for career regular season and post-season rushing yards since 1960, falls all the way to 22 on this list, while Marcus Allen is down at 35. Earl Campbell continues to rise, passing Tony Dorsett in the process. Among retired players, Jim Brown, Terrell Davis and Barry Sanders lead with the highest percentage of games with at least 75 rushing yards — that shouldn’t surprise anyone who comes to Football Perspective for the Weekend Trivia.

We’re outside the original intent of this formula, but we can also look at all rushing yards after the first 99. I’ve also included where they rank in career rushing yards:

Rk	RshYdRk	Running back	G	Tms	RYov99	RshYd	Perc%	#100YG	Perc%	Last Yr
1	3	Barry Sanders	159	det	3200	15655	20	77	48	1998
2	8	Eric Dickerson	152	ram-clt-rai-atl	2693	13983	19	67	44	1993
3	2	Walter Payton	199	chi	2635	17358	15	78	39	1987
4	1	Emmitt Smith	243	dal-crd	2401	19941	12	85	35	2004
5	19	O.J. Simpson	136	buf-sfo	2090	11285	19	42	31	1979
6	6	LaDainian Tomlinson	180	sdg-nyj	2077	14152	15	48	27	2011
7	4	Curtis Martin	178	nwe-nyj	1838	14896	12	60	34	2005
8	35	Jim Brown	86	cle	1829	8755	21	40	47	1965
9	36	Terrell Davis	86	den	1778	8747	20	41	48	2001
10	28	Earl Campbell	120	oti-nor	1762	9827	18	41	34	1985
11	15	Fred Taylor	161	jax-nwe	1616	12308	13	52	32	2010
12	13	Marshall Faulk	188	clt-ram	1596	12881	12	42	22	2005
13	27	Shaun Alexander	132	sea-was	1587	10017	16	39	30	2008
14	25	Clinton Portis	117	den-was	1521	10137	15	44	38	2010
15	22	Jamal Lewis	137	rav-cle	1491	11033	14	38	28	2009
16	16	Corey Dillon	158	cin-nwe	1456	11749	12	40	25	2006
17	5	Jerome Bettis	204	ram-pit	1452	14336	10	64	31	2005
18	23	Tiki Barber	161	nyg	1446	10924	13	40	25	2006
19	7	Tony Dorsett	189	dal-den	1371	14122	10	48	25	1988
20	40	Priest Holmes	110	rav-kan	1369	8393	16	32	29	2007
21	12	Edgerrin James	161	clt-crd-sea	1367	13098	10	59	37	2009
22	11	Thurman Thomas	201	buf-mia	1352	13516	10	52	26	2000
23	29	Ahman Green	152	sea-gnb-htx	1300	9726	13	35	23	2009
24	20	Eddie George	150	oti-dal	1176	11217	10	38	25	2004
25	60	Adrian Peterson	76	min	1167	7020	17	28	37	2011
26	73	Larry Johnson	83	kan-cin-was-mia	1153	6255	18	31	37	2011
27	9	Franco Harris	192	pit-sea	1138	13676	8	52	27	1984
28	26	Ricky Williams	151	nor-mia-rav	1105	10089	11	36	24	2011
29	85	Chris Johnson	64	oti	1072	5717	19	28	44	2011
30	42	Gerald Riggs	135	atl-was	999	8308	12	27	20	1991
31	24	Ottis Anderson	174	crd-nyg	945	10706	9	37	21	1992
32	39	Jim Taylor	115	gnb-nor	940	8406	11	26	23	1967
33	46	Frank Gore	102	sfo	939	7788	12	29	28	2011
34	17	Warrick Dunn	191	tam-atl	922	11496	8	31	16	2008
35	64	Michael Turner	114	sdg-atl	922	6848	13	28	25	2011
36	14	John Riggins	182	nyj-was	905	12348	7	35	19	1985
37	38	Stephen Davis	136	was-car-ram	898	8523	11	27	20	2006
38	37	Freeman McNeil	148	nyj	888	8706	10	29	20	1992
39	50	George Rogers	98	nor-was	884	7454	12	28	29	1987
40	21	Thomas Jones	187	crd-tam-chi-nyj-kan	868	11104	8	36	19	2011
41	30	Steven Jackson	117	ram	866	9161	9	31	26	2011
42	10	Marcus Allen	236	rai-kan	848	13590	6	30	13	1997
43	53	Robert Smith	104	min	838	7408	11	31	30	2000
44	77	Travis Henry	88	buf-oti-den	805	6086	13	22	25	2007
45	83	Willie Parker	82	pit	800	5849	14	26	32	2009
46	18	Ricky Watters	155	sfo-phi-sea	769	11309	7	33	21	2001
47	75	Joe Morris	113	nyg-cle	744	6138	12	21	19	1991
48	72	Deuce McAllister	97	nor	740	6257	12	28	29	2008
49	93	Billy Sims	62	det	739	5239	14	24	39	1984
50	54	Wilbert Montgomery	110	phi-det	728	7307	10	26	24	1985
51	58	Curt Warner	103	sea-ram	695	7093	10	24	23	1990
52	80	Rudi Johnson	93	cin-det	664	6035	11	19	20	2008
53	63	Maurice Jones-Drew	95	jax	643	6902	9	25	26	2011
54	45	Chris Warren	161	sea-dal-phi	641	7804	8	25	16	2000
55	47	Willis McGahee	127	buf-rav-den	641	7774	8	30	24	2011
56	59	Rodney Hampton	107	nyg	640	7091	9	18	17	1997
57	100	Arian Foster	36	htx	628	3382	19	18	50	2011
58	43	Garrison Hearst	131	crd-cin-sfo-den	614	8225	7	20	15	2004
59	92	Greg Bell	85	buf-ram-rai	609	5317	11	13	15	1990
60	48	Leroy Kelly	144	cle	607	7691	8	27	19	1973
61	34	Terry Allen	135	min-was-nwe-nor-rav	606	8831	7	24	18	2001
62	84	Greg Pruitt	161	cle-rai	604	5729	11	17	11	1984
63	97	Gale Sayers	68	chi	602	4956	12	20	29	1971
64	56	Lawrence McCutcheon	114	ram-den-sea-buf	597	7265	8	25	22	1981
65	78	William Andrews	86	atl	568	6077	9	21	24	1986
66	88	Jamal Anderson	84	atl	559	5612	10	20	24	2001
67	79	Cedric Benson	96	chi-cin	542	6056	9	18	19	2011
68	98	Ray Rice	67	rav	541	4821	11	14	21	2011
69	95	DeAngelo Williams	81	car	532	5110	10	16	20	2011
70	31	Earnest Byner	214	cle-was-rav	529	9100	6	20	9	1997
71	91	Paul Lowe	99	sdg-kan	515	5385	10	16	16	1969
72	51	Mike Pruitt	143	cle-buf-kan	514	7445	7	17	12	1986
73	90	Jim Nance	97	nwe-nyj	509	5401	9	17	18	1973
74	66	Lydell Mitchell	107	clt-sdg-ram	495	6752	7	18	17	1980
75	70	Larry Brown	107	was	490	6374	8	21	20	1976
76	44	James Brooks	169	sdg-cin-cle-tam	484	8178	6	18	11	1992
77	99	Barry Foster	58	pit	480	4227	11	22	38	1994
78	76	James Wilder	118	tam-det	474	6124	8	14	12	1990
79	87	Delvin Williams	98	sfo-mia	473	5640	8	16	16	1980
80	41	Herschel Walker	190	dal-min-phi-nyg	472	8357	6	18	9	1997
81	94	Clem Daniels	104	kan-rai-sfo	472	5137	9	15	14	1968
82	74	Duce Staley	119	phi-pit	470	6249	8	17	14	2006
83	65	Chuck Foreman	117	min-nwe	455	6810	7	21	18	1980
84	62	Brian Westbrook	130	phi-sfo	453	6926	7	21	16	2010
85	49	Charlie Garner	152	phi-sfo-rai-tam	446	7559	6	15	10	2004
86	57	Chuck Muncie	116	nor-sdg	442	7218	6	18	16	1984
87	89	Joe Cribbs	105	buf-sfo-mia	429	5580	8	15	14	1988
88	82	Natrone Means	94	sdg-jax	424	5865	7	19	20	1999
89	96	Christian Okoye	81	kan	406	4982	8	14	17	1992
90	86	Mike Garrett	108	kan-sdg	390	5667	7	12	11	1973
91	32	Roger Craig	181	sfo-rai-min	380	9030	4	16	9	1993
92	69	Calvin Hill	151	dal-was-cle	371	6441	6	17	11	1981
93	71	Floyd Little	117	den	322	6323	5	15	13	1975
94	81	James Stewart	107	jax-det	321	6003	5	13	12	2002
95	61	Wendell Tyler	117	ram-sfo	320	6953	5	18	15	1986
96	52	Antowain Smith	136	buf-nwe-oti-nor	311	7431	4	15	11	2005
97	33	Larry Csonka	158	mia-nyg	291	8972	3	20	13	1979
98	68	Neal Anderson	117	chi	260	6445	4	15	13	1993
99	55	Mark van Eeghen	137	rai-nwe	236	7275	3	9	7	1983
100	67	Don Perkins	110	dal	195	6501	3	11	10	1968

It’s impossible to ignore the similarities between Terrell Davis and the 1960-1965 version of Jim Brown, right down to the same number of games played. Injuries shortened his career, but Billy Sims hit the century mark in 39% of his games. How many people would have guessed that Robert Smith, Warrick Dunn and Larry Johnson had more 100-yard rushing games than Marcus Allen? Or that Brian Westbrook had more 100-yard games than Larry Csonka?

What’s your favorite nugget from these lists?