moklerman
Rise from the Ashes III
http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2011...-latter-sounds-off-the-debate-rages?ref=yahoo
I think that put he and Emmitt on about as equal grounds for comparison as was possible. Obviously Dallas had a much better overall team but Detroit's offense wasn't entirely chopped liver so Barry with a fullback, to me, is about as close to a real comparison as we can get as well as a possible look at what Barry would have done behind Dallas' impressive o-line.
Cause that's often where the comparison always gets to. What would Barry have done with Dallas and what would Emmit have done with Detroit?
And when you look at what Barry did, at age 29 & 30 in '97 & '98 the only two years he ever had a fullback, I think it's pretty obvious that Barry would have far exceeded what Emmit did. Barry behind that Dallas o-line with Moose Johnston in front of him his whole career would have been very scary.
Anyway, in 1997 at age 29 Barry got Tommy Vardell as a fullback and proceeded to put up these numbers:
335/2,053 6.1 ypc 11 TD 128 ypg
at age 30:
343/1,491 4.3 ypc 4 TD 93.2 ypg
Scott Mitchell and Charlie Batch as his QB's and a defense that fell off to 21st in the league in '98 help explain Barry's reduced production but even still, at age 30 putting up almost 1,500 yards? I think he'd have been AVERAGING 1,600 yards per year his whole career if he'd had a fullback and been on a better team than Detroit.
Emmitt was certainly durable and certainly not without talent but he was a grinder and IMO, not nearly as talented as Sanders. Smith was just the beneficiary of being on a team that could feed him the ball 20+ times per game and more importantly, an o-line that could impose their will down in the red zone and near the goal line.
Only once in his entire career, even with all that talent around him on offense and perhaps more importantly to this comparison, on defense, did Smith eclipse 5.0+ ypc in a season.
I don't think there's really any comparison or debate as to who the better RB was and one last thing that sways my opinion is how each player approached his career. IMO, Emmitt was about Emmitt. He kept every football from every TD he ever scored and stayed in the league just to pass Payton. Barry quit because he wanted to win, wanted to do it as a Lion and saw that the Lions were not committed to becoming a winning franchise.
Reading through the first 30 or so comments there are many comparisons being offered as to why one or the other is better. Something I didn't see mentioned though was when Barry finally got a fullback.
I think that put he and Emmitt on about as equal grounds for comparison as was possible. Obviously Dallas had a much better overall team but Detroit's offense wasn't entirely chopped liver so Barry with a fullback, to me, is about as close to a real comparison as we can get as well as a possible look at what Barry would have done behind Dallas' impressive o-line.
Cause that's often where the comparison always gets to. What would Barry have done with Dallas and what would Emmit have done with Detroit?
And when you look at what Barry did, at age 29 & 30 in '97 & '98 the only two years he ever had a fullback, I think it's pretty obvious that Barry would have far exceeded what Emmit did. Barry behind that Dallas o-line with Moose Johnston in front of him his whole career would have been very scary.
Anyway, in 1997 at age 29 Barry got Tommy Vardell as a fullback and proceeded to put up these numbers:
335/2,053 6.1 ypc 11 TD 128 ypg
at age 30:
343/1,491 4.3 ypc 4 TD 93.2 ypg
Scott Mitchell and Charlie Batch as his QB's and a defense that fell off to 21st in the league in '98 help explain Barry's reduced production but even still, at age 30 putting up almost 1,500 yards? I think he'd have been AVERAGING 1,600 yards per year his whole career if he'd had a fullback and been on a better team than Detroit.
Emmitt was certainly durable and certainly not without talent but he was a grinder and IMO, not nearly as talented as Sanders. Smith was just the beneficiary of being on a team that could feed him the ball 20+ times per game and more importantly, an o-line that could impose their will down in the red zone and near the goal line.
Only once in his entire career, even with all that talent around him on offense and perhaps more importantly to this comparison, on defense, did Smith eclipse 5.0+ ypc in a season.
I don't think there's really any comparison or debate as to who the better RB was and one last thing that sways my opinion is how each player approached his career. IMO, Emmitt was about Emmitt. He kept every football from every TD he ever scored and stayed in the league just to pass Payton. Barry quit because he wanted to win, wanted to do it as a Lion and saw that the Lions were not committed to becoming a winning franchise.
