News: PFT: Who’s the best running back in the NFL?

KJJ said:
Surprised how many are picking Bell when his best season was 1361 yards and that was his only 1000 yard season. His career rushing average is 4.4.
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In that 1361 yard season, he added 854 in receiving yards. That's what puts him over the top. He's averaging more yards from scrimmage per game this year than Zeke is.

Also, the guy does not fumble: looks like he's fumbled twice in his career and lost one. That matches what Zeke's done this year.

And his rushing average has gone 3.5, 4.7, 4.9, 5.0: he's not a 4.4 guy today, and we're talking about who's the best now.

You can argue either way in good faith, but Bell's my guy when he's on the field.
 
erod said:
There isn't a back in the league as well-rounded as Zeke Elliott, except for Adrian Peterson.
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Peterson is a liability in the passing game, and we haven't seen enough from Zeke in the passing game split out wide.
 
TheCount said:
After balancing out for offensive line (Zeke's is obviously better than Gurley's) and ignoring off-field nonsense.

1. David Johnson - Gets in the endzone. Equally dangerous via run or pass.

2. LeSean McCoy - Still dangerous when given the opportunity. Won't have many fans around here since he's a former Eagle, but McCoy is what people were expecting Reggie Bush to be.

3. Ezekiel Elliott - Well rounded and buoyed by offensive line. Good catcher, but hasn't done much damage there yet.

4. Le'Veon Bell - Patient and very well rounded. I almost want to remove him for his off-field stuff though. Has only played 10 games over the last two years, so far.

5. Lamar Miller - Perpetually underutilized, and his team is terrible. I don't know if he'd be as good as Zeke if he had our offensive line, but he'd be talked about more.
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Glad to see DJ getting some love.
 
jimnabby said:
In that 1361 yard season, he added 854 in receiving yards. That's what puts him over the top. He's averaging more yards from scrimmage per game this year than Zeke is.

Also, the guy does not fumble: looks like he's fumbled twice in his career and lost one. That matches what Zeke's done this year.

And his rushing average has gone 3.5, 4.7, 4.9, 5.0: he's not a 4.4 guy today, and we're talking about who's the best now.

You can argue either way in good faith, but Bell's my guy when he's on the field.
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He had that season in 2014, it's the only good season he's had. Granted he was having a good season when he was injured in 2015 which cost him 10 games. We're comparing a rookie back with one who's been in the league 5 years. As a rookie Bell rushed for only 860 yards in 13 games, averaging 3.5 a carry. He's an excellent receiver out of the backfield but he plays in an offense that heavily utilizes his skills as a receiver. Not every back fits an offense we saw that with Murray in Philly but he's looked great in Tenn.

Despite our great OL, CMike went bust for us last season but has looked solid in Seattle. Zeke is just scratching the surface of what he's going to do if he stays healthy. He's playing with a rookie QB and is leading the league in rushing. He ran through the #1 defense against the rush in Green Bay. If anyone is going to break all kinds of records behind our OL it's Zeke.
 
NextGenBoys said:
Peterson is a liability in the passing game, and we haven't seen enough from Zeke in the passing game split out wide.
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Not all rb are used in that fashion from their offense, I.e. the pass catching back like Faulk bell Johnson. Zeke CAN catch but we use him to run it down opponents throat. Can't hold that against him.
 
TheCount said:
2. LeSean McCoy - Still dangerous when given the opportunity. Won't have many fans around here since he's a former Eagle, but McCoy is what people were expecting Reggie Bush to be.
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On the contrary, as much as I hate the Eagles I have a lot of respect for McCoy. Just like I used to for Brian Westbrook.
 
dogunwo said:
You have nothing to base Gurley being the better on. Not talent, Not NFL production, not college production. You have some hypothetical that if Gurley had the same line he would be better.
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That is my opinion. If you dont like it, that isnt my problem. Dont insult me for my opinion as I wouldnt insult you for yours.

Fact of the matter is that they are similar and not too far apart in my estimation. Gurleys size and speed combination is as rare as rare gets.
 
Well, that's a lot of disconnected thoughts. Let's see...
KJJ said:
He had that season in 2014, it's the only good season he's had. Granted he was having a good season when he was injured in 2015 which cost him 10 games.
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He had that season in 2014, he was having an excellent season in 2015, and he's having an excellent season this year. The only issue he has is staying on the field.
KJJ said:
We're comparing a rookie back with one who's been in the league 5 years. As a rookie Bell rushed for only 860 yards in 13 games, averaging 3.5 a carry.
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Yes, which has exactly nothing to do with how good each one is right now. (Plus, the Steelers OL was a disaster in Bell's rookie year, what with Pouncey out for the season and other problems)
KJJ said:
He's an excellent receiver out of the backfield but he plays in an offense that heavily utilizes his skills as a receiver. Not every back fits an offense we saw that with Murray in Philly but he's looked great in Tenn.
Despite our great OL, CMike went bust for us last season but has looked solid in Seattle. Zeke is just scratching the surface of what he's going to do if he stays healthy. He's playing with a rookie QB and is leading the league in rushing. He ran through the #1 defense against the rush in Green Bay. If anyone is going to break all kinds of records behind our OL it's Zeke.
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So Zeke gets credit for being a great fit behind our OL, but Bell gets downgraded for being a great fit in his offense. Got it.
I have no idea where the Christine Michael stuff comes from. He got all of 15 carries for us, busted with 3 teams and looks anything but solid in Seattle this year (he's doing his typical fade after getting everyone's hopes up, totaling 52-174-3.3 his last three games).
 
CowboyRoy said:
Only if you are biased.
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You don't need to be biased to pick Zeke. He's leading the league in rushing with a rookie QB and Dez hasn't been on the field in 3 games. One of the big arguments re-signing Dez was without him defenses would stack the box and stop the run. The run Zeke made against Green Bay where he hurdled the defender and continued on for 5 more yards was special.
 
erod said:
There isn't a back in the league as well-rounded as Zeke Elliott, except for Adrian Peterson.
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Peterson in his day was the best back in the game, but his pass protection and receiving skills are not elite. His protection problems have had him sitting on 3rd downs a good chuck of his career.
 
jimnabby said:
Well, that's a lot of disconnected thoughts. Let's see...He had that season in 2014, he was having an excellent season in 2015, and he's having an excellent season this year. The only issue he has is staying on the field.
Yes, which has exactly nothing to do with how good each one is right now. (Plus, the Steelers OL was a disaster in Bell's rookie year, what with Pouncey out for the season and other problems)So Zeke gets credit for being a great fit behind our OL, but Bell gets downgraded for being a great fit in his offense. Got it.
I have no idea where the Christine Michael stuff comes from. He got all of 15 carries for us, busted with 3 teams and looks anything but solid in Seattle this year (he's doing his typical fade after getting everyone's hopes up, totaling 52-174-3.3 his last three games).
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I think you have to factor in that Bell consistently gets injured or suspended. Reliability and durability is there up as a top trait.
 
Idgit said:
Peterson in his day was the best back in the game, but his pass protection and receiving skills are not elite. His protection problems have had him sitting on 3rd downs a good chuck of his career.
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I am pretty sure he had some 70 catch seasons.
 
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