How Dominant Was Emmitt Smith?

[Hostile]

Emmitt had more yards with the Cowboys (17,162) than these teams had with their top 2 or even 3 rushers. Okay, how about 4? Actually, it is 7 for 1 team.

Cardinals...Anderson (7999), Mitchell (4649), and Otis (3863) = 16,511
Falcons...Riggs (6631) and Turner (6081) = 12,712
Ravens...Lewis (7801), Rice (6180), and McGahee (2102) = 16,783
Panthers...Williams (6846), Stewart (4424), Foster (3336), and Biakabutuka (2530) = 17,136
Bengals...Dillon (8061) and Brooks (6447) = 14,508
Broncos...Davis (7607 and Little (6323) =13,930
Packers...Green (8322) and Taylor (8207) = 16,529
Texans...Foster (5964), Williams (3195), Tate (1992), Slaton (1832), Dayne (1385), Carr, QB (1235), and Wells (1167) = 16,770
Colts...James (9226) and Mitchell (5487) = 14,713
Chiefs...Charles (6630) and Holmes (6070) = 12,700
Dolphins...Csonka (6737) and Williams (6436) = 13,173
Vikings...Peterson (10,190) and Smith (6818) = 17,008
Patriots...Cunningham (5453), Nance (5323), and Collins (4647) = 15,423
Saints...McAllister (6096), Rogers (4267) and Hilliard (4164) = 14,527
Raiders...Allen (8545) and Van Eeghan (5907) = 14,452
Eagles...Montgomery (6538) and McCoy (6491) = 13,029 * McCoy needs 48 yards to break the Eagles record.
Seahawks...Alexander (9429) and Warren (6706) = 16,135
Buccaneers...Wilder (5957), Alstott (5088), and Dunn (4986) = 16,031
Commanders...Riggins (7472) and Portis (6824) = 14,296


That is 19 NFL teams. Of course he has more yards than any team's rushing leader, but the teams he did not have more yards than their top 2 all had some amazing backs to be the reason why. They are the Bills (Thomas and Simpson), Bears (Payton and Forte), Lions (Sanders and Simms), Browns (Brown and Kelly), Jaguars (Taylor and Jones-Drew), Giants (Barber and Hampton), Jets (Martin and McNeil), Steelers (Bettis and Harris), Chargers (Tomlinson and Lowe), 49ers (Gore and Perry), Rams (Jackson and Dickerson), and Titans (George and Campbell).

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Nice list!

Combine Emmitt and Tony D and you've got an amazing total.

And when you think of the lineage at the HB spot...

Don Perkins
Duane Thomas
Calvin Hill
Robert Newhouse
Tony Dorsett
Herschel
Emmitt

Over 3 decades worth of very good to terrific backs.

 

[stilltheguru]

Emmitt is underrated with most football fans.

 

[RS12]

Not taking anything away from him because he was a warrior and all time great, but his OL was at least on par with the current one, and he benefited from that much of his career. Great OL helps make great RB.

 

[Super_Kazuya]

He's the most durable back who ever lived. Unfortunately as a side effect of the durability (and crummy teams/lines to run behind), his yards per carry was dragged down a bit. But he kept going, long after just about every other back could have still been productive.

 

[Alexander]

Not taking anything away from him because he was a warrior and all time great, but his OL was at least on par with the current one, and he benefited from that much of his career. Great OL helps make great RB.

He had an embarrassingly good OL but he did the little things that helped his longevity. He would never take a solid shot. One the rarest talents I have ever seen at doing that. It seemed nobody could ever hit him hard.

I just hate the fact that he hurt his legacy with his own behavior. A player that great should be revered ala Payton. But unfortunately, his character has been revealed and it is not quite as what we imagined at the time.

 

[JPostSam]

Not taking anything away from him because he was a warrior and all time great, but his OL was at least on par with the current one, and he benefited from that much of his career. Great OL helps make great RB.

this is such a red herring. the line was good for half his career. besides, you don't think *any* of those other backs played with good offensive lines?!

 

[big dog cowboy]

I thought this thread was going to be about Emmitt and his domance on the dance floor.

Oops my bad.

 

[Alexander]

this is such a red herring. the line was good for half his career. besides, you don't think *any* of those other backs played with good offensive lines?!

Not just good. Dominant. There is a bit of a difference. We will never see another Great Wall of Dallas. But I will say that what we have now is pretty impressive.

 

[JPostSam]

still. riggins had a heck of a line. barry sanders ran behind pro bowlers. thurman thomas ran in an offense that spread people out. the broncos had very good lines. people act like the early to mid-90s cowboys invented the offensive line.

 

[Risen Star]

Not taking anything away from him because he was a warrior and all time great, but his OL was at least on par with the current one, and he benefited from that much of his career. Great OL helps make great RB.

Yeah, you would think that. But take a look at Emmitt's entire football career. He was ridiculously productive on every level.

It was just the perfect storm of great OL, great RB, great team, great coach.

 

[Risen Star]

Not just good. Dominant. There is a bit of a difference. We will never see another Great Wall of Dallas. But I will say that what we have now is pretty impressive.

I don't know why we can't ever see another. Why can't the Cowboys ever have the most dominant line in football for an extended period of time again?

 

[Alexander]

I don't know why we can't ever see another. Why can't the Cowboys ever have the most dominant line in football for an extended period of time again?

The salary cap will hurt that chance for most teams. Fortunately we have Smith locked in and the youth of Frederick and Martin for a few more years. We have as good of a shot as anyone at getting close.

 

[jobberone]

Go back and watch him run the first 5-7 years. BTW, catch a glimpse of the first two years' OL and come back and tell me how dominant it was.

 

[joseephuss]

It is amazing how many more times he touched the ball than any other player in the game. He touched the ball 5319 times. The next closest is 4552 touches by Walter Payton. That is a significant difference. A very durable guy. Actually, both Smith and Payton were.

Regular season
1. Emmitt Smith+ 4,924
2. Walter Payton+ 4,347
3. Curtis Martin+ 4,002
4. LaDainian Tomlinson 3,798
5. Jerome Bettis 3,679
6. Marcus Allen+ 3,609
7. Marshall Faulk+ 3,605
8. Edgerrin James 3,461
9. Barry Sanders+ 3,419
10. Thurman Thomas+ 3,349
11. Tony Dorsett+ 3,334
12. Eric Dickerson+ 3,277
13. Franco Harris+ 3,266


Playoffs
1. Franco Harris+ 451
2. Thurman Thomas+ 416
3. Emmitt Smith+ 395
4. Tony Dorsett+ 348
5. Marcus Allen+ 320
6. Roger Craig 275
7. Chuck Foreman 274
8. John Riggins+ 257
9. Edgerrin James 253
10. Ray Rice (27) 240
11. Eddie George 229
Larry Csonka+ 229 1968-1979
13. Earnest Byner 225
14. Terrell Davis 223
15. Curtis Martin+ 219

 

[CyberB0b]

I think his greatest asset was his durability and legendary ability to play through pain.

 

[percyhoward]

He had an embarrassingly good OL but he did the little things that helped his longevity. He would never take a solid shot. One the rarest talents I have ever seen at doing that. It seemed nobody could ever hit him hard.

Nobody ever got more out of every run than Emmitt. He could gain 5 yards after the tackler hit him, falling down after contact. It was how he reacted to losing his balance. Where every other back who ever lived would dive forward, Emmitt used to rotate his body while keeping his legs under him, and it sustained his fall. Kinda the way you move a heavy piece of furniture by yourself, pivoting it on its corners. Never saw anybody else do that before or since.

 

[Alexander]

Nobody ever got more out of every run than Emmitt. He could gain 5 yards after the tackler hit him, falling down after contact. It was how he reacted to losing his balance. Where every other back who ever lived would dive forward, Emmitt used to rotate his body while keeping his legs under him, and it sustained his fall. Never saw anybody else do that before or since.

He got more out of each run but gave up the least in the process. RBs like Payton and Campbell would take the shots and keep churning. Smith was so adept at avoiding contact that I think it helped him in the long run. His balance was incredible but he also had an amazing ability to turn his body at the right time to avoid the punishment.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

He had an embarrassingly good OL but he did the little things that helped his longevity. He would never take a solid shot. One the rarest talents I have ever seen at doing that. It seemed nobody could ever hit him hard.

I just hate the fact that he hurt his legacy with his own behavior. A player that great should be revered ala Payton. But unfortunately, his character has been revealed and it is not quite as what we imagined at the time.

Yeah, not a huge Emmitt fan.

 

[Alexander]

It was just the perfect storm of great OL, great RB, great team, great coach.

Great GM? No?