Most Dominant Fantasy Players Since 1970: Running Backs

by Chase Stuart on June 15, 2019

The fantasy GOAT

As I have done before, over the next few days, I want to look at the top fantasy players throughout history.

I will be using the following scoring system throughout this series: 1 point per 20 yards passing, 1 point per 10 yards rushing/receiving, 5 points per passing TD, -2 points for each interception, 6 points per rushing/receiving TD, 0.5 points per reception. Let’s use LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 as an example. That year, he rushed for 1,815 yards and 28, caught 56 passes for 508 yards and 3 touchdowns, and even threw for 20 yards and 2 touchdowns.

That means Tomlinson scored 457.3 fantasy points that year. How valuable is that? In fantasy football, using principles of VBD, a player’s value is determined based on how much better he was than the worst starter. When calculating VBD scores, in this series, I used the 12th-ranked quarterback, 24th-ranked running back, 30th-ranked wide receiver, and 12th-ranked tight end. This assumes that the average league starts 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2.5 WRs, and 1 TE.

In 2006, the 24th-ranked running back scored 174.9 fantasy points. Therefore, the traditional methodology would say that Tomlinson produced 282.4 points of VBD in 2006, which is the most of any season since 1970. That is the standard, straightforward way to analyze fantasy production. However, that baseline is probably a bit low because some of the top 24 RBs missed games. Assuming a league where everyone plays two starting running backs, that makes RB30 the backup. So I then sorted all players by fantasy points per game, and added the FP/G from the 30th-best RB in that metric to each player’s fantasy total. Doing this raises the RB24 baseline to 190.2 fantasy points. That means Tomlinson would have 267.1 points of VBD, rather than 282.4.

There are two other adjustments I am making in this series, although neither impact Tomlinson’s 2006 season.

Let’s look at the second-most famous season that O.J. Simpson had in Buffalo. In 1975, Simpson rushed for 1,817 yards and 16 touchdowns, but what made it a historic season was that he also caught 28 passes for 426 yards and 7 touchdowns. That gave him 376.3 fantasy points, while the RB24 that year had just 130.9 fantasy points. However, using adjusted fantasy points, RB24 that year had 134.5 fantasy points. Therefore, Simpson had 241.8 points of VBD that season, but remember: in 1975, the league’s season lasted just 14 games. Therefore, for all non-16 game seasons, I multiplied each player’s VBD by 16 and divided that result by the number of team games that year. Therefore, Simpson gets an era-adjusted VBD score of 276.3, just a hair ahead of Tomlinson’s 2006 campaign. So by this methodology, it’s actually Simpson’s 1975 season that is the best in running back history.

Finally, let’s look at what Marshall Faulk did in 2001. The Rams legend had 1,382 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, while catching 83 passes for 765 yards and 9 TDs. That means Faulk scored 382.2 fantasy points. However, Faulk missed two games that season due to injury. It’s better to score 382.2 fantasy points in 14 games than in 16 games, because from a fantasy perspective, you can play someone else in those two games and get more points. If you owned Marshall Faulk in fantasy that year, you would have played your backup RB those two weeks, and that’s worth something. It would have really been worth something if you played Marshall Faulk’s backup Trung Canidate, who gained 358 yards and scored 3 touchdowns those two weeks. But for these purposes, I took the average FP/G for the average backup — after sorting by FP/G, the results for QB18, RB30, WR36, and TE18 — and added that to each player’s VBD score. For Faulk, this raises his fantasy points total from 382.2 to 400.2, because the average backup running back that year produced 9 points per game. Since RB24 (on an adjusted basis) that year had 170.3 fantasy points, this means Faulk gets 229.9 points of VBD

The table below shows the top 200 running back seasons by this measure.

Rk	Running Back	Year	Team	G	Rsh	RshYd	RshTD	Rec	RecYd	RecTD	FP	VBD
1	O.J. Simpson	1975	BUF	14	329	1817	16	28	426	7	376.3	276.3
2	LaDainian Tomlinson	2006	SDG	16	348	1815	28	56	508	3	457.3	267.1
3	Marshall Faulk	2000	STL	14	253	1359	18	81	830	8	415.4	251.5
4	Chuck Foreman	1975	MIN	14	280	1070	13	73	691	9	344.6	240.1
5	Priest Holmes	2003	KAN	16	320	1420	27	74	690	0	410	239.2
6	Priest Holmes	2002	KAN	14	313	1615	21	70	672	3	407.7	232
7	Marshall Faulk	2001	STL	14	260	1382	12	83	765	9	382.2	229.9
8	Emmitt Smith	1995	DAL	16	377	1773	25	62	375	0	395.8	229.3
9	LaDainian Tomlinson	2003	SDG	16	313	1645	13	100	725	4	395.1	224.3
10	Marcus Allen	1982	RAI	9	160	697	11	38	401	3	215.2	218
11	Terrell Davis	1998	DEN	16	392	2008	21	25	217	2	373	210.4
12	Emmitt Smith	1992	DAL	16	373	1713	18	59	335	1	348.3	207.2
13	Walter Payton	1977	CHI	14	339	1852	14	27	269	2	321.6	206.9
14	David Johnson	2016	ARI	16	293	1239	16	80	879	4	371.8	205.3
15	Todd Gurley	2017	LAR	15	279	1305	13	64	788	6	355.3	202.9
16	Ahman Green	2003	GNB	16	355	1883	15	50	367	5	370	199.2
17	Marshall Faulk	1999	STL	16	253	1381	7	87	1048	5	358.4	195.3
18	Arian Foster	2010	HOU	16	327	1616	16	66	604	2	363	192.6
19	James Wilder	1984	TAM	16	407	1544	13	85	685	0	349.2	190
20	Shaun Alexander	2005	SEA	16	370	1880	27	15	78	1	371.3	188.9
21	Edgerrin James	2000	IND	16	387	1709	13	63	594	5	369.8	188.3
22	Emmitt Smith	1994	DAL	15	368	1484	21	50	341	1	339.5	187.2
23	Jamaal Charles	2013	KAN	15	259	1287	12	70	693	7	347	186.7
24	Chris Johnson	2009	TEN	16	358	2006	14	50	503	2	371.9	184.7
25	Steven Jackson	2006	STL	16	346	1528	13	90	806	3	374.4	184.2
26	Edgerrin James	1999	IND	16	369	1553	13	62	586	4	346.9	183.8
27	Lydell Mitchell	1975	BAL	14	289	1193	11	60	544	4	293.7	181.9
28	Todd Gurley	2018	LAR	14	256	1251	17	59	580	4	338.6	178.3
29	Marcus Allen	1984	RAI	16	275	1168	13	64	758	5	334.5	175.3
30	Wendell Tyler	1982	RAM	9	137	564	9	38	375	4	190.9	174.9
31	Marcus Allen	1985	RAI	16	380	1759	11	67	555	3	349.7	172.8
32	Barry Sanders	1997	DET	16	335	2053	11	33	305	3	336.3	172.6
33	Barry Sanders	1991	DET	15	342	1548	16	41	307	1	308	172.1
34	Thurman Thomas	1992	BUF	16	312	1487	9	58	626	3	312.3	171.2
35	Thurman Thomas	1991	BUF	15	288	1407	7	62	631	5	306.8	170.9
36	DeMarco Murray	2014	DAL	16	392	1845	13	57	416	0	332.6	170.8
37	Larry Johnson	2005	KAN	16	336	1750	20	33	343	1	351.8	169.4
38	Le'Veon Bell	2014	PIT	16	290	1361	8	83	854	3	329	167.2
39	Dalton Hilliard	1989	NOR	16	344	1262	13	52	514	5	318.4	167
40	Eric Dickerson	1983	RAM	16	390	1808	18	51	404	2	366.7	166.8
41	LaDainian Tomlinson	2007	SDG	16	315	1474	15	60	475	3	338.8	166.4
42	Roger Craig	1985	SFO	16	214	1050	9	92	1016	6	342.6	165.7
43	Otis Armstrong	1974	DEN	14	263	1407	9	38	405	3	272.2	165.7
44	Brian Westbrook	2007	PHI	15	278	1333	7	90	771	5	327.4	165.2
45	Larry Johnson	2006	KAN	16	416	1789	17	41	410	2	354.4	164.2
46	LaDainian Tomlinson	2005	SDG	16	339	1462	18	51	370	2	346.1	163.6
47	Jamal Anderson	1998	ATL	16	410	1846	14	27	319	2	326	163.4
48	Marshall Faulk	1998	IND	16	324	1319	6	86	908	4	325.7	163.1
49	Ray Rice	2011	BAL	16	291	1364	12	76	704	3	339.9	162.4
50	Terrell Davis	1997	DEN	15	369	1750	15	42	287	0	314.7	160.3
51	O.J. Simpson	1973	BUF	14	332	2003	12	6	70	0	282.2	158.8
52	Adrian Peterson	2012	MIN	16	348	2097	12	40	217	1	329.4	158.7
53	Chuck Foreman	1976	MIN	14	278	1155	13	55	567	1	283.7	158.5
54	Eric Dickerson	1984	RAM	16	379	2105	14	21	139	0	316.9	157.7
55	Saquon Barkley	2018	NYG	16	261	1307	11	91	721	4	338.3	156.6
56	Ezekiel Elliott	2016	DAL	15	322	1631	15	32	363	1	311.4	154.4
57	Eric Dickerson	1988	IND	16	388	1659	14	36	377	1	311.6	154
58	Christian McCaffrey	2018	CAR	16	219	1098	7	107	867	6	335.5	153.8
59	Jamal Lewis	2003	BAL	16	387	2066	14	26	205	0	324.1	153.3
60	Chuck Foreman	1974	MIN	13	199	777	9	53	586	6	252.8	153.2
61	Ricky Williams	2002	MIA	16	383	1853	16	47	363	1	347.1	151.5
62	Le'Veon Bell	2016	PIT	12	261	1268	7	75	616	2	279.9	151.3
63	LaDainian Tomlinson	2002	SDG	16	372	1683	14	79	489	1	346.7	151.1
64	Le'Veon Bell	2017	PIT	15	321	1291	9	85	655	2	303.1	150.7
65	Clinton Portis	2003	DEN	13	290	1591	14	38	314	0	293.5	150
66	Tiki Barber	2005	NYG	16	357	1860	9	54	530	2	332	149.6
67	William Andrews	1981	ATL	16	289	1301	10	81	735	2	316.1	148.1
68	Emmitt Smith	1993	DAL	14	283	1486	9	57	414	1	278.5	147.4
69	Barry Foster	1992	PIT	16	390	1690	11	36	344	0	287.4	146.3
70	Walter Payton	1984	CHI	16	381	1684	11	45	368	0	304.1	144.8
71	Billy Sims	1980	DET	16	313	1303	13	51	621	3	313.9	144.6
72	Billy Sims	1981	DET	14	296	1437	13	28	451	2	292.8	144.2
73	Roger Craig	1988	SFO	16	310	1502	9	76	534	1	301.6	144
74	Larry Brown	1972	WAS	12	285	1216	8	32	473	4	256.9	143.3
75	Terry Allen	1996	WAS	16	347	1353	21	32	194	0	296.7	142
76	Thurman Thomas	1989	BUF	16	298	1244	6	60	669	6	293.3	142
77	Terry Allen	1992	MIN	16	266	1201	13	49	478	2	282.4	141.3
78	Emmitt Smith	1991	DAL	16	365	1563	12	49	258	1	284.6	140.2
79	William Andrews	1982	ATL	9	139	573	5	42	503	2	170.6	138.8
80	LeSean McCoy	2011	PHI	15	273	1309	17	48	315	3	306.4	138.5
81	Terrell Davis	1996	DEN	16	345	1538	13	36	310	2	292.8	138.1
82	Ron Johnson	1970	NYG	14	263	1027	8	48	487	4	247.4	137.7
83	Priest Holmes	2001	KAN	16	327	1555	8	62	614	2	307.9	137.6
84	Walter Payton	1979	CHI	16	369	1610	14	31	313	2	311.5	137.3
85	LeSean McCoy	2013	PHI	16	314	1607	9	52	539	2	306.6	136.9
86	Alvin Kamara	2018	NOR	15	194	883	14	81	709	4	307.7	136.7
87	Barry Sanders	1990	DET	16	255	1304	13	36	480	3	292.4	136.4
88	Eddie George	2000	TEN	16	403	1509	14	50	453	2	317.2	135.7
89	Ron Johnson	1972	NYG	14	298	1182	9	45	451	5	269.8	135.7
90	Don Woods	1974	SDG	12	227	1162	7	26	349	3	228.5	135.1
91	Fred Taylor	1998	JAX	15	264	1223	14	44	421	3	288.4	134.9
92	Neal Anderson	1989	CHI	16	274	1275	11	50	434	4	285.9	134.6
93	Ricky Watters	1996	PHI	16	353	1411	13	51	444	0	289	134.3
94	Arian Foster	2011	HOU	13	278	1224	10	53	617	2	282.6	134
95	Matt Forte	2014	CHI	16	266	1038	6	102	808	4	295.6	133.8
96	Chuck Muncie	1981	SDG	15	251	1144	19	43	362	0	291.3	133
97	Matt Forte	2013	CHI	16	289	1339	9	74	594	3	302.3	132.6
98	Lydell Mitchell	1977	BAL	14	301	1159	3	71	620	4	255.4	131.2
99	Wilbert Montgomery	1979	PHI	16	338	1512	9	41	494	5	305.1	130.9
100	Thurman Thomas	1990	BUF	16	271	1297	11	49	532	2	285.4	129.4
101	Earl Campbell	1980	HOU	15	373	1934	13	11	47	0	289.5	129.4
102	Tiki Barber	2004	NYG	16	322	1518	13	52	578	2	325.6	129
103	LaDainian Tomlinson	2004	SDG	15	339	1335	17	53	441	1	314	128.8
104	Barry Sanders	1989	DET	15	280	1470	14	24	282	0	271.2	128.3
105	Deuce McAllister	2003	NOR	16	351	1641	8	69	516	0	298.2	127.4
106	Earl Campbell	1979	HOU	16	368	1697	19	16	94	0	301.1	126.9
107	Walter Payton	1985	CHI	16	324	1551	9	49	483	2	303.7	126.8
108	Devonta Freeman	2015	ATL	15	265	1056	11	73	578	3	283.9	126.3
109	Marshawn Lynch	2014	SEA	16	280	1306	13	37	367	4	287.8	126
110	Barry Sanders	1994	DET	16	331	1883	7	44	283	1	286.6	125.7
111	Gerald Riggs	1984	ATL	15	353	1486	13	42	277	0	275.3	125.1
112	Adrian Peterson	2009	MIN	16	315	1389	18	43	436	0	312	124.8
113	Ahman Green	2001	GNB	16	304	1387	9	62	594	2	295.1	124.8
114	Arian Foster	2014	HOU	13	260	1246	8	38	327	5	259.6	124.1
115	Lydell Mitchell	1976	BAL	14	289	1200	5	60	555	3	253.5	124
116	Lorenzo White	1992	HOU	16	265	1226	7	57	641	1	263.2	122.1
117	Ezekiel Elliott	2018	DAL	15	304	1434	6	77	567	3	292.6	121.6
118	Shaun Alexander	2004	SEA	16	353	1696	16	23	170	4	318.1	121.5
119	Garrison Hearst	1998	SFO	16	310	1570	7	39	535	2	284	121.4
120	Barry Sanders	1995	DET	16	314	1500	11	48	398	1	286.4	119.9
121	Stephen Davis	1999	WAS	14	290	1405	17	23	111	0	265.1	119.9
122	DeAngelo Williams	2008	CAR	16	273	1515	18	22	121	2	294.6	119.7
123	Shaun Alexander	2003	SEA	16	326	1435	14	42	295	2	290	119.2
124	Curtis Martin	1996	NWE	16	316	1152	14	46	333	3	273.5	118.8
125	Wilbert Montgomery	1981	PHI	15	286	1402	8	49	521	2	276.8	118.5
126	Doug Martin	2012	TAM	16	319	1454	11	49	472	1	289.1	118.4
127	Edgerrin James	2005	IND	15	360	1506	13	44	337	1	290.3	118
128	Marshall Faulk	1994	IND	16	314	1282	11	52	522	1	278.4	117.5
129	Wendell Tyler	1981	RAM	15	260	1074	12	45	436	5	275.5	117.2
130	Chuck Muncie	1982	SDG	9	138	569	8	25	207	1	158.3	116.8
131	Brian Westbrook	2006	PHI	15	240	1217	7	77	699	4	296.1	116.4
132	MacArthur Lane	1970	STL	14	206	977	11	32	365	2	228.2	115.8
133	Arian Foster	2012	HOU	16	351	1424	15	40	217	2	286.1	115.4
134	Dorsey Levens	1997	GNB	16	329	1435	7	53	370	5	279	115.3
135	Joe Morris	1985	NYG	16	294	1336	21	22	212	0	291.8	114.9
136	Eddie George	1999	TEN	16	320	1304	9	47	458	4	277.7	114.6
137	LeSean McCoy	2016	BUF	15	234	1267	13	50	356	1	271.3	114.3
138	Shaun Alexander	2001	SEA	16	309	1318	14	44	343	2	284.1	113.8
139	Curtis Martin	1995	NWE	16	368	1487	14	30	261	1	279.8	113.3
140	William Andrews	1983	ATL	16	331	1567	7	59	609	4	313.1	113.2
141	Herschel Walker	1988	DAL	16	361	1514	5	53	505	2	270.4	112.8
142	Chris Warren	1994	SEA	16	333	1545	9	41	323	2	273.3	112.4
143	Frank Gore	2006	SFO	16	312	1695	8	61	485	1	302.5	112.3
144	Emmitt Smith	1996	DAL	15	327	1204	12	47	249	3	258.8	112
145	Maurice Jones-Drew	2009	JAX	16	312	1391	15	53	374	1	299	111.8
146	Ottis Anderson	1984	STL	15	289	1174	6	70	611	2	261.5	111.3
147	Dorsey Levens	1999	GNB	14	279	1034	9	71	573	1	256.2	111
148	Fred Taylor	2000	JAX	13	292	1399	12	36	240	2	265.9	110.8
149	Domanick Williams	2004	HOU	15	302	1188	13	68	588	1	295.6	110.4
150	Clinton Portis	2002	DEN	16	273	1508	15	33	364	2	305.7	110.1
151	O.J. Simpson	1976	BUF	14	290	1503	8	22	259	1	241.2	109.9
152	Herschel Walker	1987	DAL	12	209	891	7	60	715	1	238.6	109.8
153	Floyd Little	1973	DEN	14	256	979	12	41	423	1	238.7	109.1
154	Kareem Hunt	2017	KAN	15	271	1292	7	53	455	3	261.2	108.8
155	Larry Brown	1973	WAS	14	273	860	8	40	482	6	238.2	108.6
156	Walter Payton	1978	CHI	16	333	1395	11	50	480	0	278.5	108.3
157	Maurice Jones-Drew	2011	JAX	16	343	1606	8	43	374	3	285.5	108
158	Walter Payton	1976	CHI	14	311	1390	13	15	149	0	239.4	107.9
159	Deuce McAllister	2002	NOR	15	325	1388	13	47	352	3	293.5	107.8
160	Melvin Gordon	2018	LAC	12	175	885	10	50	490	4	246.5	107.6
161	Darren McFadden	2010	OAK	13	223	1157	7	47	507	3	249.9	107.6
162	Neal Anderson	1990	CHI	15	260	1078	10	42	484	3	255.2	107.4
163	Ricky Watters	1995	PHI	16	337	1273	11	62	434	1	273.7	107.2
164	Mack Herron	1974	NWE	14	231	824	7	38	474	5	220.8	106.9
165	Ahman Green	2000	GNB	16	263	1175	10	73	559	3	287.9	106.4
166	Chris Warren	1995	SEA	16	310	1346	15	35	247	1	272.8	106.3
167	Charlie Garner	2002	OAK	16	182	962	7	91	941	4	301.8	106.2
168	Curtis Martin	2001	NYJ	16	333	1513	10	53	320	0	275.7	105.4
169	Shaun Alexander	2002	SEA	16	295	1175	16	59	460	2	301	105.4
170	Franco Harris	1975	PIT	14	262	1246	10	28	214	1	226	104.6
171	Peyton Hillis	2010	CLE	16	270	1177	11	61	477	2	274.6	104.2
172	Michael Turner	2008	ATL	16	376	1699	17	6	41	0	279	104.1
173	Ray Rice	2009	BAL	16	254	1339	7	78	702	1	291.1	103.9
174	DeMarco Murray	2016	TEN	16	293	1287	9	53	377	3	270.4	103.9
175	Ricky Watters	1992	SFO	14	206	1013	9	43	405	2	229.3	103.9
176	Tiki Barber	2002	NYG	16	304	1387	11	69	597	0	298.9	103.3
177	Wilbert Montgomery	1982	PHI	8	114	515	7	20	258	2	141.3	103.1
178	Edgerrin James	2003	IND	13	310	1259	11	51	292	0	246.6	103.1
179	James Conner	2018	PIT	13	215	973	12	55	497	1	252.5	102.9
180	Priest Holmes	2004	KAN	8	196	892	14	19	187	1	207.4	102.4
181	Curtis Martin	2004	NYJ	16	371	1697	12	41	245	2	298.7	102.1
182	Eric Dickerson	1986	RAM	16	404	1821	11	26	205	0	287.4	101.9
183	Terry Metcalf	1975	STL	13	165	816	9	43	378	2	214.5	101.4
184	Larry Brown	1970	WAS	13	237	1125	5	37	341	2	207.1	101.2
185	Marshall Faulk	1995	IND	16	289	1078	11	56	475	3	267.3	100.8
186	Matt Forte	2008	CHI	16	316	1238	8	63	477	4	275	100.1
187	Joe Morris	1986	NYG	15	341	1516	14	21	233	1	275.4	100
188	Alvin Kamara	2017	NOR	15	111	684	7	75	742	5	252.1	99.7
189	LeSean McCoy	2010	PHI	15	207	1080	7	78	592	2	260.2	99.2
190	Adrian Peterson	2010	MIN	15	283	1298	12	36	341	1	259.9	98.9
191	Sam Cunningham	1974	NWE	10	166	811	9	22	214	2	179.5	98.5
192	Gerald Riggs	1985	ATL	16	397	1719	10	33	267	0	275.1	98.2
193	George Rogers	1981	NOR	16	378	1674	13	16	126	0	266	98
194	Ricky Watters	1994	SFO	16	239	877	6	66	719	5	258.6	97.7
195	LaMont Jordan	2005	OAK	14	272	1025	9	70	563	2	259.8	97.6
196	Ottis Anderson	1979	STL	16	331	1605	8	41	308	2	271.8	97.6
197	Freeman McNeil	1982	NYJ	9	151	786	6	16	187	1	147.3	97.4
198	Joe Cribbs	1981	BUF	15	257	1097	3	40	603	7	255.5	97.2
199	Knowshon Moreno	2013	DEN	16	241	1038	10	60	548	3	266.6	96.9
200	Curtis Martin	2000	NYJ	16	316	1204	9	70	508	2	278.1	96.6

Over the last two years, Rams RB Todd Gurley has two of the top 20 performances since 1970. And ex-Steelers and new Jets running back Le’Veon Bell has three top-60 seasons.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Tagged as: VBD

{ 0 comments }