Checkdowns: Some Bo Jackson stats

Chase Stuart — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 06:11:55 +0000

The Bills get to know Bo.

Tonight ESPN aired You Don’t Know Bo, another excellent documentary in its 30 for 30 series. It’s often said that Bo Jackson’s greatness can’t be captured by statistics. While that’s undoubtedly true, there are still some ways to use Jackson’s numbers to give a glimpse into the type of player he was. A few years ago, Jason Lisk talked about Bo in this podcast and noted that Bo had the longest rush in the NFL in three of the four seasons he played. Jackson and O.J. Simpson remain the only two players to record the league’s longest rush in three different NFL seasons.

There are other ways to capture what Bo did in his brief career. Because he was busy being a baseball player, Bo missed the first third of the season each year. If we look at the data starting in week 7, from 1988 to 1990, Bo compares pretty favorably to the elite running backs of his day. Over that span he ranked third in rushing yards while averaging over five yards per carry:

Rank	Player	From	To	Tm	G	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD
1	Eric Dickerson*	1988	1990	CLT	30	606	2536	4.18	19
2	Thurman Thomas*	1988	1990	BUF	30	519	2221	4.28	16
3	Bo Jackson	1988	1990	RAI	30	423	2143	5.07	11
4	James Brooks	1988	1990	CIN	30	383	2082	5.44	16
5	John Stephens	1988	1990	NWE	31	523	1989	3.80	10
6	Herschel Walker	1988	1990	TOT	30	494	1985	4.02	13
7	Barry Sanders*	1989	1990	DET	20	370	1968	5.32	19
8	Neal Anderson	1988	1990	CHI	29	455	1951	4.29	14
9	Roger Craig	1988	1990	SFO	27	445	1874	4.21	12
10	Earnest Byner	1988	1990	TOT	31	438	1697	3.87	14

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

Bo rushed for a 90-yard touchdown in a game… twice in his career. Ahman Green is the only other player in NFL history to accomplish that feat. But the former Raider was more than just two runs or some highlight films. In 1987, 1989, and 1990, Jackson averaged at least 5.5 yards per carry and rushed for at least 70 yards per game; the great Jim Brown and Dan Towler, another one of the game’s great power/speed backs, are the only two other players to ever have three such seasons (and no one has had four).

He only played in the NFL for four years, from the ages of 25 to 28. To level the playing field, let’s compare him to every other running back in league history, but only at those ages. Among players with at least 500 carries, Jackson averaged the most yards per carry:

Rank	Player	From	To	Tm	G	Att	Yds	Y/A	TD	Y/G
1	Bo Jackson	1987	1990	RAI	38	515	2782	5.40	16	73.2
2	DeAngelo Williams	2008	2011	CAR	51	731	3829	5.24	33	75.1
3	Jim Brown*	1961	1964	CLE	56	1106	5713	5.17	40	102.0
4	Joe Perry*	1952	1955	SFO	47	679	3493	5.14	28	74.3
5	Adrian Peterson	2010	2012	MIN	39	725	3714	5.12	32	95.2
6	O.J. Simpson*	1972	1975	BUF	56	1223	6196	5.07	37	110.6
7	Barry Sanders*	1993	1996	DET	59	1195	6051	5.06	32	102.6
8	Robert Smith	1997	2000	MIN	57	997	4989	5.00	21	87.5
9	Marshall Faulk*	1998	2001	TOT	60	1090	5441	4.99	43	90.7
10	Mercury Morris	1972	1975	MIA	46	614	3043	4.96	27	66.2

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

Bo Jackson – FootballPerspective.com

Checkdowns: Some Bo Jackson stats