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Was Walter Payton the biggest workhorse in NFL history? In 1977, he gained 43.5% of Chicago’s total offensive yards. The next year, it was 39.5%, and the year after that, it was 39.1%. Payton also was responsible for 37.8% of the Bears output in ’76, 36.2% of the team’s yards in ’84, and 35.8% of Chicago’s offense in 1980.

But wait, there’s more! In ’82 and ’85, Payton was responsible for 33.1% and 33.5% of his team’s offense, and in ’81 and ’83, it was 32.7% and 32.8%. For ten seasons, Payton was responsible for at least thirty-three percent of his team’s offense! And in 1986, he gained 30.6% of all Chicago yards.

Yesterday, we looked at the single-season leaders in percentage of team yards. Today, the career list, using a 100-95-90 weighting method. What’s that? To avoid giving too much credit to compilers, I did not assign full credit to each season, and instead used the following methodology:

1) Calculate the total yards from scrimmage by each player in each season since 1932.

2) Calculate the total team yards (excluding sacks) by that player’s team. Players who played for multiple teams in a season were therefore prejudiced by this methodology.

3) Calculated the percentage of team yards gained by each player in each season since 1932. This was the basis of yesterday’s post.

4) Order each player’s career from best season (per step 3) to worst.

5) Give each player 100% credit during his best season, 95% credit during his second best season, 90% during his third best, and so on. So for Payton, we give him 100% of 43.5%, 95% of 39.5%, 90% of 39.1%, 85% of 37.8%, and so on.

6) Sum the values in step 5 for each player for each season to get a career grade.

That career grade doesn’t mean much in the abstract — Payton’s grade is 318% — but when we order the list, it does provide some limited insight as to which players have been the biggest workhorses in NFL history. This is far from a perfect formula, but I do think it’s interesting. Note that I also performed the same analysis using a 100-90-80 method — to give even less value to compilers — and not a single player moved up or down in the top 15. The table below shows the top 150 players by this metric:

RkPlayerFirst YrLast YrValue
1Walter Payton197519873.18
2Emmitt Smith199020042.89
3Barry Sanders198919982.7
4Jim Brown195719652.68
5LaDainian Tomlinson200120112.64
6Marshall Faulk199420052.58
7Curtis Martin199520052.54
8Eric Dickerson198319932.49
9O.J. Simpson196919792.45
10Marcus Allen198219972.42
11Tiki Barber199720062.37
12Jerry Rice198520042.36
13Thurman Thomas198820002.27
14Warrick Dunn199720082.27
15Steven Jackson200420142.24
16Frank Gore200520142.23
17Tony Dorsett197719882.2
18Ricky Watters199220012.2
19Jerome Bettis199320052.19
20Franco Harris197219842.16
21Edgerrin James199920092.14
22Jamal Lewis200020092.09
23John Riggins197119852.08
24Fred Taylor199820102.06
25Ottis Anderson197919922.05
26Don Hutson193519452.01
27Corey Dillon199720062.01
28Thomas Jones200020111.99
29Tim Brown198820041.97
30Eddie George199620041.95
31Terrell Owens199620101.95
32Don Maynard195819731.94
33Ricky Williams199920111.93
34Herschel Walker198619971.92
35Steve Smith200120141.91
36James Lofton197819931.91
37Marvin Harrison199620081.9
38Isaac Bruce199420091.9
39Bobby Mitchell195819681.9
40Lenny Moore195619671.89
41Jim Taylor195819671.89
42Joe Perry194819631.88
43Henry Ellard198319981.88
44Randy Moss199820121.87
45Charley Taylor196419771.87
46Andre Johnson200320141.86
47Frank Gifford195219641.85
48Steve Largent197619891.85
49Clinton Portis200220101.85
50Matt Forte200820141.84
51Adrian Peterson200720141.83
52Ollie Matson195219661.81
53Maurice Jones-Drew200620141.8
54Earnest Byner198419971.8
55Earl Campbell197819851.79
56Reggie Wayne200120141.79
57Ahman Green199820091.79
58Leroy Kelly196419731.78
59Lydell Mitchell197219801.76
60Jimmy Smith199520051.76
61Anquan Boldin200320141.76
62Roger Craig198319931.75
63Larry Fitzgerald200420141.75
64Chris Johnson200820141.75
65Michael Irvin198819991.75
66Cris Carter198720021.75
67Torry Holt199920091.75
68Tony Gonzalez199720131.73
69Andre Reed198520001.73
70Joey Galloway199520101.7
71Larry Brown196919761.69
72Irving Fryar198420001.68
73Lance Alworth196219721.68
74Priest Holmes199820071.67
75Marshawn Lynch200720141.67
76Shaun Alexander200020081.67
77James Wilder198119901.66
78Art Monk198019951.66
79Chad Johnson200120111.66
80Freeman McNeil198119921.65
81Hines Ward199820111.65
82Derrick Mason199720111.65
83Muhsin Muhammad199620091.65
84Billy Howton195219631.64
85Floyd Little196719751.64
86Bill Brown196119741.64
87Chris Warren199020001.64
88Wilbert Montgomery197719851.63
89Harold Jackson196919831.63
90Chuck Foreman197319801.63
91John Williams198619951.62
92Willis McGahee200420131.6
93Cliff Battles193219371.6
94Charlie Garner199420041.6
95Keyshawn Johnson199620061.59
96John David Crow195819681.59
97Hugh McElhenny195219641.58
98Terry Allen199120011.58
99Clem Daniels196119681.58
100Gerald Riggs198219911.57
101Larry Csonka196819791.57
102Greg Pruitt197319841.57
103Rod Smith199520061.57
104James Brooks198119921.55
105Tommy McDonald195719681.54
106Calvin Johnson200720141.54
107Brian Westbrook200220101.53
108Stanley Morgan197719901.53
109John Brockington197119771.53
110Stephen Davis199620061.53
111Charlie Joiner196919861.52
112Keenan McCardell199220071.52
113Raymond Berry195519671.51
114Steve Van Buren194419511.51
115Eric Moulds199620071.51
116John Henry Johnson195419661.51
117Donny Anderson196619741.51
118Andre Rison198920001.5
119Jamaal Charles200820141.5
120Harold Carmichael197119841.5
121Gary Clark198519951.5
122Santana Moss200120141.49
123Abner Haynes196019671.49
124Rick Casares195519661.49
125Lawrence McCutcheon197319811.49
126Duce Staley199720051.49
127Neal Anderson198619931.48
128MacArthur Lane196819781.48
129Michael Pittman199820081.48
130Roddy White200520141.48
131William Andrews197919861.48
132Rodney Hampton199019971.48
133Ray Rice200820131.48
134Rob Moore199019991.47
135Garrison Hearst199320041.47
136Carroll Dale196019731.46
137Roy Jefferson196519761.46
138Brandon Marshall200620141.46
139Alex Webster195519641.46
140Laveranues Coles200020091.46
141Paul Warfield196419771.44
142Mike Pruitt197619861.44
143Art Powell196019681.44
144Calvin Hill196919811.43
145Chuck Muncie197619841.43
146Herman Moore199120011.43
147Lionel Taylor196019681.42
148Ken Willard196519741.42
149Jackie Smith196319771.41
150Dick Bass196019691.4

I don’t know what qualifies as a “surprise” but the top 10 is pretty much what I expected to see. Nine of the top 10 players are Hall of Famers, and the 10th (Tomlinson) will be one very soon.

Number 11 is pretty interesting, though. Tiki Barber was not thought of as a workhorse early in his career, but he sure became one later on. Barber gained more yards from scrimmage during his 6th-through-10th years than any player in NFL history; even more incredibly, among the top 15 players in yards from scrimmage in years 6 through 10, Barber gained less yards during his first five years than all but Charlie Garner (8th in years 6-through-10) and Thomas Jones (11th).

Another player who certainly doesn’t fit the traditional “workhorse” mold is Warrick Dunn. And no, this analysis doesn’t make me think he was a workhorse. But Dunn was a big part of his team’s offenses for over a decade, which is pretty rare. Dunn, Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith are the only players to have at least 950 yards from scrimmage in 12 seasons.

Among all HOF running backs to enter the NFL since the merger, Earl Campbell fares the worst in this analysis. That’s somewhat ironic given that he’s one of the more obvious examples of a workhorse in NFL history. But this methodology hurts Campbell, who was not much of a receiver and who had a shorter career. We’ll be performing this analysis but only looking at rushing yards at a future date, and rest assured, Campbell will look a bit better there.

Other HOF backs who struggle here include Floyd Little (#85), Larry Csonka (#101), and Gale Sayers (not on the list). Some of that has to do with era, though, as all three split time. For non-Jim Brown backs, that was the way the pre-merger era worked.

Among non-HOFers, after Barber and Dunn, many of the borderline HOF running backs appear: Steven Jackson, Frank Gore, Ricky Watters, Edgerrin James, Jamal Lewis, Fred Taylor, and Corey Dillon. Watters is a fascinating case: from ’92 to ’00, he and Emmitt Smith were the heads of the class in terms of yards from scrimmage. And Watters succeed with three different teams. He’s also part of a select group of players who averaged at least 100 yards from scrimmage per game over their entire career. But his 103.4 average isn’t the best of the HOF snubs.

Clinton Portis averaged 105.7 YFS over his 113 games. Just behind him is Edgerrin James, at 105.5 over 148 games. James played with the best passing game of any running back ever, which may be what’s keeping him out of the Hall. But he does fairly well in the workhorse test here today. Even putting aside the “What Might Have Been” questions about his ACL, even if he just played a full year in 2000, he might now be a Hall of Famer. James was on pace to have another monster season, and he would have finished with five seasons of 1,800+ yards.

What stands out to you on today’s list?

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