Marshall Faulk's Top 5 RB's...No Portis?!

Not even close? come on. Riggins could never out run anyone himself and where would you rank him?

Riggo was a power back, a bruiser that was used to pound the ball. He was never considered a breakaway threat. Thats why they called him The Diesel. CP is a speed back that can take a pounding. Big difference.

Not even close? come on. Riggins could never out run anyone himself and where would you rank him?

Kind of a bad argument. Riggo could really move especially for a big guy. He was a sprint champ in college too.

But I agree with the basic point. Even if CP is no longer a home run threat he still does many other things really well, and since when is being able to outrun people the main criteria for being a great back?

It's hard not to like Portis even with all the stupid stuff he pulls, but he isn't even close to the top 5 runningbacks. Whens the last time you have seen him outrun anyone. He's not bad but dont get hurt hes not in top 5 list, maybe it will motivate him.

Kinda hard to say he's not even close considering he was 4th overall in the league in rushing last year.

Also from NFL.com. Obviously any of these lists would be subjective.

As more teams split carries, these five backs stand above the rest (http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8112aff6&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true)

Was CP ever a break away runner? The only time I remember hi breking away was his first run as a skin.

Was CP ever a break away runner? The only time I remember hi breking away was his first run as a skin.

Lots of people like to talk about his "breakaway" ability from his time in Denver. If we measure that by 40+ runs (which is the easiest way since the NFL keeps that stat) those runs have tracked as follows:

2002 - 3
2003 - 6
2004 - 1
2005 - 2
2006 - 0
2007 - 0
2008 - 0

He also averaged 5.5 yds/carry both years in Denver and has never done better than 4.3 in Washington. That probably says more about the talent and system in D.C. than it does about Portis.

His 20+ runs also declined in Washington, though they spiked again last season.

2002 - 11
2003 - 13
2004 - 5
2005 - 6
2006 - 3
2007 - 3
2008 - 13

Maybe the fact that he was able to break the 20 yard runs last year, but not able to turn any of those into 40+ carries does suggest that he is no longer the same back that he was early in his career.

Not even close? come on. Riggins could never out run anyone himself and where would you rank him?

I can't speak about guys i didnt watch play, i'm just going by the great running backs i watched growing up and they outran the defenders on a consistant basis. I was a little strong in saying not even close, but when i watch portis i'm constantly thinking to myself "if that was peterson or williams he wouldnt have gone down.

Kinda hard to say he's not even close considering he was 4th overall in the league in rushing last year.

We were statistically the 4th best defense, do you think we had the 4th best defense last year? Yeah saying not even close was harsh, but if you could pick from any team right now who you want to start at running back, would portis be in yalls top 5?

Marshall Faulk is just rating his favorite runningbacks in the league. It is not to be taken serious. It is just another mans baseless opinion. He doesn't know what he is talking about. This doesn't mean anything to anybody but Marshall. He is just doing his job.

I think there could be 20 guys you could create some argument for, given some would be a stretch but it's tough to say what makes a good RB and it's definitely tough to judge guys because it's so much based on the o-line. I think AP is able to do so much of what he does in open space because his o-line is very good at run blocking. No doubt he's real good, but put him behind the Lions o-line and he's not putting up the best stats in the NFL.

Adrian Peterson
Michael Turner
DeAngelo Williams
Clinton Portis
Steven Jackson
Brandon Jacobs
Thomas Jones
Chris Johnson
Steve Slaton
Matt Forte
Frank Gore
Willie Parker
Larry Johnson
Ladanian Tomlinson
Brian Westbrook
Marion Barber
Ronnie Brown
Maurice Jones-Drew
Jonathan Stewart
Derrick Ward