Frank Gore

[Consigliere]

Still, there were other backs in his time that I'd consider better backs, minus the longevity part that won't sniff the HOF.

So you're saying Gore is a compiler?

All time rushing leaders (8-15), all in the HOF but Edge (he will be soon):

8. Frank Gore: 13,004 Yards, 179 Games, 12 Seasons and 2949 Carries (4.41 YPC)
9. Tony Dorsett: 12,739 Yards, 173 Games, 12 Seasons and 2936 Carries (4.33 YPC)
10. Jim Brown: 12,312 Yards, 118 Games, 9 Seasons and 2359 Carries (5.24 YPC)
11. Marshall Faulk: 12,279 Yards, 176 Games, 12 Seasons and 2836 Carries (4.33 YPC)
12. Edgerrin James: 12,246 Yards, 148 Games, 11 Seasons and 3028 Carries (4.04 YPC)
13. Marcus Allen: 12,243 Yards, 222 Games, 16 Seasons and 3022 Carries (4.05 YPC)
14. Franco Harris: 12,120 Yards, 173 Games, 13 Seasons and 2949 Carries (4.11 YPC)
15. Thurman Thomas: 12,074 Yards, 182 Games, 13 Seasons and 2877 Carries (4.20 YPC)

I am leaving out Jim Brown from this analysis because he is an outlier among outliers.

- Frank Gore has the highest YPC on the list
- Frank Gore when he passed #11 , #12 , #13 , #14 and #15 , he did it in less carries than the person he passed

On that list, Frank is ahead of all of them and I feel the only back he's better than is Thomas.

The YPC is interesting and I have one question about that without looking at stats. To me, it seems like a running back is helped out more so than they were in the past by a rise in the passing game. Thoughts?

I think you should look closer at the stats. Frank isn't a compiler.

What you should see, if you follow football, is it is harder than ever to put up these stats. The rushing stats aren't being touched, the passing stats on the other hand are being replaced by newer guys.

As for passing stats (all time passing yards), 6 of 15 are active players. 4 of the top 10 are active too. In addition, Manning (#1) retired after last season.

As for rushing stats, Frank Gore is the only active player.

The rushing stats are difficult to touch. Also, the league, via penalties, protects QBs and makes being DB very difficult. Passing is king now and Frank isn't a compiler.

 

[TheMatador]

You can't fault a guy from the 60s for playing in the 60s. If you play that game, then you might as well downgrade everyone playing today, right now. Because in 40 years the same game can be played by those fans.

I said he was a freak for his era. I just don't know if he would be that much better than everyone else now. Big, fast backs are much more common. I don't like to say it, but the defenses he played against were mostly smaller, slower white guys. You didn't have 280-300 lb behemoths, pumped up with tons of weight and other training, God knows what else, who could almost run like deer. Just look at some of the guys chasing him back in the '50's and early '60's...and even later. No way did they look like the defensive players now.

I have a friend who was a Harding Award winner for UM in the second half of the sixties. He said weight training was not expected of players, it was something optional that some players did on their own. Heck, when I was in HS in the first half of sixties, I heard HS coaches talk about the danger of being too pumped up, one coach said he did not like to see players with overly developed trapezius muscles, i think he was talking about. You know, the ones between the shoulders and the neck. People still talked about being "muscle-bound" and that too much muscular development could harm ability to move quickly. It was all bass-ackwards in the 50's and '60's. Guys like Artie Donovan with huge guts (some still have huge guts but they can move and are strong).

Most HS's didn't have weight rooms in the early '60's. Nobody talked about weights, much less steroids. Some people believed in taking Joe Weider or Bob Hoffman protein supplements to build muscle. I first started to hear track guys at FSU talk about taking Dianobol in the late '60's. I don't know if they were doing weights yet.

It's a lot different and Jim Brown, awesome for his time, was like a man among boys with his tools. Not so rare these days. Still, give him credit.

By the way, Jim Brown came out the same year as one of our great All-Americans, Don Bosseler. I talked to a guy who played for Pitt in the late 50's and he said he played against both and that Bosseler was a better football player. I also have a vague recollection that Bosseler might have outperformed Brown at a college all-star game, but that was a long time ago.

One thing that it was generally acknowledged that Bosseler could do better was block. It's amazing that some people even compared the two given the non-pareil status that Brown ultimately achieved. Our guy Bosseler was a pretty good player for the mid-50's, though. Even played in pro bowl despite a lackluster career with a vey lackluster Washington Redskins team.

 

[k9cane]

its truly remarkable that save for that freshman year in 2001, the world never saw him at his 'best'. I tell this to people all the time that aren't Miami fans and they really dont have a full comprehension of that. He never regained that late burst/5th gear but his other intangibles made up for it somewhat.

 

[Dingaan1828]

Bosseler was my favorite player when I was a kid. I was also a Redskin fan, so when he was drafted by the skins it was a perfect fit for me.

BTW, here's some interesting trivia: The only time Miami has had back to back 1st round rb/fb/hb was in 56 (Jack Losch to Green Bay) and 57 (Don Bosseler to Washington).
Back then there were only 12 NFL teams, and a bonus pick for a crappy team. So, 13 first round picks. Losch was 8th in 56, and Bosseler was 9th in 57.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe that has happened since. UM did play football before 1983, and much of it was quite good.

 

[Calicanerepresent]

SF 49er!

The U!

His freshman year was amazing - he looked like magic.

Complete back.

 

[Rocketcane]

That's great news! Maybe he can move even further up the list in the next game.

 

[Plzwork4]

Frank Gore became the first player in NFL history to have 11 consecutive seasons with at least 1,200 yards from scrimmage. Someone please tell me more about how he isn't going into the HOF...

 

[Heals85]

Gore averaged 9 ypc as a true freshman on the GOAT 01' Canes. Then goes on to tear both ACLs. Overcomes it to be a stud at the U. Then gets drafted and leads the NFC in rushing as a rookie and has been a consistent stud his whole career. Future HOF BEAST!

A few comments that are not accurate. A) he was not a stud at UM, his freshman year he appeared to be but after coming back from injury he got fat. B) he did not lead the league as a rookie.

You can debate if he was a stud at the U and he did not lead the league/NFL in rushing. He lead the NFC in rushing. Read posts before responding

No you can't debate if he was a stud, his best year was his freshman year and he never even rushed for a 1,000 yds and he didn't lead the league the NFC or anything else his rookie year in 2005. Shaun Alexander lead the NFC and the league and Gore rushed for 600+yds. Take off your homer glasses. Gore is a naturally gifted back and is much like Curtis Martin that he has accumulated yards without really being the best or dominant back.

Averaging 9 ypc as an 18 year old on the GOAT 01' Canes and showing up in big games especially against FSU like that 04 OT game winning TD makes you a stud in my book. I blame Swasey and Coker for him not being 1000 yard back. He lead the NFC in rushing his 2 nd year in the NFL only a couple years after an ACL surgery. All of this makes him a stud has nothing to do with being homer. Clearly you are an expert on everything RB related and what makes a player a stud. Go ahead regail me with your expertise please.

 

[ncncanes]

Prior to blowing out his knee - the BEST Miami back I ever saw
- Better than James Jackson, Duke, Portis, the Edge ....... all of them