While quarterbacks get most of the attention as well as most of the money in the NFL, a great running back can still make all the difference. The game has certainly changed a lot in offensive philosophy, especially in recent years, but running the ball effectively is still as crucial now as it has ever been. Running backs come in all shapes, sizes and styles, but the best ones all have one thing in common. The ability to change the game from the backfield. The following list is made up of all-time greats who were gifts to the ground game. They are The Top NFL Running Backs…Of My Lifetime.

12. Adrian Peterson

One needs to look no further than Adrian Peterson’s draft position to see evidence of the change in NFL offensives over the past 20 years or so. In 2007 Peterson was the consensus best running back available, a presumed generational talent at the position and perhaps the best back to enter the league in a decade. Peterson somehow fell to number 7 where he was selected by the Minnesota Vikings. If a top-ten pick can be a steal then Peterson definitely qualifies. He led the league in rushing yards per game and won Offensive Rookie of the Year, kicking off a sure-to-be Hall of Fame career that included 7 Pro Bowls, 3 rushing titles and an MVP Award, when he rushed for 2,097 yards in 2012. Peterson always had a distinct running style. Upright with one of the best combinations of speed and power that the game has ever seen.

11. Jamaal Anderson

Jamal Anderson was the unquestioned superstar of the 1998 Atlanta Falcons improbable Super Bowl season. Both Anderson and the Falcons seemingly came out of nowhere to claim success that year. Anderson had posted back-to-back 1,000 yard rushing seasons prior to 1998, albeit barely with 1,055 and 1,002 yards, respectfully. No one could’ve foreseen the 1,846 yard, 410 carry, 14 touchdown rushing season he would produce in ’98 just as nobody would’ve predicted the Falcons to win the NFC. While my NFL fandom was in the process of shifting north to Indianapolis with Peyton Manning entering the league, I still had a lingering allegiance to the Falcons. Anderson made it hard to say goodbye. Due mostly to his sensational play but also because he cultivated the best endzone dance since the “Icky Shuffle”, “The Dirty Bird.” The dance took Atlanta and the NFL by storm and by the time the Falcons reached the Super Bowl, everyone in Georgia was bouncing from side to side and flapping their arms like a bird. The Falcons would ultimately fall short to the Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII and Anderson would never come close to replicating his 1998 season, but for a brief moment in time he had a whole state believing they could fly.

10. Emmitt Smith

I was never much of a Cowboys fan or even an Emmitt Smith fan, but it would be wrong not to include the league’s all-time leading rusher. That achievement couldn’t have been possible without being one of the best running backs in the sport over a long successful career. Smith played the first 13 years of his career for Dallas and the final 2 seasons for the Arizona Cardinals. Starting with his second season in the league, Smith eclipsed the 1,000 yard rushing mark for 11 consecutive seasons. Such production comes with a long list of accolades. Hall of Fame, 8 Pro Bowls, 4 All-Pros, 4 rushing titles, the 1993 League MVP and 3 Super Bowl rings with the dominant Dallas dynasty of the early ’90s. Around the time that I was really getting into NFL football, the Cowboys were the best team in the league and were seemingly always in big games. Usually being carried by an all-time great running back, Emmitt Smith.

9. Marshall Faulk

Marshall Faulk was the best pass catching threat out of the backfield in NFL history. The second overall pick in the 1994 draft by the Colts. I was a fan of Faulk in college and he added to the list of players for the Colts that were favorites of mine. Faulk wasted little time displaying his skills in the league by rushing for 1,282 yards and adding another 522 receiving yards on the way to winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. Faulk played four more productive seasons in Indy before being traded to the then St. Louis Rams, where he took his career to another level by being the catalyst of the explosive “Greatest Show on Turf” offense. In his first season with the Rams, Faulk put up 1,381 rushing yards and added another 1,048 receiving yards, becoming only the second player in league history to eclipse 1,000 yards in both categories. That season culminated with a Super Bowl title for Faulk and the Rams. He continued to fill up the stats sheets for the next several seasons in St. Louis and won the 2000 MVP in the process. Fualk also lit up the gridiron with the several popular pairs of Nike turf shoes that he wore on the field. While I don’t think he ever had a signature shoe, a few models were commonly known as “Marshall Faulks” because of him. Faulk played for 12 seasons in the league and received his Hall of Fame induction in 2011.

8. Christian Okoye

Christian Okoye had the physique of a Strongman competitor instead of a typical frame for an NFL running back. Checking in at 6’1″ and 253 pounds, the “Nigerian Nightmare” was a physical specimen the likes of which hadn’t really been seen at the running back position before. Okoye didn’t even start playing American football until he was 23 years old. He was a track and field athlete in college, where his size and strength saw him better suited to compete in events such as the shot put, discus and hammer throw. But Okoye wasn’t just all brawn, he ran a 4.45 40-yard dash. He size, speed and power intrigued the Chiefs enough to select him in the second round of the 1987 draft. Sharing playing time and injuries limited Okoye in his first 2 seasons but in 1989 he broke out in a big way. He led the league in carries (370) and rushing yards (1480,) and was named first-team All-Pro. Sadly, a knee injury would limit Okoye throughout the rest of his career and ultimately force him to retire after the 1992 season at age 32. Okoye was always one of my favorite players to see in action and perhaps paved the way for some of the bigger backs of the future, who were also favorites of mine such as Jerome Bettis, T.J. Duckett, Ironhead Heyward and Brandon Jacobs. There’s just something special about seeing a large man move that fast and run through would-be defenders.

7. Eddie George

Eddie George played 8 of his 9 NFL seasons for the Tennessee Titans. He rushed for over 1,000 yards in 7 of his 8 seasons in Tennessee. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1996 and made the Pro Bowl in each of the 4 following seasons. He finished his career with 10,441 rushing yards and 68 rushing touchdowns. A remarkable career by any standards, but the real reason he makes the list is because he was the cover athlete for Madden 2001, which probably isn’t the best edition of all-time but was the one I played the most. George was actually the first cover athlete in the series, as John Madden himself was featured on the cover of all the previous years. Madden 2001 was the first game I owned for the PlayStation 2. I was fortunate enough to secure the console on launch day and Madden was the only game that I had money for at the time. It was the only game I needed. The leap in graphics from PlayStation 1 to 2 was massive, the game had a nice custom player feature, the introduction of Madden Cards and not to mention a banger of a soundtrack. When I think of Eddie George I think of Madden 2001 and the countless hours I spent playing the Madden that truly made me fall in love with the series.

6. Edgerrin James

While I’m on the subject of Madden 2001, I feel compelled to mention a moment that happened while I was playing it involving the next player on my list, Edgerrin James. I was playing a Franchise with the Colts and scored a rushing touchdown with James. The automatic camera zoomed in on him and he smiled showing off his gold teeth. The attention to detail caught me off guard. That’s when I thoroughly realized that the next generation was upon me. Much like James himself was the next generation of phenomenal Colts running backs. After the franchise traded away Marshall Faulk they drafted James with the 4th overall pick in the 1999 draft, a year after drafting Peyton Manning 1st overall. This gave Indianapolis an exciting young core of skill position players that turned them into perennial Super Bowl contenders. James made an immediate impact by his first season by leading the league in rushing attempts (369) and rushing yards (1553,) winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and making First Team All-Pro. He followed that up by again leading the league in rushing yards (1,709) his second season. Altogether James played 11 seasons and racked up 12,246 rushing yards and 80 rushing touchdowns. James was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020 and of course he was all smiles on the podium, albeit a little to my disappointment, without his gold teeth.

5. Eric Dickerson

Next we have another great Indianapolis Colts running back who I have strong video game ties with, Eric Dickerson. The game was Tecmo Bowl. The first football video game to have real NFL players. Everyone knew about Bo Jackson’s player in the game but if your opponent picked the Raiders then you needed a backup plan. Mine was Eric Dickerson and the Colts. I knew of Dickerson before Tecmo Bowl, but the game made me a fan as well as set the foundation for my secondary Colts fandom. I’d seen Dickerson on television and was intrigued by his sports goggles and more importantly his running ability. That ability landed Dickerson in Los Angeles with the Rams after being selected 2nd overall in the 1983 draft. He took the league by storm as rookie, leading the NFL in carries (390) and rushing yards (1,808.) He followed that up by again leading the league in rushing his second season with a jaw-dropping 2,105 yards, a record that still stands to this day. He led the league in rushing yards (1,821) again in 1986 and was unquestionably the best running back in football. He wanted to be paid as such and a contract dispute with the Rams ultimately ended with Dickerson being traded to the Colts during the 1987 season. Dickerson continued to impress with his new team, leading the league in rushing (1,659) once again in his first full season with the Colts. He rushed for 1,311 yards the next season but then injuries started to hamper his production and his games played and rushing yards started to decline over the next several years. When all was said and done Dickerson had amassed 13,259 career rushing yards and 90 career rushing touchdowns. Numbers worthy of a fist-ballot Hall of Fame induction in 1999. Not bad for the player who was the Tecmo Bowl pivot from Bo Jackson.

4. Marshawn Lynch

You know why I’m here. Because Beast Mode was an unforgettable running back both on and off the field. This was on display well before he was an NFL star when he was interviewed after a high school game. After a 163 yard, 4 touchdown performance a reporter asked Lynch about his thoughts on the game and received this gem,”Our linemen! Oh my God,” Lynch told the reporter. “If my linemen wasn’t so good — oh my God, I wouldn’t know what to do. And me being as broke as I am, I’m about to find a way to treat my linemen to Sizzler.” It was evident that Marshawn had a big personality and he had an equally large ability to run the football. That ability took Lynch to the University of Cal where he had multiple 1,000 yard rushing seasons and after a game-winning rushing touchdown in overtime against the University of Washington, he gave us another classic Marshawn moment, when he spontaneously hopped behind the wheel of an on-field injury cart and proceeded to “whip” it around the football field. When his time in Berkeley came to an end, Lynch was taken with the 12th overall pick of the 2007 draft by the Buffalo Bills. He eclipsed 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Bills, but was suspended prior to the beginning of the 2009 season and was ultimately displaced as the starter by Fred Jackson once he returned. Lynch was traded to the Seahawks during the 2010 season and Beast Mode started to emerge. In the playoffs that season during a Wild Card game in Seattle against the Saints, Lynch reeled off one of the most impressive runs in NFL history. Lynch broke nine tackles on 67 yard touchdown run that secured the victory for the Seahawks and produced a roar from the crowd that was so loud it registered on a nearby seismograph. A legend was born and only grew larger as Lynch helped carry Seattle to a Super Bowl title in 2013. The Seahawks made it to the Super Bowl again in 2014 against New England, where Russell Wilson infamously threw an interception on the goal line on what would’ve been the game-winning touchdown. The play call was highly criticized, and rightfully so, as Lynch had gone full Beast Mode on the drive and the Patriots seemed to be unable to stop him. The play simultaneously killed one dynasty while further solidifying another. Altogether in his career Marshawn rushed for 10,413 yards, scored 85 rushing touchdowns, made 5 Pro Bowls including 1 First Team All-Pro selection and ate an immeasurable number of Skittles.

3. Walter Payton

With a nickname like “Sweetness,” you just know that Walter Payton had to be good. For thirteen seasons Payton had a cakewalk through NFL defenses and made racking up rushing yards look as easy as pie. He was taken fourth overall in the 1975 draft by the Chicago Bears and had a decent rookie season before taking the league by storm and making running the football look like taking candy from a baby his second season, when he rushed for 1,390 yards and 13 touchdowns. He followed that up with an even better year, leading the league in rushing yards (1,852,) rushing touchdowns (14,) yards from scrimmage (2,121,) and got his just desserts by being named league MVP. Payton continued to show that the proof was in the pudding throughout the rest of his career by rushing for at least 1,200 yards for 10 of his 13 seasons (with two of those seasons being shortened by lockouts.) He put the cherry on top of his career sundae by capturing a Super Bowl ring with the great 1985 Bears team. Altogether Payton made 9 Pro Bowls, and was a 5-time All-Pro. He retired as the league’s leader in career rushing yards and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1993. Pretty sweet, indeed.

2. LaDainian Tomlinson

LT was lightning in a bottle during his career with the San Diego Chargers. After an outstanding college career at TCU where he rushed for over 2,000 yards his senior season, LaDainian Tomlinson was taken 5th overall in the 2001 draft after a blockbuster trade with the Falcons. He wasted little time electrifying the league by rushing for over 1,000 yards his first 9 seasons in the NFL and was an All-Pro selection in 5 of those seasons. LT also possessed a shocking ability as a pass catcher and put up big receiving numbers, including a 100 reception season in 2003, in addition to his eye-popping rushing stats. Tomlinson was amped up to the maximum in 2006 when he led the league in rushing yards with 1,815 and produced an off-the-meter, record breaking 28 rushing touchdowns, a mark that still stands to this day. I liked LT because of his dual threat ability out of the backfield, because he wore the blacked out visor and because he was one of the main characters in one of my favorite fantasy football stories. It was 2007, Tomlinson was coming off his monster MVP season, and fantasy football was gaining in popularity with the emergence of smart phones. I was already a fantasy football fiend at this point and I was invited to join a league with my high school classmate Adam, who I’d seen maybe a handful of times since we graduated. Adam had joined the Marines but knew how big of a sports junky I was and when his league needed to fill a spot, he reached out. I accepted and pulled off the steal of the draft by taking Randy Moss in the later rounds after he was coming off his two sub-par seasons in Oakland. All Randy did was go out and produce one of the greatest seasons by a wideout in league history and propel me to an undefeated regular season. My team looked unstoppable. I’ve played a ton of fantasy football seasons and I’ve never seen a team go undefeated before or since. My first round match up in the playoffs was against a guy who had LT at running back and Brady at quarterback. LT proceeded to go off that week and my Moss yardage was somewhat nullified by my opponent having Brady. The undefeated season was no more. I can’t help but think of that great fantasy team when I think of all-time great running back, LaDanian Tomlinson.

1. Barry Sanders

I know it’s kind of cliche but Barry Sanders was poetry in motion on a football field. With apologies to Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins, Sanders was truly a human highlight reel. After rushing for an absurd 2,628 yards and winning the Heisman Trophy as a junior at Oklahoma State, Sanders was taken 3rd overall by the Lions in 1989. Sanders won Rookie of the Year and embarked on a decade of dominance in Detroit. Sanders made the Pro Bowl in every year of his 10 year career. He was a 6-time All-Pro. He led the league in rushing in 4 different seasons, including his MVP year in 1997, when he joined the exclusive 2,000 yard club. Sadly, Sanders would only play one more season after that, choosing to retire while he was still one of, if not the best running backs in the league. He finished his career with 15,269 career rushing yards and still ranks 4th on the all-time rushing list. In my opinion Sanders was simply the best to ever do it. Watching him play football you knew you were watching something special, akin to watching Jordan play basketball. Barry’s vision, cutting ability, escapability, speed, power and overall running ability were the likes of which we never saw before and may never see again. The SportsCenter segments of Lions games on Sunday nights were always sources of enjoyment because every single game Barry produced an all-time highlight or did something I’d never seen anyone do before on a football field. He made his way around defenses in creative ways unlike any other, but there’s no way around Barry Sanders being The Top NFL Running Back…Of My Lifetime.