Q:
When ranking the NFL's all-time best running backs, does Billy Sims fit in? I think if injury hadn't deflated his career,
he would have been one of the all-time best. If Billy was never injured, you probably would never have seen Barry Sanders
in Detroit. Would
he crack your top 50 best backs? Where would you rank him? Injury was his worst enemy, similar to Gayle Sayers.
Stacy
Hubbard
GOSSELIN:
Interesting question. Sims was one of my favorite backs of the 1980s. But his career lasted only 4 1/2 seasons because of
a knee injury. Sayers lasted seven seasons, although he played only two games in each of his final two years because of his
knee injury/rehabilitation. The difference between Sayers and Sims is that Sayers set himself apart from the pack. He won
two NFL rushing titles and averaged 5.0 yards per carry in his first five seasons. He also was an elite kick returner with
eight career touchdowns. From 1965-69, Sayers was the best running back in the game, not to mention the most exciting.
Sims never set himself apart. He didn't win any rushing titles and averaged
4.5 yards per carry. That's a superb average but there's magic in that 5.0 yards per carry average in the NFL. Sayers is in
select company with his 5.0-yard career average. Only Jim Brown and Barry Sanders tote a 5.0 average in the top 20 rushers
of all-time. I can't say Sims was a better running back in the early 1980s than Walter Payton. That's what puts you at the
top the best of an era.
My Top 5 Sanders, Brown, Sayers, Payton and Simpson were all the best
backs of their eras. Would Sims be in my Top 50? Yes. Figure each of the established franchises (28) has had two great runners.
That's a working list of 56 backs. I'd probably find a place for Sims somewhere between 25-35. But to say if he had stayed
healthy, Detroit wouldn't have seen Sanders isn't quite right. The window for most great backs
is about eight years. That would have put the Lions in the market for a running back around 1988. Sanders came along in 1989.
And remember, Sims was older. He was a 25-year-old rookie. His window may have even been shorter.
Contributed by: Stacy Hubbard
