From: martens@godzilla.cis.ohio-state.edu (Jeff Martens)
Subject: Re: No more good QBs,RBs
Keywords: Running Backs, Quarterbacks
Organization: Ohio State U. Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1992 19:10:08 GMT

In article <tokuno.716233859@milton> tokuno@milton.u.washington.edu (Ken Tokuno) writes:

>	Ever notice that all of the really great quarterbacks are well
>over 30?  Marino, Young, Moon, Kelly, Elway, etc. are all in that
>category.  When these QBs were younger, it seemed that every team had one
>good or great QB to lead them.  This was back in the mid-80s.  There were
>also QBs like Fouts, Theismann, Stabler, Kramer, Grogan, Plunkett, and of
>course Joe Montana around.  Of the young (under 30) QBs today, how many
>are truly great?  None, IMHO.  Only a few even have the potential: 
>Rypien, George, Miller, Rosenbach, Aikman.  Where did all the talent go?

I'd also include Cunningham and Kosar.  Plus there are a bunch of
young QBs that were high draft picks in the last year or two that
haven't played much; some of these will turn out to be very good.
Also there are a few good QBs who could soon show that they're very
good (or maybe not...), such as Young, Testaverde, and Peete.

Finally I think you're under a misperception that every team had good
quarterbacking.  Who did the Bears have before McMahon?  The Packers
before and after Dickey?  The Lions between Landry and
Peete/Gagliano/Kramer?  Was Grogan as good as you seem to think?

>	The same can be said for running backs.  In the mid-80s there were
>RBS like Payton, Sims, Dorsett, Tyler, Warner, Dickerson, Allen, etc. 
>Every team had one and sometimes two excellent runners.  Now there are
>only a handful of them:  Smith, Thomas, Sanders.  Some of the older ones
>are still around but are a shadow of their former selves:  Dickerson,
>Allen, O.J. Anderson and Roger Craig, for example.  Then there are some
>respectable ones, like Byner, Word, Neal Anderson and a few others.  Look
>at a list of the all time leading rushers.  It is full of those players
>who began their careers in the late 70s to early 80s.  They have 5000,
>6000, up to 16,000 yards rushing.  Of the current crop, I can see only the
>three named above as getting over 7000 yards for their careers.  Where did
>all the talent go?

Again, I think there are a lot of good backs around, and a lot of
young backs just now proving their worth or waiting for a chance.
There may be fewer going over 7000 career rushing yards now than in
the 80s (we'll see, this may not hold up), but there's a heavier
emphasis on passing now, and many teams dump off to their backs quite
a bit.  The rushing yards may be down, but the all-purpose yards may
be up.

Also, many running backs stay in their prime for a rather short
time.  Examples of this you mentioned were Tyler, Warner, and Sims.
Counterexamples would include Payton, Dorsett, and Dickerson.  Usually
there aren't that many great backs in their prime at one time, and
having three really good ones like Sanders, Thomas, and Smith doesn't
seem that low.

Another back you didn't mention is Herschel Walker.  If 7000 yards in
a career is your yardstick, then Herschel's awfully close already and
would be well past it if he hadn't spent his first few years in the
minors (USFL).

Finally, do you really think every team in the 80s had great running?

-- 

-- Jeff (martens@cis.ohio-state.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro