50 greatest players of all time

#26
#26
05_never_again said:
Like I said, they factored in team achievements and decorations into the ranking. Testaverde won a Heisman and played in the midst of a run of dominance for the Miami program.
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He did not win a National Championship as Miami's starting QB, and your post seems to imply that Testaverde should somehow get credit for championships that either hadn't happened yet, or that he wasn't a part of. Bernie Kosar was Miami's starting QB in 1983... although I think Testaverde was a freshman backup at the time. Should we retroactively give Peyton credit for the 1998 National Championship?
 
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#28
#28
ZippyMorocco said:
Best College Football Players of All Time, Ranked
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I stopped the second I saw Steve McNair at 50. That’s absurd. He had one of the 3 best seasons ever by a player back in ‘94 with only Burrow last year and Sanders in ‘88 being in that discussion. The man had 5,800 yards of offense in 11 games and he finished 3rd in Heisman voting from Alcorn State. I’m not saying he’s number 1 but he’s at least top 20, if not top 10.
 
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#29
#29
BowlBrother85 said:
Mike Rozier was a good RB, but his stats were bloated due to running behind a great offensive line (including Rimington, who is on this list and deserves it) and by virtue of playing for a coach who was never shy about running up the score. He shouldn't be #29.

I don't have a problem with Herschel being #1, but where was he vs Clemson and Pitt in 1981 and then Penn State in 1982? He wasn't unstoppable.
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I have a problem with him being 1. Barry was the better college RB.
 
#30
#30
05_never_again said:
Burrow being that high I think is some recency bias. Burrow had an absolutely incredible season, perhaps the best by a QB in the history of the sport, but it was one season. The other season he had was very pedestrian. I wouldn't have ranked him ahead of some of the others on that list.

Also, as much as I dislike Georgia, it is really difficult to argue that Herschel Walker isn't the single greatest CFB player ever.

Pretty clear they factored in team success and how decorated the players are when making the list. Mike Reid and Testaverde both had more decorated careers (more awards) and had more team success than Reggie and Peyton did.
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Your point is exactly why this list is tough. I think that’s why people rate seasons sometimes. If you’re going by college career then why not Peyton?
 
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#31
#31
BowlBrother85 said:
For what it's worth, Peyton Manning's college career record as a starter was 39-6. Vinny Testaverde's college career record as a starter was 21-3. Neither won a National Championship. It's tough to sell Testaverde as a better college player than Manning, especially when you look closely at how absolutely putrid Testaverde was in his two bowl games, which both had National Championship implications.
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I’m not even sure Vinny is the best Miami QB. They’ve had some great ones over the years.
 
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#32
#32
peaygolf said:
Barry Sanders #3? No way. He’s not top 50. 1 great year.

Joe Burrow now going to be ranked top 5 for one (albeit phenomenal) year?
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Now that’s interesting. I’ve literally never heard anyone say Barry isn’t one of the best college players ever. I do understand where you’re coming from though. He did have more than 900 yards the prior year as a back up but he wasn’t starting since OSU happened to have Thurman Thomas. I don’t agree with your position but I can at least understand the thinking.
 
#34
#34
hUTch2002 said:
Now that’s interesting. I’ve literally never heard anyone say Barry isn’t one of the best college players ever. I do understand where you’re coming from though. He did have more than 900 yards the prior year as a back up but he wasn’t starting since OSU happened to have Thurman Thomas. I don’t agree with your position but I can at least understand the thinking.
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Maaaybe I overstepped by saying not top 50 ;)....But definitely not #3. Top 1 or 2 seasons ever.
 
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#35
#35
peaygolf said:
Maaaybe I overstepped by saying not top 50 ;)....But definitely not #3. Top 1 or 2 seasons ever.
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Fair. I get it. I felt the same way about Burrow but I think it’s easy to romanticize Barry a little because he was 30 years ago and had a fantastic pro career as well. Burrow was a mediocre QB until he has quite possibly the best season by a QB ever. How do you rate someone like that? With Barry we have the additional input of his pro career so that justifies putting him high in the rankings in our minds. It’s funny how the brain works. I do think Barry is still really high but his career stats wouldn’t have him top 50. Another guy I really liked on this list was Marshall Faulk. That dude was amazing at SDSU.
 
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#39
#39
BowlBrother85 said:
He did not win a National Championship as Miami's starting QB, and your post seems to imply that Testaverde should somehow get credit for championships that either hadn't happened yet, or that he wasn't a part of. Bernie Kosar was Miami's starting QB in 1983... although I think Testaverde was a freshman backup at the time. Should we retroactively give Peyton credit for the 1998 National Championship?
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The stuff I'm saying isn't my opinion at all - I'm speculating as to why Testaverde is ranked higher than Peyton on a list of the greatest CFB players of all time. When you look at that list, it's obvious they put a lot of emphasis on awards that those guys won first, then the success of the teams they were on. Lots of media "lists" like this one do that. If player X won a Heisman (or Outland Trophy, or some other award) and player Y didn't, player X gets ranked ahead of player Y purely on that basis.

If Peyton played in the midst of a run of national titles for Tennessee (even if he didn't win one himself as a starter) and won a Heisman, he'd definitely be ranked higher than Vinny in that list.
 
#40
#40
I always feel like Danny Wuerffel never gets his due on any of these lists. He's never very high on any college QB list. Never ever makes a top 50 or 100 list.

It may be because that was the time I really, really got into College football, but I remember dude was a beast. I feel like his pro career (or lack thereof) is held against him. But based solely on college, I think he's worth a mention.
 
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#41
#41
UTwild82 said:
I always feel like Danny Wuerffel never gets his due on any of these lists. He's never very high on any college QB list. Never ever makes a top 50 or 100 list.

It may be because that was the time I really, really got into College football, but I remember dude was a beast. I feel like his pro career (or lack thereof) is held against him. But based solely on college, I think he's worth a mention.
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That's a great point. He isn't even on this list at all.

I was saying earlier in the thread that these lists tend to put huge weight on how decorated the player is and team success, yet Wuerffel is an incredibly decorated player with a huge amount of team success and isn't in their top 50. In fact he might be one of the most awarded CFB players of all time (Heisman finalist twice and won once, 2x first-team All-American, 2x SEC POY, Maxwell, among others). Also won four conference titles and a national title.

His lack of NFL success could have hurt him, yet a lack of NFL success has never kept guys like Herschel Walker, Archie Griffin, Tebow, Brian Bosworth, or others from being ranked highly. Wuerffel had a very unorthodox and unathletic looking throwing motion, but so did Tebow.
 
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#45
#45
Tim should not be behind either of the Texas running backs at the VERY least...Greatest COLLEGE players of all time, that includes team accomplishments imo.
 
#46
#46
Sub Par SUPERSTAR said:
Tim should not be behind either of the Texas running backs at the VERY least...Greatest COLLEGE players of all time, that includes team accomplishments imo.
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Herschel Walker is the greatest CFB player of my lifetime...that’s a little over half a century. I don’t think you understand how much it hurts to say that, because F Roy Williams and F Georgia, but it’s true.

If you aren’t old enough to have seen HW play in person, your opinion doesn’t count...and spare me any statistical comparisons.

Tebow had the benefit of four extra regular season game stats, three SEC title games that didn’t exist when HW played and four bowl games, whose stats that didn’t count when HW played. It took Tebow 49 games to break a rushing TD record Herschel set in only 33 games.

I love Tebow and everything he did at UF, but Herschel is the 🐐.
 
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#47
#47
Lawrence Wright said:
Herschel Walker is the greatest CFB player of my lifetime...that a little over half a century. I don’t think you understand how much it hurts to say that, because F Roy Williams and F Georgia, but it’s true.

If you aren’t old enough to have seen HW play in person, your opinion doesn’t count...and spare me any statistical comparisons.

Tebow had the benefit of four extra regular season game stats, three SEC title games that didn’t exist when HW played and four bowl games, whose stats that didn’t count when HW played. It took Tebow 49 games to break a rushing TD record Herschel set in only 33 games.

I love Tebow and everything he did at UF, but Herschel is the 🐐.
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I wouldn't disagree with that at all...And since I was 5 his last year at UGA, I'm not basing that on watching him live, just the stories and highlights...But I won't even entertain the argument that Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, or, I'm gonna say it, Bo, are greater and more impactful college football players than Tim.

*EDIT* Throw Archie Griffin in there too.
 
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#48
#48
Sub Par SUPERSTAR said:
I wouldn't disagree with that at all...And since I was 5 his last year at UGA, I'm not basing that on watching him live, just the stories and highlights...But I won't even entertain the argument that Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, or, I'm gonna say it, Bo, are greater and more impactful college football players than Tim.

*EDIT* Throw Archie Griffin in there too.
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No argument on Tebow being more impactful than the RBs you mentioned, including Bo...who I personally saw take himself out of games against UF in th early 80s.

Meanwhile you got Herschel playing bowl games with a dislocated shoulder.

I still have nightmares of Herschel in the early 80s.
 
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#49
#49
Lawrence Wright said:
Herschel Walker is the greatest CFB player of my lifetime... If you aren’t old enough to have seen HW play in person, your opinion doesn’t count...and spare me any statistical comparisons...Herschel is the 🐐.
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I live watched HW 8/9 x. Including his SEC debut in our loss to GA

[VIDEO=]

'



He was beyond exceptional.
 
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