Zeek 16,649 Posted October 11, 2019 Author Share Posted October 11, 2019 https://www.al.com/sports/2019/02/auburns-top-10-nfl-rushers-cam-newton-ranks-among-the-running-backs.html Quote Auburn’s top 10 NFL rushers: Cam Newton ranks among the running backs Posted Feb 12, 2019 By Mark Inabinett | minabinett@al.com Five former Auburn players recorded rushing attempts during the NFL’s 2018 season. Four of them haven’t carried the ball enough to rank with the Tigers’ top ball-carriers in NFL history, but one has. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton added 488 rushing yards to his total this season and ranks eighth among Auburn’s NFL alumni with 4,808. While Newton has more than 3,000 yards to gain before he would catch Stephen Davis, the Tigers' NFL rushing leader, the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner is closing on Davis' mark for the most NFL rushing touchdowns by a former Auburn player. Newton's 58 rushing touchdowns are the most for a quarterback in NFL history. The total also ranks third on the Auburn list behind Davis' 65. The other Auburn alumni who carried the football in the NFL in 2018 were Cameron Artis-Payne, Peyton Barber, Corey Grant and Kerryon Johnson. With 871 yards in 2018, Barber boosted his career total to 1,517, which ranks 15th on Auburn's NFL list. Johnson showed promise of being a future top-10 runner. He averaged 64.1 rushing yards per game as a rookie. Only two former Tigers -- Bo Jackson and William Andrews -- have career averages of more rushing yards per game than Johnson. The second, third and sixth rushers on the list were teammates at Auburn, and so were the fifth, seventh and ninth rushers. James Brooks, William Andrews and Joe Cribbs were together at Auburn during the 1977 and 1978 seasons. In the 2003 season, Ronnie Brown, Brandon Jacobs and Carnell "Cadillac" Williams were teammates on the Plains. After that season, Jacobs transferred to Southern Illinois. Former Auburn players have produced 21 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Brown was the most recent to achieve that feat in 2006. Davis and Andrews had four 1,000-yard seasons apiece, Cribbs, Brooks and Rudi Johnson had three each, Jacobs had two and Williams had one. The top 10 NFL ball-carriers among Auburn alumni (as measured by rushing yards): Getty Images (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) 1. Stephen Davis: 8,052 rushing yards Washington Redskins 1996-2002, Carolina Panthers 2003-05, St. Louis Rams 2006: Davis averaged 4.1 yards on 1,945 carries and scored 65 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Davis ran for 6,419 of his yards in a five-season span from 1999 through 2003, with a high of 1,444 yards in 2003. 2. James Brooks: 7,962 rushing yards San Diego Chargers 1981-83, Cincinnati Bengals 1984-91, Cleveland Browns 1991, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1991: Brooks averaged 4.7 yards on 1,685 carries and scored 49 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Brooks led the NFL in kickoff-return yards in 1982, caught 30 career TD passes and led the NFL in all-purpose yards twice. His top rushing season included 1,239 yards in 1989. 3. William Andrews: 5,986 rushing yards Atlanta Falcons 1979-83, 1986: Andrews averaged 4.6 yards on 1,315 carries and scored 30 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Andrews ran for 1,000 yards in four of his first five seasons, with a strike-shortened 1982 the only exception. Andrews made it back from a knee injury after missing two full seasons, playing as a tight end and a running back in his final campaign. His top season featured 1,567 rushing yards in 1983. 4. Rudi Johnson: 5,979 rushing yards Cincinnati Bengals 2001-07, Detroit Lions 2008: Johnson averaged 3.9 yards on 1,517 carries and ran for 49 touchdowns during his NFL career. After two NFL seasons, Johnson had 67 rushing yards, but he ran for 5,178 in the next four years with a high of 1,458 in 2005. 5. Ronnie Brown: 5,391 rushing yards Miami Dolphins 2005-10, Philadelphia Eagles 2011, San Diego Chargers 2012-14, Houston Texans 2014: Brown averaged 4.2 yards on 1,281 carries and scored 38 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. His top season came in 2006, when Brown ran for 1,008 yards. 6. Joe Cribbs: 5,356 rushing yards Buffalo Bills 1980-83, 1985, San Francisco 49ers 1986-87, Miami Dolphins 1988, Indianapolis Colts 1988: The former Sulligent standout averaged 4.1 yards on 1,309 carries and scored 27 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Cribbs likely would be at least No. 3 on the list if not for his two seasons playing in the USFL for the Birmingham Stallions. Cribbs ran for at least 1,097 yards in three of his first four seasons with the NFL’s Bills, with the strike-shortened 1982 campaign the exception. Cribbs came home to play for the Birmingham franchise in the USFL in 1984. After two seasons, the USFL folded. Cribbs returned to the NFL, but in four more seasons, he added only 1,310 yards to his rushing total. During his two seasons in the USFL, Cribbs ran for 2,514 yards and led the league in rushing in 1984. 7. Brandon Jacobs: 5,094 rushing yards New York Giants 2005-11, 2013, San Francisco 49ers 2012: Jacobs averaged 4.5 yards on 1,141 carries and scored 60 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Jacobs played for two Super Bowl winners with the Giants. His top single-season total was 1,089 rushing totals in 2008. 8. Cam Newton: 4,808 rushing yards Carolina Panthers 2011-18: The No. 1 choice in the 2011 NFL Draft has averaged 5.2 yards on 929 carries and scored 58 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Newton's top single-season rushing total came in 2017, when he had 754 yards. Cam Newton expects to reach 'next level' after aching shoulder wrecked 2018 season As the 2018 season slipped away from the Carolina Panthers, quarterback Cam Newton wondered why he couldn't throw the football "further than, like, 30 yards." 9. Carnell “Cadillac” Williams: 4,038 rushing yards Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2005-10, St. Louis Rams 2011: The former Etowah standout averaged 3.8 yards on 1,055 carries and scored 21 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Williams was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2005, when Brown was the other running back on the All-Rookie team. Williams reached his career high that season with 1,178 rushing yards. 10. Bo Jackson: 2,782 rushing yards Los Angeles Raiders 1987-1990: The former McAdory standout and 1985 Heisman Trophy winner averaged 5.4 yards on 515 carries and scored 16 rushing touchdowns during his NFL career. Jackson’s NFL career got off to a delayed start because of baseball and came to an early end because of a hip injury. Auburn has three players with more than 2,000 NFL rushing yards who didn’t make the top 10 -- Ben Tate, Joe Childress and Tucker Frederickson. FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1. Ronnie and Cadillac would have been phenomenal on better teams. Still, interesting list and proof that Cam's a generational talent as far as his one season at Auburn. Might not see another player as impactful as Cam for decades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixtosanders94 2,180 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Haven’t read through every thread and someone has probably mentioned this but to me Kenny Irons is hugely underrated! Loved that guys toughness! Bo, Fullwood, Cribbs, Danley, Davis, Bostic, Rudy, Irons, Caddy, Ronnie...man we have been blessed... Oh and he wouldn’t have the big stats but one of my all time faves low key is Fred Beasley. Great leader! Loved AU! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeek 16,649 Posted October 11, 2019 Author Share Posted October 11, 2019 41 minutes ago, nixtosanders94 said: Haven’t read through every thread and someone has probably mentioned this but to me Kenny Irons is hugely underrated! Loved that guys toughness! Seems to be the consensus here! Loved by our message board fans but the average fan at a tailgate probably would forget to bring him up when discussing Auburn RBs. Mario McFannin is still one of my favorites. If there's a universe where he doesn't fumble then he's one of the greats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredst 9,064 Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 In my lifetime (heck, anybody’s): Bo is the clear #1. My #2, because I thought they could take it to the house with any carry, would be a tie between Brooks and Fullwood; to me, their running styles were very similar. Irons would be #1 most underrated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarEagle1982 449 Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 Hard to make a list of 10. I think one of the toughest ever was Stacy Danley. Dude got knocked out cold in 2 career games and came back in and played. He also played HUGE in the Iron Bowl from 87-89. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aubiefifty 16,755 Posted October 12, 2019 Share Posted October 12, 2019 tucker frederickson kinda gets a raw deal because he played both ways. one would have to think that cost him some ypc. and he was still an all american and a member of the nfl hall of fame. and was it james brooks or brent fullwood that folks tried to say could not read? i get them mixed up. also with the spread opening things up this day and time i bet lionel james doubles his output. but that is just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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