Top 5 RB's in PSU history

[Richard Adler]

The Barkley nickname thread got me going. Where does he rank? And how do you rank them? I think if you are ranking Barkley, then you can't include the NFL production. Because Franco would be #1 there. Not sure if he is top 5 just based on time at Penn State.

Here's mine.
1) Curt Warner I just think he was consistently good.
2) Saquon Barkley. Total body of work not finished, can easily and likely will be #1.
3) Kijana Carter. Shame his NFL career was cut short.
4) Lydell Mitchell. He was the star in Franco's backfield.
5) Really tough. Capelletti won the Heisman, but is he one of the top 5 backs? Lenny Moore? Larry Junior? DJ Dozier? Curtis Enis? I am going for Blair Thomas.

Thoughts?

 

[PSU08Iraq11]

The Barkley nickname thread got me going. Where does he rank? And how do you rank them? I think if you are ranking Barkley, then you can't include the NFL production. Because Franco would be #1 there. Not sure if he is top 5 just based on time at Penn State.

Here's mine.
1) Curt Warner I just think he was consistently good.
2) Saquon Barkley. Total body of work not finished, can easily and likely will be #1.
3) Kijana Carter. Shame his NFL career was cut short.
4) Lydell Mitchell. He was the star in Franco's backfield.
5) Really tough. Capelletti won the Heisman, but is he one of the top 5 backs? Lenny Moore? Larry Junior? DJ Dozier? Curtis Enis? I am going for Blair Thomas.

Thoughts?

Mine:

1) Saquon Barkley
2) Curt Warner
3) Larry Johnson
4) John Capelletti
5) Lydell Mitchell
6) Kijana Carter
7) Lenny Moore
8) Blair Thomas
9) Curtis Enis
10) DJ Dozier

Aaron Harris would have been pretty darn good had it not been for that knee injury. Check out the play at 1:05 here...

 

[PSU Soupy]

Just from my perspective....and I saw everyone on your list.

If the list does not start with Saquon then it is not correct in my opinion. Also I get it, Larry Johnson not a great guy perhaps.....but he was unbelievable for about a year and half.......if he was a nicer guy, easier guy to like he would make more of these lists.

 

[JeffClear]

1. Saquon Barkley, no explanation needed.
2. Larry Johnson, as much as I like Curt Warner, I have to put LJ second since he ran fo more than 2000 yards in one season and had a very good pro career. Should have had a better college career but was held back by Paterno and sat behind McCoo until he was a senior despite being clearly better.
3. Curt Warner, great back, smooth and shifty, a pleasure to watch.
4. Kijana Carter, blazing fast.
5. Blair Thomas, in many ways the most Barkleylike, fast strong, good receiver, but not quite as athletic as SB.

 

[LemonEars]

The top running back ever to play on the collegiate level at a Pennsylvania college is Saquon Barkley. Nobody else measures up to him.

After Saquon the best running backs at Penn State are in my opinion:

2. Curt Warner
3. Blair Thomas
4. Kijana Carter
5. Lydell Mitchell

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

The Barkley nickname thread got me going. Where does he rank? And how do you rank them? I think if you are ranking Barkley, then you can't include the NFL production. Because Franco would be #1 there. Not sure if he is top 5 just based on time at Penn State.

Here's mine.
1) Curt Warner I just think he was consistently good.
2) Saquon Barkley. Total body of work not finished, can easily and likely will be #1.
3) Kijana Carter. Shame his NFL career was cut short.
4) Lydell Mitchell. He was the star in Franco's backfield.
5) Really tough. Capelletti won the Heisman, but is he one of the top 5 backs? Lenny Moore? Larry Junior? DJ Dozier? Curtis Enis? I am going for Blair Thomas.

Thoughts?

Just look at this 'Record Bingo' for Barkley - good chance these will all say 'Accomplished' before the year is through. He's the best.

 

[novaclassof90]

Saquon and Warner must be 1 and 2, can have a ton of debate on what order, but they are 1 and 2.

After that, Kijana, Lenny Moore, Lydell Mitchell. Never saw Moore play, but the oldtimers will tell you he was unbelievable. HM to the likes of DJ, Enis, Johnson, Cappy, Thomas.

 

[sluggo72]

Mine:

1) Saquon Barkley
2) Curt Warner
3) Larry Johnson
4) John Capelletti
5) Lydell Mitchell
6) Kijana Carter
7) Lenny Moore
8) Blair Thomas
9) Curtis Enis
10) DJ Dozier

Aaron Harris would have been pretty darn good had it not been for that knee injury. Check out the play at 1:05 here...

View embedded media

You have to love the neck roll Aaron Harris has on!! Plus after 1 TD he hands the ball to the ref, and the ref looks surprised.

 

[PSUcup1]

of the ones i saw play

1. Barkley
2. Carter
3. Warner
4. Enis
5. LJ

** Aaron Harris would be on that list if not for injury

 

[PennStateNate]

Just from my perspective....and I saw everyone on your list.

If the list does not start with Saquon then it is not correct in my opinion. Also I get it, Larry Johnson not a great guy perhaps.....but he was unbelievable for about a year and half.......if he was a nicer guy, easier guy to like he would make more of these lists.

LJ is not top 5, he put up big numbers against horrible D's, the 4 D's he faced that were good, he did literally nothing.

Cappy won the highest CFB award, any list without him is bad.

 

[Air Force 1]

1) Saquon Barkley, Curt Warner, Larry Johnson, John Capelletti, Lydell Mitchell, Kijana Carter, Lenny Moore, Blair Thomas, Curtis Enis, DJ Dozier

It's a tie.

 

[kijana]

What always amazes me when this question gets asked- and it shows how many great running backs PSU has had over the years- is the running backs that DO NOT get ranked in peoples top 5 list. Many PSU fans- if asked who the top 5 running backs are of all time- would leave out the school's career yardage leader(Royster), their single season yardage leader(Johnson), their only Heisman winner(Cappy) and an NFL HOF player(Harris). I think,if most other schools excluded their career rushing leader, their season rushing leader, a Heisman winner, and a NFL HOF player, then their top 5 running backs list would suck.

 

[JeffClear]

LJ is not top 5, he put up big numbers against horrible D's, the 4 D's he faced that were good, he did literally nothing.

Cappy won the highest CFB award, any list without him is bad.

I guess there were a lot of horrible D’s in the NFL.
LJ was the entire offense in 2002, good teams would stack the line to stop him because Penn State had no one else who could score.
How many NFL players were on that 2002 offense, was there anyone other than Bryant Johnson and LJ?
How many were on Warner’s 1982 team or Carter’s 1994 team. Both those teams are among the all time greats.
Stats wise and eyes-test wise LJ was one of the best in PSU history.
I never saw Cappy play so it would be “bad” for me to try to rate him.

 

[PSU Soupy]

I guess there were a lot of horrible D’s in the NFL.
LJ was the entire offense in 2002, good teams would stack the line to stop him because Penn State had no one else who could score.
How many NFL players were on that 2002 offense, was there anyone other than Bryant Johnson and LJ?
How many were on Warner’s 1982 team or Carter’s 1994 team. Both those teams are among the all time greats.
Stats wise and eyes-test wise LJ was one of the best in PSU history.
I never saw Cappy play so it would be “bad” for me to try to rate him.

I agree.....2,000 yards is 2,000 yards. Plus he took back a number of kick offs the distance and played within an offense that rarely threw the ball further than 10 yards. LJ in my opinion deserves to be in top 5.

Saquon
Kijana
Warner
L. Mitchell
L. Johnson

Just missing (Lenny Moore, Enis, Harris, Blair Thomas, Dozier, Cappy)

Tremendous talent at RB.

 

[psuro]

Just look at this 'Record Bingo' for Barkley - good chance these will all say 'Accomplished' before the year is through. He's the best.

Assuming he leaves after this season, I don't think he will get a couple of the career records. There simply are not enough games for him to play, and the offense is not Saquon specific - too many other weapons on the offense.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Assuming he leaves after this season, I don't think he will get a couple of the career records. There simply are not enough games for him to play, and the offense is not Saquon specific - too many other weapons on the offense.

The only one IMO he doesn't have a great shot at is the All Purpose Yards (season). The others are doable....

 

[wilbury]

Mine:

1) Saquon Barkley
2) Curt Warner
3) Larry Johnson
4) John Capelletti
5) Lydell Mitchell
6) Kijana Carter
7) Lenny Moore
8) Blair Thomas
9) Curtis Enis
10) DJ Dozier

Aaron Harris would have been pretty darn good had it not been for that knee injury. Check out the play at 1:05 here...

View embedded media

No Evan Royster love?

 

[psuro]

The only one IMO he doesn't have a great shot at is the All Purpose Yards (season). The others are doable....

You think he will get 115 more rushing attempts this season? I am not sure he will get the 603 yards he needs for the career rushing totals. I think there are other weapons that McS will use, and PSU will have to be fine with that.

 

[RLCookie]

Just look at this 'Record Bingo' for Barkley - good chance these will all say 'Accomplished' before the year is through. He's the best.

Why is the season rushing yards not on this list? Is it because it is out of reach?

 

[BostonNit]

Only ranking those who I've personally seen play:

1) Saquon
2) Ki-Jana
3) LJ
4) Enis
5) Blair

Agree w/the comments about Aaron Harris. Also, DJ Dozier and I were classmates so I remember him coming out of no where as a true freshman. Unfortunately, he was injury prone the next 3 years and never matched his freshman year.

 

[bdgan]

The Barkley nickname thread got me going. Where does he rank? And how do you rank them? I think if you are ranking Barkley, then you can't include the NFL production. Because Franco would be #1 there. Not sure if he is top 5 just based on time at Penn State.

Here's mine.
1) Curt Warner I just think he was consistently good.
2) Saquon Barkley. Total body of work not finished, can easily and likely will be #1.
3) Kijana Carter. Shame his NFL career was cut short.
4) Lydell Mitchell. He was the star in Franco's backfield.
5) Really tough. Capelletti won the Heisman, but is he one of the top 5 backs? Lenny Moore? Larry Junior? DJ Dozier? Curtis Enis? I am going for Blair Thomas.

Thoughts?

I like your list except I wouldn't rate Carter as high. LJ only had season so no. Yes to Blair Thomas. He made an immediate impact as a freshman.

 

[Obliviax]

Barkley, and to me its not even debatable.

You have to factor in the awful OC he had as a true freshmen. Add in the sanctions. Add in the awful offensive line his freshmen year, the embarrassing offensive line his soph year and the mediocre oline from this year.

Add in that today's game is much more passing oriented than five + years ago. Add in he's one of the best receiving RB's in the NCAA. He also is an excellent blocker. He can run for speed, power, up the middle, around the end, go deep, go short, run screens...He's 5-11 230. He has school record for weight lifting (clean and squat) and runs a 4.4 forty.

There's never been a PSU RB like him and very few in the history of the NCAA. Give him the 94 offense and oline...wow.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Why is the season rushing yards not on this list? Is it because it is out of reach?

Probably.

 

[Nitt1300]

Best backfield was Mitchell and Harris by a very wide margin

 

[PSU08Iraq11]

No Evan Royster love?

I forgot Franco! :/

 

[Pennoyer]

You think he will get 115 more rushing attempts this season? I am not sure he will get the 603 yards he needs for the career rushing totals. I think there are other weapons that McS will use, and PSU will have to be fine with that.

We have a minimum of 6 games left, and potentially 8. He might get 603 yards in the last 3 regular season games alone. I'm not joking. None of those teams can play run defense or tackle.

 

[LemonEars]

I forgot Franco! :/

Franco was not a great college back. He was in Joe's doghouse most of his career. He didn't start some games as a senior. Tom Donchez started ahead of Franco in some games. I was astounded when the Steelers picked him #1 in their draft.

 

[kijana]

Franco was not a great college back. He was in Joe's doghouse most of his career. He didn't start some games as a senior. Tom Donchez started ahead of Franco in some games. I was astounded when the Steelers picked him #1 in their draft.

Franco rushed for over 2000 yards and 24 TDs at PSU(same amount as Curt Warner and 3 more than Blair Thomas)) during a time when there were only 10 games regular seasons and bowl game stats were not included in your season totals. He wasn't an all american but he was hardly a stiff either.

 

[LemonEars]

Franco rushed for over 2000 yards and 24 TDs at PSU(same amount as Curt Warner and 3 more than Blair Thomas)) during a time when there were only 10 games regular seasons and bowl game stats were not included in your season totals. He wasn't an all american but he was hardly a stiff either.

I certainly agree Franco wasn't a stiff. He was really good. He would have been great if he would have gotten along with Joe.

 

[LionwiththeDevil]

Best backfield was Mitchell and Harris by a very wide margin

Curt Warner & Jon Williams? Eeeeeeek

 

[Roar More]

LJ is not top 5, he put up big numbers against horrible D's, the 4 D's he faced that were good, he did literally nothing.

Cappy won the highest CFB award, any list without him is bad.

The line in front of LJ did not have so much as an honorable mention lineman. What he did was amazing.

 

[Roar More]

Best backfield was Mitchell and Harris by a very wide margin

Best backfield was the full house with Mitchell and Pittman as halfbacks and Harris at fullback.

 

[PSUcup1]

The best tandem IMO was Enis and Harris in 1997

 

[Madsol]

LJ is not top 5, he put up big numbers against horrible D's, the 4 D's he faced that were good, he did literally nothing.

Cappy won the highest CFB award, any list without him is bad.

This was a flawed argument in 2002 and it's flawed now. Lots of good backs in the B1G. So where are all the other backs that put up 2000 yards against these horrible defenses? Johnson rushed for 270 yards IN A HALF against MSU. I don't care if they laid down for him, that was an amazing accomplishment. You greatly diminish Johnson's 2002 season with your silly comments.

 

[razpsu]

This week will help tell the tale about Barkley ranking on the list. We need to him to rock this weekend. Great players against great teams. Here we go!

 

[Obliviax]

IMHO:

1. Barkley
2. Warner
3. Carter
4. LJ
5. Mitchell

 

[JeffClear]

This week will help tell the tale about Barkley ranking on the list. We need to him to rock this weekend. Great players against great teams. Here we go!

Barkley has already had some great games against great teams. 194 yards at the shoe in 2015 and the Rose Bowl are two that stick out for me.

 

[razpsu]

This is the game that will help me decide whether he is number 1. Warner played a crazy hard schedule and played well especially in the national championship game. Barkley is going against a top team with a good defense and lead us to victory Saturday and I will put him number 1. Barkley does actually have to play this third season to be number 1. I’m rooting for him! Taking off to Columbus now. See you later.

 

[Richard Adler]

Just look at this 'Record Bingo' for Barkley - good chance these will all say 'Accomplished' before the year is through. He's the best.

Oh trust me. I said "unfinished" and I think we all know that he will be #1 when his career is over. And he is going to win the Heisman.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Aaron Harris... guys he isn't even in the same conversation as these other guys. I can't believe he gets all these shout outs. He's behing guys like Royster and Tony Hunt.

Sure he looked good when running in the same backfield with Enis... but Enis was the starter for a reason.

Here's my list of guys I've watched:

Barkley
Johnson
Warner
Carter
Enis

LdN