Eric, Marshall, Edge, JT
 

Rank them. Have at it Freaks!

I gotta give it to Edge, for his longevity as Colt. Marshall may have been the better back over his career and was a slightly better pass catcher, but he's not at the top as a Colts ALL-TIMER.

1. Edge
2. Marshall
3. JT
4. Eric

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I would put Lenny Moore in the neighborhood with all of them, as he was arguably the best dual-threat running back of all-time ...... he is the only player in the history of professional football to have 40-or-more rushing and receiving TD's (63 rushing TD's, and 48 receiving TD's.)

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If it’s strictly based on their Colts career I gotta go

Edge
JT
Faulk
Dickerson

I’ll say JT is right there and another big season with a postseason run might put him over the top

Edge all day. JT dropped in my opinion last year. He proved in the first half of the year that he can be an incredible pass blocking back when he wants to. He showed he doesn't always want to in the second half of the year. Edge always seemed to be balling out.

Not old enough to have watched Dickerson and I don't feel Faulk was here long enough nor did we really see his prime, although I remember how big of a deal he was when he was here.

I think James is still the clear cut #1 because like Old Colt pointed out, his game was always well rounded.

James made a lot of money in the trenches. He was reliable in there in a way that Taylor simply isn't, which is evidenced by the fact that Taylor's goal line effectiveness is really not as exceptional as his long speed and home run ability.

All that said. Taylor still looks like he has some tread on his tires and if he stays healthy I presume his historical statistical dominance will overtake what James did here, especially when we consider that an entire generation of fans are going to identify with him directly in a way they cannot with James.

I'm also too young to have watched Dickerson live, but YouTube is magic with the amount of full broadcasts uploaded. One of my favorite games is 1987, after the trade, when the Colts snapped a 14-game losing streak in Miami behind Dickerson's 154 yards and Gary Hogeboom teaching me the definition of pedestrian.

To me, at least, Dickerson : Taylor as Faulk : James

Faulk and James were all-around great. Dickerson and Taylor are more of that pure runner mold. James vs. Faulk is a great debate. Taylor hasn't reached Dickerson overall.

But for strictly Colts career - I think it's James vs. Taylor.

Taylor has a very real shot at passing James for Colts all-time rushing yards this season (1629). If he stays healthy and sticks around, he could really put some distance. Of course, James left after his 7th season at age 27... which is what JT is going into.

He would need to do more than squeak by James to supplant him as #1 for me. He's got half the receptions and half the receiving yards of James. JT has more rush TDs and will pass Edge in total TDs early this season... of course JT doesn't have Peyton Manning spreading the ball the Marvin, Reggie, and Dallas.

And I'm glad you guys mentioned his blocking, because it's unflashy but massive for James.

Colts:
1. Edge
2. JT
3. Faulk
4. Dickerson

Overall:
1. I love the debate between Edge, Faulk, and Dickerson
4. JT (work in progress)

There are 2 reasons I didn't include Moore.

1. Most Freaks couldn't identify with him.
2. The majority of his yards and big plays were as End of Flanker, as they called it back in the day.

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I think that the amazing thing about Moore is that he was an extremely rare player who was excellent at both running back and flanker-back/wide receiver ...... most excellent running backs would be perhaps adequate at flanker-back/wide receiver ...... and most excellent wide receivers would probably not even be adequate running backs.

Christin McCaffery, like Lenny Moore, is a very rare player who excels at both positions.

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As Colts:

1) Edgerrin James
2) Eric Dickerson
3) Jonathan Taylor
4) Marshall Faulk

Whole career:
1) Eric Dickerson
2) Marshall Faulk
3) Edgerrin James
4) Jonathan Taylor (still has several good prime years to change this)

In a world of no injuries:
1) Edgerrin James
2) Marshall Faulk
3) Eric Dickerson
4) Jonathan Taylor

I felt the need for that last category because 1999-2000 Edgerrin James was the best RB I ever saw play regardless of era or role. That version of Edge was a threat to score a TD on every carry, had elite vision and patience (which were the traits that carried him as a RB after his ACL tear), ran routes and had hands like a WR in the passing game, and was an elite pass protector. It took several years after the ACL tear for Edge to fall behind Jim Brown for average yards from scrimmage per game. Had he never gotten hurt, I believe he would've been the best RB to ever play the game.

Personally, I never saw Lenny Moore, but as a receiver purely out of the backfield, I think Faulk was way ahead of the others. He was the most natural route runner and caught pretty much everything thrown his way.

But as a runner Faulk would be last on the list of the 4 guys.

If we needed a 4 yard run to get a first down at the end of a game, I would go with Dickerson.

As the most rounded back for the Colts alone, with longevity it's James.

I love Taylor, but he has shown he can pass block really well for about half of a season. James, was amazing in pass pro.

Taylor probably has the best juice of any of the guys, and would be the most likely to take it to the house on any given play.

All of them were great backs in their days for the Colts.

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I never saw Lenny Moore, either.

I didn't start rooting for the Colts until December of 1971.

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I find it interesting that none of these dudes won a championship with us. Bulach, Addai and of course Ameche did and nobody would put them on this list. A great running back has almost no bearing on winning consistently, especially now in the NFL and especially against good teams. We should invest our money elsewhere.

Positional value is already reflected in RB contracts, and you can say elite RBs have no effect on winning, but the last 2 Super Bowl winners both had elite RBs that made a huge impact on their offenses in general and in that specific game.

Edit to add: I think Addai is underrated and he's one of my favorite players. Injuries and poor OL play really hampered his career.

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Conversely, O.J. Simpson was always quick to credit his offensive line for his historic success, a group known as "The Electric Company" ...... to this day, he is the only player to rush for 2,000 or more yards in 14 games or less.





https://i.redd.it/12dhs07arbp41.jpg

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Fun and interesting debate. I actually looked up all 4 of their stats for both their careers and w/ the Colts and here's my take after this.

For the Colts - I thought Edge would win out easily, and the stats clearly back that up. But the stats tell a different story from spots 2-4 than I thought they would, and post analysis here's my take:

1. Edge - 12k yds from scrimmage and 75 total TDs for the Colts
2. JT - 9K yds from scrimmage and 76 total TDs for the Colts
3. Faulk - 8k yds from scrimmage and 51 total TDs for the Colts
4. Dickerson - 6k yds from scrimmage and 35 total TDs for the Colts

For career I initially thought it would be Dickerson, but after looking at the stats I have to go w/ Faulk and it's a landslide. I also included fumbles in my career stats analysis. I should probably go back and include them in the Colts stats, but I suspect it won't change my rankings. Anyway, here are my career rankings:

1. Faulk - 19k total yds, 136 total TDs, 36 total fumbles (1.0% of his touches)
2. Edge - 15.6K total yds, 91 total TDs, 44 total fumbles (1.3% of touches)
3. Dickerson - 15.4K total yds, 96 total TDs, and a whopping 78 total fumbles (2.4% of touches)
4. JT (but incomplete) - 9K total yds, 76 total TDs, and only 15 total fumbles (0.9% of total touches)

Edge and Dickerson are really close in yards and TDS but giving Edge the nod since his fumble rate is close to half of what Dickerson's was. That's something I had forgotten about Dickerson. The dude fumbled A LOT.

Also, I agree w/ Dam that if Edge had not have had his ACL injury he would likely have had the best career of any of them. But I also think that if we had kept Faulk he would have had just a good of a career, (dude had a monster year in '98), and I think we would have been a better team since he would likely had Champ Bailey on the roster as well.

Faulk and Edge are 2 of the best backs of all time but I still say JT what that dude has done to this point without the threat of a QB that demands respect from a defense is Barry Sanders esque…

He’s not the receiver Faulk was…

Not the blocker or receiver Edge was…

But as far as I’m concerned he’s the best RB of all of them. Any handoff can end in a TD with JT.

Faulk and edge played with MVP QBs so I’m holding that against them in this situation

That's a good point on the QBs, especially Edge since he had 7 years of prime Manning as his QB. Faulk is a little more nuanced IMO b/c he had 3 years of prime Warner and 1 year of rookie Manning. Also, w/ the exception of '22 JT's line has been better than any of Faulk's. Especially for years 2-4 for Faulk which couldn't run block to save their lives.

I think as a pure runner JT is arguably the best, but IMO you have to factor in other aspects of the position as well which as you noted Faulk and Edge were much better at receiving (and pass blocking for Edge) than JT is.

JT might hit 100 TDS this season

not!

It would take a really good season, but it's possible.

WTF! It is the most impossible record! If McGowan wins RB2, then I might wager on him having more TD's than JT.

I mean, he had 20 last year and 17 came before Jones died. 24 is a long shot, but not completely unrealistic.

I did see Moore, and he was awesome. Back then, the Colts had 3 RBs in the backfield at the same time. Moore, Ameche and Dupree. On passing downs, Moore would spit out, and Ameche and Dupree formed a cup around Johnny U so he could throw a dart to Berry. As a kid living in upstate NY, where most everyone was a NY Giants fan, I latched on to the upstarts from Baltimore and the cool, calm confidence of Johnny U. Been a Colts fan ever since.

You sir, are a lucky man!

I’ll take that bet, you do realize in 21 Hines was the backup and JT still had 18TDs

I’d be willing to wager having a decent backup will help JT end up with more TDs this season

Hines wasn't really a red zone RB. As I said before, if McGowan wins RB two, then he will steal some TD's from JT.

“Some” to say he’ll have more TDs than JT though that’s laughable for a guy that might not even be RB 2