Who was a better Running back Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith?

id go with emmitt smith on this 1 both were great HB's ill give the edge to Emmitt though.




















8x Pro Bowl selection (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999)


4x First-Team All-Pro selection (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995)


Second-Team All-Pro selection (1991)


NFL 1990s All-Decade Team


1993 NFL MVP


1990 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year


Super Bowl XXVIII MVP


2x NEA NFL MVP, (1991, 1992)


1993 PFWA NFL MVP


Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor


1993 Bert Bell Award


5x Galloping Gobbler Award


1989 SEC Player of the Year


Gator Football Ring of Honor


Florida High School All-Century Team


Florida High School Athletic Association Player of the Century


NFL Records





18,355 career rushing yards


164 career rushing TD's


78 100+ yards rushing games|||DEAL! yeah emmit smith is better... if you didnt already put all those stats/ awards on there i woulda... but yeah i agree w/ you|||Barry Sanders





10 Time Pro Bowler (89-98) - every year he was playing


6 Time First Team All Pro


1997 MVP


1989 Offensive Rookie of the Year


1991 %26amp; 1997 Bert Bell Award





Averaged 5.0 yards per carry to Emmitt's 4.2


Had a 2,000 yard season, Emmitt never got even close


Averaged 100 Yards per game, Smith averaged 81


Averaged 10 TD per season, Emmitt averaged 11.5


80 100+ yard rushing games


15,269 Yards in 5 fewer seasons





Except for TDs, Barry eclipsed or matched everything Emmitt did on a yearly basis with a much less potent offensive line and overall weaker team.|||I like both of them, Barry Sanders was very good, but ima have to go with Emmitt Smith he played better for the Dallas cowboys and won more super bowls than barry sanders. I mean the cowboys have won a lot and the lions have won how many? Zero thats how many.





Barry sanders was VERY good and they are to of the most talented players ever to play in the nfl but i would have to say emmitt smith (as you said) has the edge





!_!|||You can't say that one was better than the other. Both were great running backs. Emmit had better supporting players than Barry. The question is if the rolls were reversed, would Emmit have put up the same numbers as Barry and vise a versa? Barry put up some great numbers with some subpar players. I would have loved to have seen Barry play with a good team.|||Both were great RBs. However, there is a difference. Emmitt Smith had a beastly O line that opened up Cave size holes for him to skip through. Barry Sanders very often had to make plays happen with little holes to run through. Sanders is one of the exceptions that many RB could not do. He literally was a 1 man team. If you have never seen him play, then you have truly missed out.





Thumbs up to those who agree.|||I think Steve Slaton will be better than both of them, after all, he is just as tall as Emmitt and Barry. No logical reason he won't put up career numbers just as good.





Alegria - I read your answer to his last question, funny sh*t. No wonder he deleted the question, you humiliated him.|||Oh the ol' Emmit/Barry question. I watched both backs' whole careers. The question is, better at what?





Barry is easily the most elusive RB I've ever seen. Baddest dude in cleats.





Emmit gained over 18,000 yards and helped keep Aikman on his feet through 3 Super Bowl wins. When it comes down to it, Emmit was better for his team than Barry was for his...|||on a per year average... barry did better... in everything but TDs...





and clearly had a worse team... especially when you compare the lines... even if you don't think the lions line was "bad"... Smith's line was amazing... maybe one of the best lines in history as a whole...





it's like comparing chad pennington to joe montana... pennington's "not bad"... but he's not one of the best ever...





barry also got 2k in the pros and 2.5k in college... Emmitt never did that...|||its barry sanders and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. barry had no o-line and pretty much no one on the entire team. he rushed for over 2,000 yards on the LIONS. let me repeat, he did it on the LIONS. e.smith had an amazing team which made it so much easier to be a good rb.|||Barry Sanders did what he did without another hall of fame calibre player on the offense. The Cowboys had a hall of fame calibre:QB, WR, and at least one offensive lineman.





There is no question Barry Sanders was much more skilled.|||Barry Sanders no contest, did you see the line emmit had in Dallas compared to Barry Sanders?? Imagine if barry was in dallas running behind that line. He would for sure have more TD's and yards then emmit.. Plus having Aikmen and Irvin doesnt hurt either..|||Ill take Barry Sanders. E Smith was on a better team so naturally his stats will be better. I do believe the Lions had some Pro Bowl lineman in the 90s so when people say Sanders had no line, thats not always true. Sanders was just amazing and was total class.|||Barry. Emmitt had Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, a good defense, and the starting first team NFC Pro Bowl offensive line every year. Barry had ummm ...|||Forget statistics. Smith played on a SB caliber team.





Sanders played for the Lions.





Why do you think Sanders quit so early in his career?





Answer: Sanders.|||Barry Sanders is the best RB to ever play. If he would have had the line Emmitt did, his yard total would be unreachable. he basically did it all himself|||barry sanders no doubt emmitt had a great team around him, barry had the loins and still put up better year by year numbers then smith|||Barry Saunders didn't even half as much talent that emmitt smith hand on his offensive line. And ask any defensive player in those days who is a harder player to tackle and they'll will say Barry|||Former Arizona Cardinal Emmitt Smith.|||statistics,statistics.....


Barry Sanders.|||Emmitt!|||whats wrong Joey ????? i slaughtered your stupid points about Steve Slaton and Barry Sanders so you remove the question ? lol @ you.|||Emmitt Smith|||Emmitt Smith|||Sanders. He was just ridiculous to tackle.|||barry sanders, to put up with what he did at detroit had to make him a saint.|||I'm a Cowboy fan and even I think it was Barry sanders. If anyone doesn't agree with that then, they probably didn't see either play. Emmitt ran behind perhaps the greatest offensive line put on a field. Barry wasn't so fortunate. Just search youtube and watch some of this guys runs. Amazing. Stats? Bah... stats aren't everything. Barry only played 8 seasons or so. Emmitt was like 15 or so. Of course the stats are going to be in Smith's favor. I still think E was a great player but, a lot of his success is attributed to the likes of Darryl Johnston, Eric Williams, Mark Tunei, Mark Stepnoski, Nate Newton and Larry Allen. Emmitt should have an asterisk in the Hof.