Best NFL Players of All Time: Erick Dickerson. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Erick Dickerson

Great sportsmen are able to win over the hearts of American sports fans by combining talent, perseverance, and teamwork. Then there are players that possess skill and aptitude, don’t give a damn about working as a team, and yet manage to dominate.

The latter description captures the essence of Eric Dickerson perfectly. In his second season, Dickerson shattered the NFL record for rushing yards in a season and looked like an unstoppable force. Holdouts, perceived slights, and numerous movements prevented him from developing into the player he could have been, even though he recorded 11,226 rushing yards over his first seven NFL seasons. Not even the late Walter Payton, who held the NFL rushing record until Emmitt Smith overtook him, was as amazed by Dickerson’s abilities.

Payton believed that Dickerson had an opportunity to break the all-time rushing record, put it in his back pocket, and run for more than 20,000 yards while he was with the Rams. He enjoyed seeing Dickerson’s incredibly fluid running style.

Even though Dickerson was a fantastic running back, there is a recurring motif in his career that suggests he was capable of much more. But what he accomplished was really remarkable, and in 1999, the Hall of Fame inducted him.

Rewind to his 1983 rookie season. Dickerson was the best running back in the class, but it was also the year of the legendary quarterback draft class that featured players like John Elway and Dan Marino. The Los Angeles Rams selected the record-setting back out of Southern Methodist University with the second overall choice.

At the beginning of his rookie season, Dickerson was as anxious as he could be; he fumbled six times in the first few weeks of play. But against the Jets, he turned the corner with an 85-yard touchdown run, and from then on, the yards and touchdowns kept coming. With 390 carries, Dickerson concluded his rookie season with 1,808 yards—a rookie record. In addition to setting a rookie record with 18 running touchdowns, he also added 51 receptions out of the backfield.

Given Dickerson’s unsteadiness at the beginning of the season, this was an incredible performance. Dickerson remarked, “My first few games, I was so nervous.” particularly that opening match. As soon as I put on my helmet, I lost all memory of the play’s name, my role in it, and everything else. I had trouble even remembering to breathe.

Dickerson earned 255 yards in his first three games, even if he was nervous. But his breakthrough game against the Jets gave us a hint as to the kind of back he would be in the NFL. During the game, he ran for 192 yards and two scores, including the previously noted 85-yard run that demonstrated his exceptional quickness when handling the ball.

It also highlighted Dickerson’s distinctive running gait. Dickerson ran the ball with a straight-up posture, defying NFL logic and precedent. Dickerson would go straight ahead, ostensibly presenting himself as a target for roving linebackers and defensive backs, rather of crouching and getting low as he readied to cut.

Although Dickerson’s head coach, John Robinson, was obviously concerned about him, the running back was completely unafraid of taking hard hits. Dickerson stated, “If you watch LM, you’ll see that I don’t get hit in the chest very often because I run upright most of the time when I see daylight.” “What they can’t catch, they can’t hit.”

Dickerson made a quite accurate analysis. Almost never did he take full-out shots, which other backs took. When he realized that contact was imminent, he could accelerate. Dickerson remarked, “I knew when I was about to get hit.” “I would attempt to increase the intensity or initiate action. I was really excellent at making them miss, so I didn’t want to get hit.

Dickerson had the most productive season of any running back in history following his outstanding rookie campaign. Twenty-five years later, his record of 2,105 yards in 1984 remains intact. During that season, he ran for 100 yards in 12 games and 175 yards or more in four other games. With a 102-yard gain over O. J. Simpson’s single-season record, Dickerson looked poised to become the first player to feature on every NFL rushing record.

However, Dickerson wanted to cash in on his success after the glory, so he led the Rams in a protracted holdout that continued until the third game of the 1985 campaign. He forced the Rams into a deal that sent him to Indianapolis two years later. Throughout his first four seasons with the Rams, Dickerson averaged 1,750 yards per game.

In his first full season with the Colts, he would reach 1,659 yards, but that would be his final outstanding campaign. In 1992, Dickerson was moved to the Raiders after four seasons in Indianapolis because to his dissatisfaction with the coaching staff and how he was exploited there. He played just four drab games with the Atlanta Falcons before ending his career, having spent a year with the silver and black.

13,259 running yards, a 4.4 yards-per-carry average, and 96 touchdowns in all marked the end of his 11-year career. He is without a doubt one of the most gifted and successful backs in history, but he also entered the game believing that Payton was correct and that he was capable of much more.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Erick Dickerson Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb	AV
1983	23	RAM	RB	29	16	16	390	1808	18	85	4.6	113	24.4		51	404	7.9	2	37	3.2	25.3			441	5	2212	20	13	15
1984	24	RAM	RB	29	16	16	379	2105	14	66	5.6	131.6	23.7		21	139	6.6	0	19	1.3	8.7			400	5.6	2244	14	14	17
1985	25	RAM	RB	29	14	14	292	1234	12	43	4.2	88.1	20.9		20	126	6.3	0	33	1.4	9			312	4.4	1360	12	10	9
1986	26	RAM	RB	29	16	16	404	1821	11	42	4.5	113.8	25.3		26	205	7.9	0	28	1.6	12.8			430	4.7	2026	11	12	13
1987	27	2TM	RB		12	10	283	1288	6	57	4.6	107.3	23.6		18	171	9.5	0	28	1.5	14.3			301	4.8	1459	6	7	12
		IND	RB	29	9	8	223	1011	5	53	4.5	112.3	24.8		13	133	10.2	0	28	1.4	14.8			236	4.8	1144	5	5	9
		RAM	RB	29	3	2	60	277	1	57	4.6	92.3	20		5	38	7.6	0	13	1.7	12.7			65	4.8	315	1	2	3
1988	28	IND	RB	29	16	16	388	1659	14	41	4.3	103.7	24.3		36	377	10.5	1	50	2.3	23.6			424	4.8	2036	15	5	19
1989	29	IND	RB	29	15	14	314	1311	7	21	4.2	87.4	20.9		30	211	7	1	22	2	14.1			344	4.4	1522	8	10	10
1990	30	IND	RB	29	11	8	166	677	4	43	4.1	61.5	15.1		18	92	5.1	0	17	1.6	8.4			184	4.2	769	4	0	6
1991	31	IND	RB	29	10	9	167	536	2	28	3.2	53.6	16.7		41	269	6.6	1	26	4.1	26.9			208	3.9	805	3	6	4
1992	32	RAI	RB	29	16	15	187	729	2	40	3.9	45.6	11.7	22	14	85	6.1	1	15	0.9	5.3	63.60%	3.9	201	4	814	3	1	5
1993	33	ATL	RB	29	4	2	26	91	0	10	3.5	22.8	6.5	8	6	58	9.7	0	30	1.5	14.5	75.00%	7.3	32	4.7	149	0	0	1
Career					146	136	2996	13259	90	85	4.4	90.8	20.5	30	281	2137	7.6	6	50	1.9	14.6	66.70%	4.8	3277	4.7	15396	96	78	111
5 yrs		IND			61	55	1258	5194	32	53	4.1	85.1	20.6		138	1082	7.8	3	50	2.3	17.7	0%		1396	4.5	6276	35	26	48
5 yrs		RAM			65	64	1525	7245	56	85	4.8	111.5	23.5		123	912	7.4	2	37	1.9	14	0%		1648	4.9	8157	58	51	57
1 yr		ATL			4	2	26	91	0	10	3.5	22.8	6.5	8	6	58	9.7	0	30	1.5	14.5	75.00%	7.3	32	4.7	149	0		1
1 yr		RAI			16	15	187	729	2	40	3.9	45.6	11.7	22	14	85	6.1	1	15	0.9	5.3	63.60%	3.9	201	4	814	3	1	5

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	Att	Yds	TD	Lng	Y/A	Y/G	A/G	Tgt	Rec	Yds	Y/R	TD	Lng	R/G	Y/G	Ctch%	Y/Tgt	Touch	Y/Tch	YScm	RRTD	Fmb
1983	23	RAM	RB	2	2	33	115	0	20	3.5	57.5	16.5		8	20	2.5	0	8	4	10			41	3.3	135	0	0
1984	24	RAM	RB	1	1	23	107	1	24	4.7	107	23					0						23	4.7	107	1	1
1985	25	RAM	RB	2	2	51	294	2	55	5.8	147	25.5		4	6	1.5	0	7	2	3			55	5.5	300	2	2
1986*+	26	RAM	RB	1	1	26	158	0	65	6.1	158	26					0						26	6.1	158	0	3
1987	27	IND	RB	1	1	15	50	0	14	3.3	50	15		7	65	9.3	1	19	7	65			22	5.2	115	1	1
Career				7	7	148	724	3	65	4.9	103.4	21.1		19	91	4.8	1	19	2.7	13			167	4.9	815	4	7
4 yrs		RAM		6	6	133	674	3	65	5.1	112.3	22.2		12	26	2.2	0	8	2	4.3	0%		145	4.8	700	3	6
1 yr		IND		1	1	15	50	0	14	3.3	50	15		7	65	9.3	1	19	7	65	0%		22	5.2	115	1

 

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