| I'm not trying to knock Tomlinson, or find his place in the order of things, however something clearly jumps out at me: he plays in an era that is very rewarding for running backs.
Of the top 50 single-season Rushing TD leaders, 17 (34%) of them are from the year 2000 thru this season. This number could go up even more, as Larry Johnson is only 1 TD away from making an appearance in the top 50; Marion Barber and Willie Parker could also end up in the top 50 by season's end. That could mean that 40% of the top 50 single-season TD leaders would come from one decade: and the decade isn't even over yet, with 3 seasons still left to play.
By decade, since the 1960s, Rushing TDs have increased constantly, as is show by looking at the leaders:
1960s - 10.7
1970s - 13.5
1980s - 15.4
1990s - 17.4
2000s - 21.4
Rush Attempt leaders, by decade:
1960s - 247.6
1970s - 312.8
1980s - 330.2
1990s - 365.9
2000s - 372.6
Offenses use FAR more rushing attempts now than in previous decades. Running backs in the 1960s has about 66% the opportunity to pile up yards compared to one now.
Again, not to take anything away from Tomlinson or any other active players, but this seems akin to trying to see who the best ever NHL players were by looking at scoring lists from 1980 to 1986. |