2014 Semifinalists for the Hall of Fame

[ThaVirus]

Ah, the ol' "You're not old enough to remember X" card.

Love that.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

Ah, the ol' "You're not old enough to remember X" card.

Love that.

You've admitted that you are 24 years old. You were born roughly around 1988 or 1989.

Would you care to explain the NFL game of the 70's and 80's? Hell, even the 90's?

How has it changed?

[ThaVirus]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

You've admitted that you are 24 years old. You were born roughly around 1988 or 1989.

Would you care to explain the NFL game of the 70's and 80's? Hell, even the 90's?

How has it changed?

I'd love to see the league average for YPC over the years and whether or not the passing rules have had any impact. I have no idea where to find it though.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I'd love to see the league average for YPC over the years and whether or not the passing rules have had any impact. I have no idea where to find it though.

Defenses are geared to stop the passing game. The rules regarding CB's and pass rushers didn't exist in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Guys can barely touch QB's these days, let alone WR's, yet back in the day, they could destroy QB's and mug receivers.

It was totally different game, which is why if you didn't have an amazing running back (if not a Hall of Famer), you likely weren't going to the Super Bowl, let alone, win it.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I'd love to see the league average for YPC over the years and whether or not the passing rules have had any impact. I have no idea where to find it though.

It has, but not to the degree Dane is contending.

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...FL/rushing.htm

In the 70s you could expect YPC to be around 4.0 YPC. 80s - largely the same story.

The 90's looked to vacillate a little more, but YPC do have a downward trend; 3.9 seems pretty fair and by Tomlinson's 'peak' years it had come up to about 4.1 YPC.

We're talking percentage points here and there; in any given 'era' you're looking about a variation of about 2-4%.

He's right that it's gotten a little easier, but not by that much and certainly not when you compare it to the guys in the 70s and 80s.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It has, but not to the degree Dane is contending.

http://www.pro-football-reference.co...FL/rushing.htm

In the 70s you could expect YPC to be around 4.0 YPC. 80s - largely the same story.

The 90's looked to vacillate a little more, but YPC do have a downward trend; 3.9 seems pretty fair and by Tomlinson's 'peak' years it had come up to about 4.1 YPC.

We're talking percentage points here and there; in any given 'era' you're looking about a variation of about 2-4%.

He's right that it's gotten a little easier, but not by that much and certainly not when you compare it to the guys in the 70s and 80s.

But there weren't guys running sub-4.5 40's across the board, either.

The game has changed dramatically.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

But there weren't guys running sub-4.5 40's across the board, either.

The game has changed dramatically.

Of course it has.

And those guys running sub 4.5 40's are often CBs trying to track you down or even more terrifying, 240 lb LBers. There damn sure weren't any Dontari Poes in the middle of the line that can leg press a light pickup and clock a 4.9.

Speak to the rules all you want, but the results don't lie - their impact on the actual performance of RBs by era has been in the margins at best. Offenses have adjusted the help they give RBs to fit the rules and the gazelles that are built line 70s era lineman are now LBs are that can fly to the edges (on the same sized field, mind you) and keep modern RBs from getting the corner that they would've made it to in the past.