Tiki Barber Underrated?
Give me a break. There is no such thing as an underrated NFL running back, much less one in New York. They're all either overrated or get the respect they deserve, because it's a glamour position. Every running back who is any good gets tons of credit at some point when they have a big couple games. Tiki Barber is a good running back. He's nothing special in the big picture. On NFL Live they were comparing him in his prime to Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander or LaDainian Tomlinson in theirs, and to me the comparison is almost laughable. He's never been a gamebreaker at that level. For most of his career he hasn't even been a primary option, because the Giants have been a passing team. I respect Tiki, but wow is he being overrated today as he teases retirement.
posted by Todd Martin at 11:17 PM
7 Comments:
I was surprised to hear some people were mentioning Hall of Fame with Tiki Barber. I have never seen him as a Hall fo Famer. He's a nice running back who had a nice couple of years but he is not one of the best ever. Roger Craig should go in the hall way before Tiki if he ever does.
Considering Larry Johnson's prime is all of the ten games he started last year (he's stunk this year), that comparison is fair. At least until Johnson shows something different.
I realize that Tiki is very overexposed (especially here in NY), but you have to give the guy credit for playing in a huge media market like this for as long as he has and improving his game during that time. He used to be known for fumbling the ball, and about 2 or 3 years ago, he dedicated himself to overcoming that, and now he rarely, if ever, fumbles. His last 2 seasons have been absolutely ridiculous (look at the stats), and he is doing really well this year too. That 180-plus yard performance last week won the game for the Giants. I agree with you that he's not on the level of Tomlinson (or Priest Holmes or Marshall Faulk in their primes), but I would take his career over Shaun Alexander's any day. Alexander is a solid running back on a great offensive team with the best line in the league protecting him. If Tiki was on that team in that system, he would have broken the TD record also. As for the Hall of Fame, you're forgetting how low the standards are for the NFL HOF; basically, if you play in the league for 10-15 years and do well for some of that time, you are strongly considered. I can see Tiki getting in, just because he's so well-known and has had monster games on nationally broadcast games so many times. I'm not sure he really deserves to get in, but he certainly deserves it more than other people who have gotten in in recent years.
Thanks for that shot at Tiki by the way, the same guy (a friend of mine) who has been slurping you for everything you've been saying about ECW did a complete 180 when reading that.
Speaking of RBs, wouldn't you dread having the nickname "Fast Willie"
Yeah comparing Tiki to that one-year wonder Larry Johnson really does a lot to support an argument. I'm surprised you didn't throw Lamont Jordan in there as well.
I will agree that Tiki isn't a HOF, but he has amassed at least 1,700 yards from scrimmage every year since 2002 and did it on some teams with pretty bad offensive lines.
Larry Johnson last year ran for 1351 yards and 16 touchdowns in nine games. That's insane. That's a type of dominance Tiki Barber has never seen. And I don't think Tiki would have been able to put up the same numbers behind that line. Maybe I'm just biased towards power runners. In any event, you offer me Larry Johnson from down that stretch run last year or Tiki Barber from any point in his career for one game, and I'm taking that Johnson hands down. It's not even a hard question for me. But I fully acknowledge that's a different question than who has the better overall career when all is said and done. The context of the discussion was take them at their best point, and the Chiefs' struggles to run the ball this year have not convinced me that last year was a fluke or reflective mostly of an incredible O-line.
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