Bengals All-Time Team RUNNING BACK

[Kirkendall]

Only top ten Bengals rushing leaders, all-time, made the list, so no complaining.

[jjakq27]

Hey Josh... FYI..I think Rudi moved into tenth after this season. Not that I think he should be considered the best ever just yet.

Name yds. att. avg. lg td

1. Corey Dillon 8061 1865 4.3 96 45

2. James Brooks 6447 1344 4.8 65 37

3. Pete Johnson 5421 1402 3.9 65 64

4. Harold Green 3727 968 3.9 75 8

5. Essex Johnson 3070 675 4.5 86 18

6. Boobie Clark 2978 779 3.8 26 25

7. Archie Griffin 2808 691 4.1 77 7

8. Charles Alexander 2645 748 3.5 37 13

9. Larry Kinnebrew 2582 639 4.0 52 37

10. Rudi Johnson 2478 593 4.2 54 21

11. Paul Robinson 2441 617 4.0 87 19

12. Ken Anderson 2220 397 5.6 29 20

[Kirkendall]

Note to Stat man at BengalsZone. Update.

Thanks jak, I'm updating now.

[LABengalsFan09]

Still bitter over Eric Ball's snub on this ballot, so I went with Dillon. No one has ever had a fiercer stright arm than that guy. He is the total package once he has the ball, strong, fast, and has great vision. It's really too bad that off the field issues blurred his vision and decision making process in Cincy. Brooks is a very close second.

:player: :player: :player: :player: :player:

[Kirkendall]

Dillon's got the lead.

Vote boneheads! Shesh, we have almost 1,000 members and 15 votes? GOD@!T$@#$

[DontPushMe]

LMFAO @ whoever voted rudi johnson

[walshfan]

Your stats are misleading as far as running backs.. Cory has more yards rushing than Brooks but look at total yards as far as rushing/receiving are concerned.. touchdowns too.. Brooks is the alltime leader in getting in the endzone via rush or pass.. He was the best ...

[jditty47]

LMFAO @ whoever voted rudi johnson

yeah seriously...someone needs to do us all a favor and slit their wrists.

[jamesbrooks21]

Your stats are misleading as far as running backs.. Cory has more yards rushing than Brooks but look at total yards as far as rushing/receiving are concerned.. touchdowns too.. Brooks is the alltime leader in getting in the endzone via rush or pass.. He was the best ...

Yeah and Brooks shared the backfield almost every year he was here. Did you ever hear him bitchin and cryin about it??? Dillon did one year and was jealous as hell of Rudi if you ask me. How many times did Dillon average 5 yards per carry??? ZERO. Brooks did it four times. How about receiving? Dillons best year was 43 catches for 298 yards while Brooks doubled that twice. Dillon has 6 CAREER td receptions-Brooks had that in 1988 alone. JB had a total of 30 td catches in his career. Brooks was also a much better blocker if anyone remembers. I'll take this tough, little all-around back over Leon any day. Oh, and how many kick returns has Dillon fielded??

[BengalsOwn]

Brooks was on good teams, Dillon was on a garbage team.

Dillon hands down.

[Kirkendall]

Brooks was on good teams, Dillon was on a garbage team.

Dillon hands down.

Let's weight the options.

QB w/ Dillon:

Akili Smith

Jon Kitna

Gus Frerotte

Scott Mitchell

Oh... and let us NEVER forget O'Donnell or Jeff Blake.

* Only 1 QB had 3,000 yards in one season during Dillon's Bengal career -- Our lord and savior Jon Kitna (twice)

QB w/ Brooks

Boomer Esiason and a little Kenny.

[jamesbrooks21]

Brooks was on good teams, Dillon was on a garbage team.

Dillon hands down.

Let's weight the options.

QB w/ Dillon:

Akili Smith

Jon Kitna

Gus Frerotte

Scott Mitchell

Oh... and let us NEVER forget O'Donnell or Jeff Blake.

* Only 1 QB had 3,000 yards in one season during Dillon's Bengal career -- Our lord and savior Jon Kitna (twice)

QB w/ Brooks

Boomer Esiason and a little Kenny.

So your penalizing Brooks for who he played with?? If anything that just padded his stats while Brooks shared the ball with other weapons.(willingly i might add)

Dillon played with akili so we'll just hand it to him stop the voting!

Brooks never got more than 221 carries in a year, Dillon never had anything below 233 except last year. In the year Brooks toted it 221 times he rushed for 1239 yards. In Dillons first three years he rushed 233, 262, and 263 times and couldn't pass up 1239 yards. It took him carries into the 300s before he could beat JB's best season.Not to mention you will never be able to say Dillon was in the same backfield with a 1,000 yard back and instead of pouting rushed for damn near 1,000 himself like Brooks did in 88. When Dillon shared the backfield his jersey ended up in the stands.

But then again Brooks did play with Boomer.....

[Kirkendall]

So your penalizing Brooks for who he played with??

I never said anything to that affect, I merely stated who Brooks and Dillon played with and expanded on BengalsOwn comment. Trying to liven the debate a little.

[jamesbrooks21]

So your penalizing Brooks for who he played with??

I never said anything to that affect, I merely stated who Brooks and Dillon played with and expanded on BengalsOwn comment. Trying to liven the debate a little.

Again, if you go there you have to say that playing with the QBs Dillon played with also caused him to get many more carries which pumped his stats up more whereas Brooks didn't get those carries because the ball was being thrown all over the place too. I see your point, but that goes both ways.

[Kirkendall]

So your penalizing Brooks for who he played with??

I never said anything to that affect, I merely stated who Brooks and Dillon played with and expanded on BengalsOwn comment. Trying to liven the debate a little.

Again, if you go there you have to say that playing with the QBs Dillon played with also caused him to get many more carries which pumped his stats up more whereas Brooks didn't get those carries because the ball was being thrown all over the place too. I see your point, but that goes both ways.

Absolutely.

I hate going into the what-if pile, but I wonder how much more effective Dillon would have been with a competent front office, head coach, and QB. He did well in NE w/ over 300 carries, 12 TDs and a 4.7 average. Not stellar, but that's the type of back Dillon is.

Then again, we're comparing two backs from two different eras with seemingly two different team philosophies in the same city. While it's far-fetched, it's almost like the Bonds vs. Ruth argument -- well pre-steroids.

Both backs were unique in their own styles though, that's for sure.

[San Antonio Bengal]

Oh, and how many kick returns has Dillon fielded??

Who cares? The question is about running backs, not special teams. The question isn't who's the better all-around player between Brooks and Dillion.. it is who is the better running back.

[jamesbrooks21]

Oh, and how many kick returns has Dillon fielded??

Who cares? The question is about running backs, not special teams. The question isn't who's the better all-around player between Brooks and Dillion.. it is who is the better running back.

I was just making a point about JB's versatility there cowpoke. I believe the whole post was about Brooks being a more complete running back than Dillon. He was a better blocker and a better receiver. Also, Brooks has a career 4.7 yards per carry against Dillons 4.4. Give Brooks 340 plus carries like Dillon gets now and he runs for between 1750 and 1900 yards for three straight years. But as someone else said the newer players are more fresh on the minds, but as far as the total package James Brooks is the better running back IMO.

I was only around 11 and 12 years old when Brooks used to tote it but I remember him darting around the field like a rabbit and then to beat it all he would put his head down and lay some damn wood at the end of the play.

[DontPushMe]

James brooks was playing with all pros, Dillon was playing with crap. Yet still managed more production then Brooks in less years. He was the only good player on this team for years, and was the only bengal that anyone outside of cincinatti knew about. Maybe Dillon will let brooks wear his super bowl ring. Or maybe Dillon will invite him to his hall of fame induction speach. Brooks was good, but any non hater knows that dillon is by far the best bengal RB ever.

Some of you should write a letter to Brooks about how much you liked watching him play. Maybe someone will read it to him.

[San Antonio Bengal]

Oh, and how many kick returns has Dillon fielded??

Who cares? The question is about running backs, not special teams. The question isn't who's the better all-around player between Brooks and Dillion.. it is who is the better running back.

I was just making a point about JB's versatility there cowpoke. I believe the whole post was about Brooks being a more complete running back than Dillon. He was a better blocker and a better receiver. Also, Brooks has a career 4.7 yards per carry against Dillons 4.4. Give Brooks 340 plus carries like Dillon gets now and he runs for between 1750 and 1900 yards for three straight years. But as someone else said the newer players are more fresh on the minds, but as far as the total package James Brooks is the better running back IMO.

I was only around 11 and 12 years old when Brooks used to tote it but I remember him darting around the field like a rabbit and then to beat it all he would put his head down and lay some damn wood at the end of the play.

I wasn't arguing with the rest of your post. I agree that Brooks was a better reciever and blocker. During the late 80s, Brooks was my favorite Bengal of them all. All I was trying to say is that returning kicks doesn't make you rank higher or lower when you're doing a running back comparison. All it proves is that that player is versitile. Being versitile doesn't mean you're a better player. There are many "versitile" players who perform equally bad at all positions.

[FonzieDog]

I think it can be argued that JB made more of a difference on the Bengals of the 80s than Dillon did on the Bengals of the 90s. With Dillon on the 90s Bengals they still lost 9 to 15 games a year and they would probably lose almost as many without him. If you take Brooks away from the 80s Bengals then absolutley suffer. Without Brooks the Bengals probably don't make it to the playoffs in the 1990 season. True, Brooks did play with better talent than Dillon did but I think Brooks made a bigger difference to his teams than Dillon. With Brooks the Bengals won division titles and meaningful games late in the season. Even with Dillon the Bengals still lost games. Brooks actually made others on his team better through his play. He certainly improved the play at the quarterback position through his receiving skills making the whole offense more potent. Dillon didn't exactly have that facet to his game, not to the extent of Brooks. I love and respect what Corey did and accomplished in his time here. No disrespect to him, but Brooks is my choice.

[jamesbrooks21]

Oh, and how many kick returns has Dillon fielded??

Who cares? The question is about running backs, not special teams. The question isn't who's the better all-around player between Brooks and Dillion.. it is who is the better running back.

I was just making a point about JB's versatility there cowpoke. I believe the whole post was about Brooks being a more complete running back than Dillon. He was a better blocker and a better receiver. Also, Brooks has a career 4.7 yards per carry against Dillons 4.4. Give Brooks 340 plus carries like Dillon gets now and he runs for between 1750 and 1900 yards for three straight years. But as someone else said the newer players are more fresh on the minds, but as far as the total package James Brooks is the better running back IMO.

I was only around 11 and 12 years old when Brooks used to tote it but I remember him darting around the field like a rabbit and then to beat it all he would put his head down and lay some damn wood at the end of the play.

I wasn't arguing with the rest of your post. I agree that Brooks was a better reciever and blocker. During the late 80s, Brooks was my favorite Bengal of them all. All I was trying to say is that returning kicks doesn't make you rank higher or lower when you're doing a running back comparison. All it proves is that that player is versitile. Being versitile doesn't mean you're a better player. There are many "versitile" players who perform equally bad at all positions.

i don't think Brooks was versatile in a bad way, but you are right just because you can play more than one position doesn't necessarily mean "stud."

[CUbaseball11]

my vote is for James Brooks. if i needed short yardage give me dillon. but in any other case i'd definitely take brooks over cd.

[Messenger Guard]

I voted for Dillon. Rookie rushing record, blew up the Broncos for the single game record, one of 7? with six consecutive 1000 yard seasons for his first years in the league. Typical Corey in the Super Bowl, the run is plugged, he hits the back of his line cuts back out runs the overplaying defense and has 40 yards.

Too bad Paul Robinson doesn't make the top 10. How he did what he did the first two years of the Bengals franchise I don't know, but watching him run the sweep turned me into a Bengals fan.

Must admit I wasn't totally plugged into the 80s without cable, so Brooks wasn't really on my TV screen much. Who did we trade to get him? I was thinking Joiner, but that trade with San Deigo was way too early.

[jditty47]

ack some more ppl vote. i voted for brooks cuz he got us to the SB....both dillon and him should tie for this one. dont let me be the deciding vote:(

[bengalsfan33]

I said Corey Dillon mainly because he done so much for this team, even though he played on the sucky teams troughout the years. But Brooks actually played for the "decent" Bengal teams...