Frank Gore - HOfer?
Frank Gore - HOfer?
currently 4th all-time in rushing yards behind Emmitt, Walter & Barry. Will probably surpass Sanders this year. Is he a HOFer? Does he compare to Curtis Martin in any way?
Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
When guys have statistics, it makes this difficult. Comparing apples to oranges is tough, but is Gore not the Jeff Van Note of running backs?
Van Note was a nice player who played a long time. Gore is a nice player who played a long time.
Van Note was a nice player who played a long time. Gore is a nice player who played a long time.
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Rupert Patrick
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Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
I think they're pretty similar. If you convert their career stats to a per-16 games context (that is, multiply career rushing stats by 16 and divide by games played and rounding off), Martin finishes with 335 carries and 1,343 yards. Gore finishes with 263 carries for 1,145 yards. Gore has a slightly better average per carry, 4.35 to 4.01.
By my statistic YRAA (Yards Rushing Above Average), which is how many yards a rusher rushed for in a season minus the number of yards an average rusher in the league would have rushed for given the same number of carries the rusher in question carried for, Gore's career YRAA of +2.885 yards per game is a little bit higher than that of Martin, who was slightly below average at -0.563. Gore's career YRAA of just under three yards per game is not impressive; Jim Brown is the leader at +24, followed by Sanders at +21, Payton was +7.65. Dickerson was +9, Dorsett was over 6, Marshall Faulk was over 5, OJ was over 12.
They both caught about the same number of passes, and Gore had a slightly better average, but nothing worth writing home about. Martin played in ten postseason games including a Super Bowl, Gore played in eight postseason games including a Super Bowl; neither guy got a ring. Each went to five Pro Bowls, Martin was All-Pro nine times by different groups, and three times second team, while Gore was never first team All-Pro, and was second team one time.
I could be wrong, but I don't think anybody who ever retired in the career top ten in rushing since the Hall of Fame has been opened has not been enshrined in Canton. I don't see why they would keep out Frank Gore, who will probably retire as the number four rusher of all time. Gore would need two healthy, productive (800-900 yard) seasons to pass Sanders, three maybe to pass Payton, and five to pass Emmitt. Passing Sanders is possible, Passing Payton is unlikely, and passing Emmitt is about a hundred to one shot.
By my statistic YRAA (Yards Rushing Above Average), which is how many yards a rusher rushed for in a season minus the number of yards an average rusher in the league would have rushed for given the same number of carries the rusher in question carried for, Gore's career YRAA of +2.885 yards per game is a little bit higher than that of Martin, who was slightly below average at -0.563. Gore's career YRAA of just under three yards per game is not impressive; Jim Brown is the leader at +24, followed by Sanders at +21, Payton was +7.65. Dickerson was +9, Dorsett was over 6, Marshall Faulk was over 5, OJ was over 12.
They both caught about the same number of passes, and Gore had a slightly better average, but nothing worth writing home about. Martin played in ten postseason games including a Super Bowl, Gore played in eight postseason games including a Super Bowl; neither guy got a ring. Each went to five Pro Bowls, Martin was All-Pro nine times by different groups, and three times second team, while Gore was never first team All-Pro, and was second team one time.
I could be wrong, but I don't think anybody who ever retired in the career top ten in rushing since the Hall of Fame has been opened has not been enshrined in Canton. I don't see why they would keep out Frank Gore, who will probably retire as the number four rusher of all time. Gore would need two healthy, productive (800-900 yard) seasons to pass Sanders, three maybe to pass Payton, and five to pass Emmitt. Passing Sanders is possible, Passing Payton is unlikely, and passing Emmitt is about a hundred to one shot.
"Every time you lose, you die a little bit. You die inside. Not all your organs, maybe just your liver." - George Allen
Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
Just going by the eye test I would say no. But he's going to retire with Hall of Fame rushing yards totals
Have to say though playing running back effectively in the NFL at 36 is borderline miraculous. I have great admiration for his longevity and effectiveness while lasting this long, but his peak years were simply good. He only cracked 1,300 yards once. That's it. Heck he only cracked 1,200 twice
A very solid, respectable and effective compiler. But he's not a Hall of Famer in the same way Harold Baines should not be a hall of famer
I was not the biggest Curtis Martin fan but he was a cut above Gore. Martin was not a breakaway speed back. Not flashy in any way. But did everything very very well. An elite workhorse with no single elite skill that jumped off the page at you. Five seasons of 1,300 or more rushing yards
1,697
1,513
1,487
1,464
1,308
which to me qualifies as great. Plus a much better receiver out of the backfield than Gore. Martin had an impressive nine straight seasons of 40+ receptions (once getting to 70 catches) Gore stopped being a viable receiving option around 2011. And Martin did it in fewer years (yet he still has more rushing TD's and receptions than Gore overall as of 2019)
Have to say though playing running back effectively in the NFL at 36 is borderline miraculous. I have great admiration for his longevity and effectiveness while lasting this long, but his peak years were simply good. He only cracked 1,300 yards once. That's it. Heck he only cracked 1,200 twice
A very solid, respectable and effective compiler. But he's not a Hall of Famer in the same way Harold Baines should not be a hall of famer
I was not the biggest Curtis Martin fan but he was a cut above Gore. Martin was not a breakaway speed back. Not flashy in any way. But did everything very very well. An elite workhorse with no single elite skill that jumped off the page at you. Five seasons of 1,300 or more rushing yards
1,697
1,513
1,487
1,464
1,308
which to me qualifies as great. Plus a much better receiver out of the backfield than Gore. Martin had an impressive nine straight seasons of 40+ receptions (once getting to 70 catches) Gore stopped being a viable receiving option around 2011. And Martin did it in fewer years (yet he still has more rushing TD's and receptions than Gore overall as of 2019)
Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
And speaking of Van Note, Atlanta always seems to be the place to find NFL Methuselah's
They had Clay Matthews play for them at 40
Morten Andersen kicked for them at 47
Jessie Tuggle. Was still filling an important role with them in his mid 30's
Steve DeBerg made a comeback with them and was a 44 year old backup QB in 1998
Eugene Robinson was playing for them at 36
Henry Jones from the Bills Super Bowl runs played for them at 35
Wayne Gandy played on their offensive line at 37
Lawyer Milloy played for them at 35
Dwight Freeney was with them at 36 (bounced around a lot the end of his career)
Matt Bryant will be their starting kicker this year at 44
Mike Kenn very underrated tackle played with them until 38
White Shoes Johnson was with them until 35 (he actually had two of his best receiving years in Atlanta at 31 and 33)
They had Clay Matthews play for them at 40
Morten Andersen kicked for them at 47
Jessie Tuggle. Was still filling an important role with them in his mid 30's
Steve DeBerg made a comeback with them and was a 44 year old backup QB in 1998
Eugene Robinson was playing for them at 36
Henry Jones from the Bills Super Bowl runs played for them at 35
Wayne Gandy played on their offensive line at 37
Lawyer Milloy played for them at 35
Dwight Freeney was with them at 36 (bounced around a lot the end of his career)
Matt Bryant will be their starting kicker this year at 44
Mike Kenn very underrated tackle played with them until 38
White Shoes Johnson was with them until 35 (he actually had two of his best receiving years in Atlanta at 31 and 33)
Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
We had this discussion a third of the way into the 2016 season, I compared him with Bettis ...
http://www.profootballresearchers.com/f ... f=5&t=3954
http://www.profootballresearchers.com/f ... f=5&t=3954
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bachslunch
- Posts: 824
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Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
I think the Bettis analogy is a good one. Both were big-time compilers with minimal peak, and Gore has in fact outdone Bettis on that.Reaser wrote:We had this discussion a third of the way into the 2016 season, I compared him with Bettis ...
http://www.profootballresearchers.com/f ... f=5&t=3954
It also helps that Gore won't have much competition among his RB contemporaries. Adrian Peterson is easily the best from this time period, but who else is better than Gore here? Guys like LeSean McCoy and Marshawn Lynch and Steven Jackson are the closest competition, but tend to be shorter career-decent peak guys, none of whom have reached the magical 12K career rushing yards mark that seems to make the difference.
As I had said on the earlier thread, I think he gets in and is a reasonable second tier/large hall option.
Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
Agreed. I think Gore could be the "Don Sutton" of RB HOFers.bachslunch wrote:It also helps that Gore won't have much competition among his RB contemporaries. Adrian Peterson is easily the best from this time period, but who else is better than Gore here?
Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
Gore is absolutely worthy. I place great value in longevity with a consistent high level of play. His 4.4 career average is excellent so I consider him much more than just a compiler.
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JohnTurney
- Posts: 2413
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2014 1:28 pm
Re: Frank Gore - HOfer?
Kind of like Harold Baines of the NFLBryan wrote:currently 4th all-time in rushing yards behind Emmitt, Walter & Barry. Will probably surpass Sanders this year. Is he a HOFer? Does he compare to Curtis Martin in any way?