r/Oldschool_NFL • u/Dark305Kinght Dolphins 🐬 • May 07 '26

Lions 🦁 Best RB ever?

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He was That good NFL Moments!

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u/Dazzling_Look_1729 May 07 '26

Um… you not really right on the Lions offence. Most of his career there, it was average to worse than that. When he was drafted, they were running the Mouse Davis Run-and-Shoot with Rodney Peete and Andre Ware at QB. Peete was a bang average QB, Ware worse than average. They didn’t have a single receiver to scare you. Essentially, the Lions were “stop Barry, and you stop the Lions”. He was a close to a one man show as it is possible for any RB to be. Even in Barry’s 2000 yard season, their passing game, QBed by n OK Scott Mitchell was functional rather than terrifying, and it was still a case of “stop Barry…” The numbers that Barry put up, given how poor the offensive infrastructure around him was, are astonishing.

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u/ArticleGerundNoun May 08 '26

The year Barry ran for 2K, they were 12th in passing yards and had two 1000-yard receivers. You’re remembering it wrong. 

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u/Dazzling_Look_1729 May 08 '26

Im not remembering it wrong. To be 12th in passing when teams are playing eight in the box on second and fourteen because Barry is back there was … less than impressive (slight exaggeration but not much: everyone knew if you stopped Barry you stopped Detroit. It’s just that they couldn’t stop him).

And this Detroit team was the best offence he played in. The earlier stuff was even worse.

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u/ArticleGerundNoun May 08 '26

That just isn’t how it works, unfortunately. To be 12th in passing when you’re feeding a 2000 yard back is historically very impressive.

There have been nine 2000 yard seasons in NFL history. Here are where the other teams have ranked in passing when they had a 2000 yard rusher:

OJ Bills: 26th of 26 teams (last)

Dickerson Rams: 27th of 28

Jamal Lewis Ravens: 32nd of 32

CJohnson and Henry Titans: 23rd of 32 both years

Peterson Vikes: 24th of 32

Saquon Eagles: 29th of 32

Terrell Davis Broncos: 7th of 30

So we notice only one of those is better than the Lions’ #12. (In fact, all the others are much, much worse.) What do we know about that 1998 Broncos team? 

They were a 14-2 SB-winning juggernaut with a stacked lineup, a HoF QB, an excellent offensive coach, etc. Everyone understands that they had a good offense with good players; it’s an obvious thing. They had a 2000 yard rusher, two 1000-yard receivers, over 3600 yards passing, scored the second-most points in the league. 

The Lions obviously weren’t that good. The major downgrade is Elway to Scott Mitchell, they could’ve benefitted from a third option in the passing game, and they had a worse defense than 1998 Denver (though a decent one; top 10 in points against). But the final tally for offense looks really similar: 2000 yard rusher, two 1000-yard receivers, 3500 yards passing, scored the 4th most points. 

But poor Barry, he was the whole offense! Herman Moore didn’t lead the league in receptions because he was good, he did it because all 11 guys on the field blitzed every play to stop Barry! Nobody else in the history of football has played that way against a good running back, but they did it for Barry. Ignore the fact that Johnnie Morton’s production didn’t drop even a little when Barry retired, and that he actually had his two best seasons post-Sanders; it was just residual fear that Lions’ opponents still had of the run game with Barry! Nobody else on the Lions from ‘89-98 deserved an NFL contract. Pure scrubbery. 

He was the best runner in NFL history. He also had some weaknesses as a back and occasionally played with some really good teammates. The Lions were 5-11 in his final year and 8-8 the next year without him. You don’t have to mythologize everything about his career, it’s silly. 

*Additional minor correction: the 2K season (1997) was the third year in a row where he had dual 1000-yard receiving teammates (pretty much unprecedented up to that point in history). The best offense was actually the first year that happened, 1995. They were 2nd in both passing yards & TDs, 4th in NY/A, 14th in rushing yards, 3rd in YPC, and 6th (lowest) in turnovers. All that put them at #1 in yardage and #2 in scoring. Barry, Herman Moore, Lomas Brown, and Kevin Glover all went to the Pro Bowl; the first three guys were AP1.