Black and Teal
FanSided

Fred Taylor’s Work Put in Perspective with 10K Rushers List

By Luke Sims

facebooktwitterreddit

Fred Taylor is a Jacksonville Jaguars icon. He was a dominant rushing force, leading the Jaguars in rushing for season after season. The Jaguars were lucky to have him play for them for so long. In his 11 seasons with Jacksonville he put up a ridiculous 11271 yards. He added another 424 in two years with the New England Patriots to wrap up his career.

So, just how good is 11695 rushing yards?

Fred Taylor is in an exclusive list of just 29 running backs who have ever rushed for more than 10000 yards. From guys like Ricky Williams and Adrian Peterson on the bottom end to Emmitt Smith at the top, Fred Taylor is right in the middle. He’s sandwiched right between Steven Jackson and Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas.

In fact, Taylor is 15th all time in rushing the football. He averaged over 1000 yards a season with the Jaguars, even with just two games played in 2001 and 36 total games missed over his career with the Jaguars. Imagine what he could have done with even more time on the playing field!

The history books don’t care about what could have been for a guy like Taylor, though. Sure, we love to highlight what Barry Sanders could have done if he had played longer, we love to look at guys with 2000 yard seasons and project how they could have done even better (possibly). A guy like Taylor who is surrounded by Hall of Famers on the list is frequently overlooked. ‘Fragile Freddy’ remains a Duval hero, enshrined in the Pride of the Jaguars.

Will he ever be enshrined with the greats that surround him? Guys like John Riggins (11352 yards), Thomas (12074), and Franco Harris (12120) yards. These are Fred Taylor’s peers. His peers are Hall of Fame players.

The photo list the NFL put together is an entirely objective list based on the rushing yards put up by the greatest rushers the league has ever seen. Fred Taylor is rightly on that list and he is rightly sandwiched between some of the greatest players at his position. Objectively.

Will we ever see Fred Taylor make it to the Hall of Fame? I hope so. He deserves it. For now, however, we’re left looking at where he ranks in comparison and simply hoping. It is, however, nice to see him a part of the best of the best, even in a small way.

Next: And now for the worst first round pick by the Jaguars

More from Black and Teal

Home/Jacksonville Jaguars News