Personally I feel he is overrated as a rusher when you look at his stats.
He's only 11th in the league in rushing yards per game so far this year at 81 yards/gm, putting him at near the middle of the pack in the league.
He averages a mere 3.7 yards a carry, putting him 60th or so in the league in this category. Only Larry Johnson has a lower average of all rushers in the top 23 rushers in the game this year..and the only reason it is that high is because of his first game at Oakland where he averaged 4.2, still well below the top backs in the league. Against the 49ers he averaged just 3.4 yards a carry.
He does have 7 TDs on the year, but this can be strongly attributed to Philip Rivers and the SD offense, and when you're go the goto guy in the redzone you're bound to score a some TDs. Tiki Barber himself doesn't have a single TD this year, but leads the league in yards. And out of the 5 games he's played in this year, they've played against some of the worst defenses in the league in the Raiders, 9ers, and Titans.
All that said then, there's no doubt as to the impact he has in a game. His ability to receive as a back is matched by few others in the game, and in the red zone he is almost impossible to stop.
However, all this talk about him being the "best back in the game", or being the measuring stick that guys like Reggie Bush and others who come into the NFL will have to go by is too much for me. He's great, and I'd take him on my team in a second, but there are a handful of other running backs that I'd take over him if I had a choice..
He's only 11th in the league in rushing yards per game so far this year at 81 yards/gm, putting him at near the middle of the pack in the league.
He averages a mere 3.7 yards a carry, putting him 60th or so in the league in this category. Only Larry Johnson has a lower average of all rushers in the top 23 rushers in the game this year..and the only reason it is that high is because of his first game at Oakland where he averaged 4.2, still well below the top backs in the league. Against the 49ers he averaged just 3.4 yards a carry.
He does have 7 TDs on the year, but this can be strongly attributed to Philip Rivers and the SD offense, and when you're go the goto guy in the redzone you're bound to score a some TDs. Tiki Barber himself doesn't have a single TD this year, but leads the league in yards. And out of the 5 games he's played in this year, they've played against some of the worst defenses in the league in the Raiders, 9ers, and Titans.
All that said then, there's no doubt as to the impact he has in a game. His ability to receive as a back is matched by few others in the game, and in the red zone he is almost impossible to stop.
However, all this talk about him being the "best back in the game", or being the measuring stick that guys like Reggie Bush and others who come into the NFL will have to go by is too much for me. He's great, and I'd take him on my team in a second, but there are a handful of other running backs that I'd take over him if I had a choice..
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