Last year, we ranked the 100 greatest quarterbacks of all-time. If you are so inclined, you can check out that list here.

This year, we looked at the greatest running backs of all-time. This list was far more challenging to compile. With quarterbacks, as the league evolved into a heavier passing league, the more current quarterbacks with bigger numbers made their way further up the list.

For running backs, how do you rank running backs that were key performers in the earlier years of the league? How do you rank running backs that aren’t as featured in offenses as they once were? How can I look at Bronko Nagurski and Marshawn Lynch and know who was truly the best power back between the two?

To help me with this list, I decided to make a point system to help see how players were looked upon in their own eras. This is the system I came up with. This point system is not a rule of law, but more of a guide to look at running backs from all eras.

First, I wanted to reward yards running and receiving. So I took the player’s career rushing and receiving yards and divided them by 1,000. So if a player had 15,000 career yards from scrimmage, that was worth 15 points.

Next, I thought it was important to reward the All-Decade teams. If a player was an all-decade first team, they received 5 points. If they were All-Decade second-team, they received four points.

MVPs and Offensive Player of the Year were also important to reward. MVPs received 5 points, and OPOY received 4 points.

I also wanted to reward All-Pros and Pro Bowls. First team All-Pros received 3 points, 2nd team All-Pro received 2 points, and a Pro Bowl spot earned 1 point.

This system tries to reward longevity with the yardage points, but also rewards accolades. If you were the best player in the league one year, you could rack up a lot of points in a hurry.

Let’s look at one player as an example so you can see how the point system plays out.

Let’s look at someone who was quite the thorn in the Chicago Bears’ side: Adrian Peterson.

Peterson had 17,400 yards from scrimmage: 17 points.

Peterson received 5 points for being first-team All-Decade, 5 points for being the 2012 MVP, and 4 points for being the 2012 OPOY. That puts him at 31 points.

Four times he was first team All-Pro for another 12 points, 3 times he was second team All-Pro for another 6 points, and he was named to 7 Pro Bowls, for 7 more points.

That puts Peterson at 56 points.

I also made tiers for the running backs. There are seven tiers: GOAT Tier, Near GOAT Tier, Legend Tier, Hall of Fame Locks Tier, Hall of Fame Bubble Tier, Not Quite Hall of Fame Tier, and the Very Good Tier.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 100 greatest running backs of all-time.

1. Walter Payton, Chicago Bears, 70 points: The GOAT among GOATs. Many football historians may claim Jim Brown, some may claim Barry Sanders, but they walked away. Payton is the only running back to be All-Decades in two decades, had insane longevity, and all the accolades a running back can accomplish. His all-around talent was second to none.

2. Jim Brown, Cleveland Browns, 70 points: To me, Brown is the only other running back that stake a claim to the top spot. Brown won MVP 3 times and was the most dominant player, regardless of position, in the 1960s. Brown chose to walk away and pursue other interests; had he stuck around a few more years, he probably would have had a spot that not even Payton could have surpassed.

3. Barry Sanders, Detroit Lions, 72 points: Sanders was the greatest runner of the football that I’ve ever seen, and I can confidently say nobody before my time surpasses him. Sanders actually has a touch more points than both Payton and Brown, but Sanders’ lack of ability catching the football and blocking leaves him too one-dimensional to top the board altogether. But nobody has a YouTube highlight package like Barry Sanders.

4. Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys, 54 points: The NFL’s All-Time leading rusher. Cowboys fans might be upset at his spot, but the fact that he has nearly 20 points less than the top three guys shows that there was a drop-off in performance. That certainly doesn’t take away from the success on the field.