Fantasy Football Yesterday: Longevity versus peak defines our Fantasy Running Back Mount Rushmore

What does it take to be one of the greatest running backs in recent Fantasy Football history? Must a player be an early first-round draft pick? Does he have to be great as a rusher and as a receiver? Must he stay with one team his entire career? Or is it strictly about the stats and nothing about longevity or availability?

Our Mount Rushmore of Fantasy Football running backs proves that stats are king, but getting to the pinnacle of greatness is not promised just because you're a top-10 pick in the NFL Draft.

To determine this group, our panel each ranked six running backs. Here are our rankers:

Jamey Eisenberg
Dave Richard
Heath Cummings
Adam Aizer
Chris Towers
Ben Schragger
Ben Gretch

Tomlinson needs no introduction. The Hall of Famer rushed for at least 1,200 yards in each of his first seven seasons and scored at least 10 times in each of his nine years in San Diego. But he also amazed as a receiver, notching at least 50 receptions in nine of 11 NFL seasons, helping push his career total-yard average to 1,678 per season. Tomlinson is also the only running back to have two seasons with over 2,300 total yards from scrimmage and famously remains the record-holder for most touchdowns from scrimmage in a season with 31.

Faulk was also an impeccable Fantasy running back. He had at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage in each of his first eleven seasons and over 1,500 yards in seven of his first eight, but his four consecutive seasons with over 2,000 yards was an NFL first. He also scored 10 or more touchdowns in "only" eight of 12 seasons. Faulk is second all-time among running backs in career receptions with 767, behind only fullback Larry Centers, who had 827. Those 767 receptions rank 36th all-time following the 2019 season.

Then there's Holmes, who was so highly regarded coming out of Texas that he went undrafted. Holmes became a Fantasy favorite at first in 1998 when, in his second season, he rushed for over 1,000 yards and seven scores with the Ravens. But it wasn't until he arrived in Kansas City with coach Dick Vermeil that Holmes became a staple in Fantasy lineups. From 2001-2003, Holmes averaged nearly 2,200 yards and 20 total touchdowns from scrimmage. While you might not find Holmes in Canton, you will see Holmes as a successful rags-to-riches story who brought Fantasy managers league championships in the early 2000s.

Finally, there's Peterson. Of the four men on our Mount Rushmore, Peterson has the most career rush yards with 14,216 — and more coming in 2020. He also joins Tomlinson (162) and Faulk (136) in the top six of most career rushing touchdowns (with 117). And like Faulk, Tomlinson and Holmes, Peterson posted over 1,000 total yards for two teams in his career, including each of his past two seasons with the Redskins. Only Peterson will play into his age-35 season.

These four guys represent our consensus picks, though only Tomlinson and Faulk were unanimous choices.

The guy who was the closest to making our Mount Rushmore — and might if we wait another year or two longer — was McCaffrey. The Panthers' Swiss-Army Knife just recorded the third-most yards from scrimmage from any running back in NFL history with 2,392. It's more yards than Tomlinson, Holmes or Peterson recorded in any of their illustrious seasons. And with over 1,000 total yards in each of his first three seasons (and over 1,900 total in his two most recent), McCaffrey is certainly on track to eventually take up a spot among the great rushers in Fantasy history.