Worst RBs/WRs with a 1000 yard season?

[sheajets]

Another weird one was former Oilers WR Tim Smith. 3rd round pick, barely plays 1980-1982. Then in 1983 picks up 83 receptions for 1,176 and follows that up with 69 catches for 1,141. Has a 46 catch season after and that's pretty much it for his career. Those were some miserable years for Houston.

[Hail Casares]

Big expectations for Peyton Hillis after a 1000 yard season in Cleveland. Didnt go exactly as planned.

I heard that Hillis got in trouble for hitting on new HC Josh McDaniels' wife at a bar. So that kind of ended his career at Denver.

Two 1000 yard RBs came to mind:

John Settle, 1988 Falcons - had a big year, was featured in the NFL Diet Coke rap commercial ("...and it Settles the score!"), but kind of disappeared after that.

Rashaan Salaam, 1995 Bears - too mellow to hang on to the ball (9 fumbles) or catch the ball (7 receptions), yet the Bears kept feeding him the ball for 3.6 yards per carry. IMO the worst RB with a 1000 yard season.

James Allen or "Ultra-back" Raymont Harris for the Bears were far worse/worse than Salaam, IMO. Salaam was talented as hell, but injuries and substance abuse led to a lot of his issues...this might be harsh towards Harris, who was really a "bad" HB, but really should have been a very good FB..but was pressed into duty at RB for Chicago due to injuries etc.

Harris looks like he could still play today. Guy is in awesome shape.

[Hail Casares]

Gaston Green comes to mind for Denver. 4 very nondescript years in the NFL where he wasn't much of a blip on the radar despite being a 1st rounder. I was never impressed with him.

One thing I remember about that NFL draft was the top four RBs were Gaston Green, Brad Muster, Craig Heyward and Lorenzo White. There was no hype for Thurman Thomas, who actually had more college rushing yards than any of those 4 guys. Not sure why that was, but Thurman fell to the 2nd round while the other guys were 1st round picks. I'm guessing that Thurman ended up with more career rushing yards than the other 4 RBs combined.

I believe teams were scared off by Thomas' knee injury in college.

[Hail Casares]

The Bears James Allen. One random 1,100 yard season in 2000. His other 4 years in the league were nothing special

Another Bear I'm thinking of is Raymont Harris - 1,033 yards in 1997 with a 3.8 ypc, and 10 TDs; less than 1,500 yards with a 3.7 ypc and 6 TDs in another six seasons combined.

Interesting, had no idea myself he ever got to 1,000 yards.

re: Harris, IIRC, he broke his leg in the game that took him over 1,000 yards.

Really good player and in some alternate dimension him and Salaam are an awesome backfield for those mid 90s Bears with Harris at FB.

[RichardBak]

Quick math, diff between 1,000 yd season in 1959 and today:

1959: Need an average 83.3 YPG in 12-game season
2023: Need an average 58.8 YPG in 17-game season

My Uncle Snuffy could probably run for 1,000 yds today (well, roll...he's in a wheelchair)

[Elkman8102]

Patrick Jeffers and Drew Bennett (w/ Billy Volek) come to mind.

[JohnTurney]

Though I felt he was a true versatile professional, John Cappelletti never could put it together to make the impact as a runner, people might have expected. He joins a loaded Rams team and gets lost in a rotation of good backs, then later, is primarily a blocker for a pass happy Chargers offense.

He never produced a 1000 yard season or met pro expectations but can you imagine what he might have achieved with the Eagles, Steelers, Giants, Colts or Redskins? More the idea of a blue-collar player for a blue-collar team. A guy who could have been more a fan favorite, though with some of these teams, wouldnt have had the blocking to thrive. Too slow in the pros? Or just not enough running attempts to get into a flow for games?

I remember reading an interview with John Cappelletti after football in which he said he could have gained over a thousand yards in a season if Mark Van Eeghen did.

Raiders ran a fullback-based offense, like Steelers did, like 1973-75 Rams did. When Cappelletti became starter in 1976 McCutcheon moved from fullback to halfback and Cappelletti was the fullback they ran more halfback plays with more lead blocks. So it wasn't the same offense in 76-77 as in 1973-75 but it was the same lead ball carrier.

I think Cappelletti in a fullback-type offense, like Van Eeghan, Hubbard, Franco Harris, etc would have had 1,000 yards. But he'd have never been a great player. Maybe could have made a Pro Bowl or an All-NFC team in the best of years. He was a solid back, ran well, blocked well, could catch the ball well, decent short yardage but was not great at any of them. Kind of guy who was a dominant college player, but probably overhyped and overdrafted . . . probably not a 1st round talent. Maybe 2nd, 3rd or something like that.

[JohnTurney]

Quick math, diff between 1,000 yd season in 1959 and today:

1959: Need an average 83.3 YPG in 12-game season
2023: Need an average 58.8 YPG in 17-game season

My Uncle Snuffy could probably run for 1,000 yds today (well, roll...he's in a wheelchair)

Which is why you don't see a lot of names in this thread pre-1960s ... few from 1960s
or 70s, either.

Didn't check but et 95%+ are from 1978 forward .. .when the extra games made the 1,000-yard
mark much more achievable. Since then 1,200-1,300-yard seasons are the "new" 1,000 yards
really.

Jim Brown said 1,000 yard rushing in a 14-game season is like walking backward. 1,000 yards
in a 16 game season isn't worth talking about.

I never knew what he meant by walking backwards ... I guess it's hard but not that hard. But his
point was that a 12-game season was the standard to him.

The analogy always escaped me ... other than the "isn't worth talking about." That I understood.

[Brian wolf]

Bennett was good with the Titans and had that 1000 yard season but played for an offense that didnt care to throw it alot. He could be seen as good or bad but had he made that catch against NE in the 2003/04 divisional round that might have given the Titans the chance to tie the game at the end, he would have gotten more recognition.

[Brian wolf]

Speaking of late 50s backs, JD Smith had his lone 1000 yard season with the Niners in 1959 and played pretty well for them before they got JD Crow in a trade ... he wasnt the same with the Cowboys. Not a bad career though ...