Lorenzo Neal - Best full back of his generation? HOF?

[Miller]

Sarge brought this up in the game thread, wanted to bring it out and discuss it. Neal IMO is the best full back of his generation and might be the last "true" full back! Guy is a stud and one of the best lead blockers, if not the best, that I've ever seen play. Look at the list of RB's that Lo Neal has paved the way for:
Eddie George
Corey Dillon
LTomlinson

That's a lot of great seasons that Neal has paved the way for.

Question is does he deserve the HOF??? IMO, hell yes!! Guy was dominant at his position, and for me that is a sure fire HOF player. Thoughts?

 

[Sgt John]

Yes he does. Neal has worked at a high level for many many years. No one at his position has been as consistently as good as he is. This is a guy who deserves the HOF IMO

 

[Miller]

no other thoughts on this??

 

[Mike]

First ballot Hall Of Famer, in my opinion.

 

[The Ram]

While I agree Neal is the best blocking fullback of his generation, the HOF has become a test of statistics. I wonder how the writers would quantify his body of work?

 

[Remote Controller]

A punched ticket in hand!!

 

[Miller]

While I agree Neal is the best blocking fullback of his generation, the HOF has become a test of statistics. I wonder how the writers would quantify his body of work?

same as you would an lineman.....dominance and Pro Bowls

 

[Hollywoodnash]

Where would Alstott fit in to this argument. He was a hell of a lead blocker and a good runner for a fullback. While neal is the best blocking back of his generation, Alstott was an all around fullback.

He was a 6 time pro bowl fullback, 3 time first team all pro,71 career rushing touchdowns, 5088 career rushing yards, and a Super Bowl ring.

I'd take Alstott.

 

[Fire]

Along with Neal and Alstott, I think Tony Richardson and Moose Johnston deserve some consideration in this discussion.

 

[Da Bomb]

neal looks head and shoulders above alstott, richardson, and johnston to me.

neal is, as the title suggests, probably the best blocking fullback period. if you need stats, well then look up the stats of the guys he blocked for each year.

mike alstott is a fraud of a fullback, and any bucs fan can tell you that. he is a second half back "playing fullback" before half of the teams in the league started doing that. he couldnt block worth a crap and was a sham to make the pro bowl every year over real blockers because he was the only one who had stats.

same reason that neal will be sitting at home again this pro bowl, having not only been outvoted as the best fullback in the league, but also as the best "fullback" on his own team behind leron mcclain. :sad:

 

[Fire]

Agree on Alstott not being a true fullback, but I would take Johnston as my fullback over Neal. Neal probably is the best blocker at this position, but Johnston was no slouch at this aspect either. Defenses also had to account for him as a weapon on offense, which is why I consider him more valuable. He scored 22 TD's in is career and caught 50 passes in one season.

Give me the guy who can pave the way for my tailback, pick up blitzing linebackers, and a threat that the defense has to account for because if they don't he will make them pay, and if they do it allows others to make plays.

 

[The Ram]

same as you would an lineman.....dominance and Pro Bowls

Linemen can count sacks given up. Dominance is relative.

 

[Fire]

neal is, as the title suggests, probably the best blocking fullback period. if you need stats, well then look up the stats of the guys he blocked for each year.

Tony Richardson has been then lead blocker for some gaudy numbers put up by Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, and Adrian Peterson. And look at the season Thomas Jones had with an aging Richardson as his fullback in his 1st year with the Jets. Plus he catches passes and runs the ball occasionally.

 

[Miller]

Alstott was a poor lead blocker IMO. He was a great goal line back and finisher, but I don't consider him as a HOF type player, most of his PB's IMO were on reputation based on a couple high TD seasons instead of being deserved.

Richardson is a heck of a FB as well, and one that I'd rank ahead of Alstott. Moose in that same category as Richardson.

But for me, the top of the list is Neal. he's simply the best lead blocker I have seen.

 

[Da Bomb]

Tony Richardson has been then lead blocker for some gaudy numbers put up by Priest Holmes, Larry Johnson, and Adrian Peterson. And look at the season Thomas Jones had with an aging Richardson as his fullback in his 1st year with the Jets. Plus he catches passes and runs the ball occasionally.

yeah i know richardson has been awesome, as has moose, and another guy worth mentioning is mack strong. i just think neal trumps them all.

 

[Phicinfan]

My only real knock on Neal is that he was really ONLY a blocker.

Alstott I agree was not a true fullback. He was more a change of pace, bull Rb.

Moose Johnson and Richardson to me have added value due to the abilty to be a threat as a receiver as well.

I DO think Neal deserves to be in HOF. But so do some of the other FBs as well.

 

[Runnik's Hambones]

I'm with Phic on this one. I believe Neal deserves a HOF nod, because he's likely the best blocking FB the league has ever seen. Unfortunatly, the FBs that we're talking about, aren't all the same kind of players, and what made them great aren't the same things. Alstott was without a doubt the best running FB in the game. But should he not go to the HOF because he wasn't as good a blocker as Neal. No, he should be inducted because he did the best job running the ball than anyone else to play the possision. Just as Neal should be inducted because he blocked better than anyone else to play the possision.

 

[Hollywoodnash]

I agree with Runnik. The FB position is very different in that it is hard to measure a fullback's worth because many have such different skill sets. Many of the good receiving FB's are average blockers, while the best blockers usually don't have good hands or can run the ball very well.