Having gotten its feet wet with baseball and cricket, football represented the sink-or-swim moment for Apples & Oranges. We’re going from a pair of sports that distribute opportunity more or less evenly to one where a single player has the ball on every possession, and three-quarters of the team never get to touch it.

Modern NFL players play offense or defense, not both. Or they might come in seven or eight times a game to kick the ball. Linemen spend all their time simply trying to neutralize one player on the other team. Defensive players earn vast sums of money if they manage to make 20 big plays in 16 games. Football is the sport that, quarterbacks aside, demands from its stars the most sacrifice to the team ethos. Huge rosters mean players are constantly shuttling in and out, further limiting a single player’s impact.

The end result is that there is huge variance from position to position among football players. Quarterbacks have the potential to be immensely valuable. Running backs are more productive than wide receivers, who in turn out-gain tight ends. Defensive backs make some impact, especially if they return kicks, too, but “in the trenches” —  the linebackers and linemen on both sides of the ball — the numbers are tiny.

The low numbers for linemen and defensive players don’t mean that I think they aren’t as “good” as the skill-position guys. It’s just that a player’s opportunity to impact the game is directly related to how often he gets the ball. It takes tremendous talent, physicality and endurance to play on the line in the NFL, but each one of those guys is matched up with an opponent who is also tremendously talented and physical. The net result of all that blocking, pulling, stunting and tackling is a zero-sum game where only the most impactful players move the needle even a little bit.

As I’ve said before, if I’m going to compare quarterbacks to shortstops, I have to be clear-eyed about the value of every position. I can’t give linemen and linebackers extra credit because what they do is so physically grueling.

As for the actual stats: Offense 1 is yardage; passing yards count half, everything else — rushing receiving, returns, losses on sacks — counts full. Linemen and tight ends get credit for team rushing, and the interior linemen also get credit for preventing sacks. Offense 2 is scoring: passing and receiving touchdowns are 3 points; every other TD, field goals, PATs and safeties count full. Offensive linemen, but not tight ends, get a bonus for team rushing touchdowns.

Defense 1 is turnovers. Fumbles — fumbling, recovering and forcing — count as half a turnover, except for the years where we don’t have forced-fumble statistics, in which case recovering the a fumble for the defense counts as a full turnover. Interceptions, punts and missed field goals all count as a turnover. Because these will be the only “defensive” stats for most modern offensive players, their final defensive number will end up being a slight negative. Defensive players also get credit for the punts forced by their team.

Defense 2 is yards allowed. Linebackers get credit for the total yardage their teams allow, defensive linemen are rated on rushing yards and defensive backs on passing yards. Sack yardage counts here, but it gets tricky. We have individual sack yardage for some years, individual sacks since 1981 (and unofficial sacks for some players before that), and team sack yardage since the 1940s. Depending on the year, we may be able to credit a player with his individual impact on that front, or we may have to give him a piece of the team total. Punting yards count here, too, in full — a punter will generally have a negative Defense 1 number and a positive Defense 2 number, averaging out to a net positive.

Quarterbacks	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum	Off	Def
Sammy Baugh	171	28.67	26.83	5.35	32.18	36.03	17.61
Tom Brady	383	56.68	23.68	7.53	31.20	52.87	-5.52
Peyton Manning	293	44.37	24.23	6.66	30.89	55.42	-6.96
Drew Brees	305	45.78	24.02	6.77	30.78	54.83	-6.80
Sid Luckman	133	19.86	23.89	4.46	28.35	32.76	15.02
Andrew Luck	94	14.29	24.32	3.78	28.10	56.79	-8.16
Dan Marino	260	35.09	21.59	5.92	27.52	51.07	-7.89
Steve Young	189	26.12	22.11	5.11	27.22	49.27	-5.05
Brett Favre	326	40.98	20.11	6.40	26.51	49.15	-8.93
Ben Roethlisberger	272	34.93	20.55	5.15	26.46	48.22	-7.12
Otto Graham	138	18.97	21.99	4.36	26.35	46.55	-2.56
Joe Montana	215	26.57	19.77	5.15	24.93	45.69	-6.15
John Elway	256	30.72	19.20	5.54	24.74	46.10	-7.70
Randall Cunningham	173	21.24	19.64	4.61	24.25	45.66	-6.37
Warren Moon	218	25.88	18.99	5.09	24.08	47.20	-9.21
Fran Tarkenton	257	28.13	17.51	5.30	22.82	42.25	-7.23
Dan Fouts	188	21.32	18.14	4.62	22.76	46.05	-9.75
Jim Kelly	177	19.70	17.81	4.44	22.25	44.47	-8.85
Roger Staubach	149	16.17	17.36	4.02	21.38	40.66	-5.93
Terry Bradshaw	187	19.51	16.69	4.42	21.11	42.39	-9.00
Johnny Unitas	220	21.61	15.72	4.65	20.37	39.82	-8.38
Ken Anderson	198	19.50	15.76	4.42	20.17	37.41	-5.89
Troy Aikman	181	18.01	15.92	4.24	20.16	38.51	-6.68
Bobby Layne	179	16.59	14.83	4.07	18.90	39.50	-9.84
YA Tittle	206	18.50	14.23	4.30	18.53	36.46	-8.00
Joe Namath	146	13.06	14.32	3.61	17.94	38.62	-9.98
Sonny Jurgensen	218	17.24	12.65	4.15	16.81	31.13	-5.82
Bob Griese	173	14.00	12.95	3.74	16.69	32.98	-7.09
Len Dawson	217	15.28	11.27	3.91	15.18	28.94	-6.41
Bart Starr	208	13.35	10.27	3.65	13.92	25.40	-4.86

Baugh and Luckman played defense and punted, too, which drives their final numbers up. I’m sure most fans would discount anyone who played before 1950 (or 1960, or 1970 …). Of the modern guys, Tom Brady is tops, with Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger all moving into the top 10 recently … and Aaron Rodgers will likely finish ahead of them. Modern football makes QBs more valuable than ever.

Brett Favre was tied with Marino after his last year in Green Bay. His Jets/Vikings dalliances cost him two spots.

Griese, Dawson and Starr are of a type extinct in the NFL. We’d call them “game managers” now (dismissively), but they were really more like offensive coordinators on the field. Bob Griese once won a playoff game in which he threw six passes.

Running Backs	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Jim Brown	122	20.46	26.83	4.52	31.36		54.92	-1.26
Steve Van Buren	87	14.89	27.38	3.86	31.24		49.52	5.24
Gale Sayers	68	11.17	26.28	3.34	29.62		53.70	-1.14
LaDainian Tomlinson	180	26.09	23.19	5.11	28.30		46.82	-0.43
Barry Sanders	159	22.44	22.58	4.74	27.32		45.82	-0.66
Emmitt Smith	243	32.14	21.16	5.67	26.83		42.99	-0.67
Walter Payton	199	26.60	21.39	5.16	26.54		44.01	-1.24
Marshall Faulk	188	24.63	20.96	4.96	25.92		42.34	-0.41
O.J. Simpson	136	17.06	20.07	4.13	24.20		41.36	-1.23
Curtis Martin	178	21.73	19.53	4.66	24.19		39.40	-0.34
Eric Dickerson	153	18.77	19.63	4.34	23.63		40.72	-1.47
Edgerrin James	161	19.06	18.94	4.37	23.31		38.89	-0.77
Adrian Peterson	189	21.63	18.31	4.65	22.96		37.24	-0.62
Franco Harris	192	21.31	17.76	4.62	22.37		36.85	-1.33
Marcus Allen	238	25.61	17.22	5.06	22.28		35.24	-0.80
Lenny Moore	147	16.28	17.72	4.03	21.75		36.11	-0.67
Earl Campbell	122	13.75	18.03	3.71	21.75		37.05	-0.98
Tony Dorsett	190	20.40	17.18	4.52	21.69		35.77	-1.41
Thurman Thomas	203	21.46	16.91	4.63	21.55		34.64	-0.82
John Riggins	184	19.46	16.92	4.41	21.33		34.69	-0.85
Paul Hornung	109	11.83	17.37	3.44	20.80		39.68	-4.93
Jim Taylor	139	14.63	16.83	3.82	20.66		34.32	-0.67
Jerome Bettis	204	19.65	15.41	4.43	19.84		31.31	-0.49
Frank Gifford	141	13.28	15.07	3.64	18.71		30.30	-0.17
Larry Csonka	160	14.00	14.00	3.74	17.74		28.40	-0.41
Hugh McElhenny	145	12.45	13.74	3.53	17.27		28.30	-0.82
Ollie Matson	180	14.76	13.12	3.84	16.96		26.05	0.18
Marion Motley	115	9.42	13.11	3.07	16.18		24.24	1.97

Running backs are characterized by great early value, followed by a steep decline. That’s why Van Buren and Sayers did so well here; they got hurt before they got old.

Tomlinson was on pace to blow everyone away through Year 7 and then fell off a cliff. Dickerson and Campbell were similar, but done even sooner.

Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders and Walter Payton finished within a point of each other. I think most people would be surprised to see Payton behind Smith. I sure was. If you go by regular-season yardage, Payton is way ahead. But add in touchdowns, and postseason stats, and Smith inches out in front. He came along right when offensive coordinators realized it was probably a good idea to give the ball to your best back on the goal line whenever possible.

Wide Receivers	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Don Hutson	121	19.89	26.29	4.46	30.75		45.82	6.76
Bobby Mitchell	149	15.08	16.19	3.88	20.08		32.91	-0.52
Jerry Rice	331	29.01	14.02	5.39	19.41		28.26	-0.21
Elroy Hirsch	136	12.41	14.60	3.52	18.12		23.97	5.22
Terrell Owens	231	18.97	13.14	4.36	17.49		26.40	-0.13
Randy Moss	233	18.91	12.99	4.35	17.34		26.06	-0.08
Marvin Harrison	206	16.87	13.10	4.11	17.21		26.42	-0.21
Calvin Johnson	137	11.66	13.62	3.41	17.03		27.51	-0.27
Lance Alworth	150	12.45	13.28	3.53	16.81		26.67	-0.10
Tim Brown	267	19.96	11.96	4.47	16.43		24.20	-0.28
Charley Taylor	170	12.75	12.00	3.57	15.57		24.31	-0.31
Don Maynard	189	13.57	11.49	3.68	15.17		23.09	-0.12
Steve Largent	207	14.64	11.32	3.83	15.14		22.83	-0.20
Cris Carter	248	17.01	10.97	4.12	15.10		22.09	-0.15
Larry Fitzgerald	272	18.10	10.65	4.25	14.90		21.45	-0.15
Isaac Bruce	232	15.80	10.90	3.97	14.87		22.02	-0.23
Dante Lavelli	132	9.27	11.24	3.04	14.28		19.23	3.24
Henry Ellard	238	15.36	10.33	3.92	14.25		20.85	-0.21
Reggie Wayne	232	14.88	10.26	3.86	14.12		20.66	-0.13
Paul Warfield	174	11.63	10.69	3.41	14.10		21.49	-0.11
James Lofton	245	14.88	9.72	3.86	13.58		19.57	-0.14
Raymond Berry	158	10.12	10.25	3.18	13.43		20.50	0.00
Lynn Swann	129	8.20	10.17	2.86	13.03		20.52	-0.19
Art Monk	239	13.67	9.15	3.70	12.85		18.43	-0.12
Fred Biletnikoff	209	11.91	9.12	3.45	12.57		18.29	-0.06
Cliff Branch	205	11.10	8.66	3.33	12.00		17.41	-0.09
Charlie Joiner	248	12.86	8.30	3.59	11.88		16.84	-0.26

The original formula split yards between the passer and the receiver, and gave receivers credit for receptions. It ended up being needlessly complicated, and I found I got much the same results if I just gave receivers full credit for their yards. It does mean that the sum of individual numbers will exceed the team total, if that matters.

Weird to see Jerry Rice third. Just keep in mind that Don Hutson played in the 1930s and Bobby Mitchell was more of an all-around offensive player. Half of Mitchell’s yards came as a receiver, a quarter as a running back and a quarter as a return man. Among modern, pure wide receivers, Rice is comfortably in front.

There’s a batch of recently retired players in positions 4-7. As with QBs, the modern NFL is better for this position. But it’s not enough to catch the running backs. Receivers are about 60-70 percent as productive as backs.

Hutson was a two-way guy, so that helps him. But even without his defense, he’s the most productive receiver ever, relative to his peers.

Tight Ends	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Rob Gronkowski	165	13.48	13.07	3.67	16.74		26.24	-0.09
Tony Gonzalez	277	19.95	11.52	4.47	15.99		23.05	-0.01
Kellen Winslow	115	8.73	12.15	2.96	15.11		24.47	-0.17
Antonio Gates	248	16.78	10.83	4.10	14.92		21.73	-0.07
Shannon Sharpe	222	14.81	10.67	3.85	14.52		21.43	-0.08
Dave Casper	157	9.84	10.03	3.14	13.17		20.07	0.00
Pete Retzlaff	133	8.49	10.21	2.91	13.13		20.45	-0.03
Keith Jackson	142	8.88	10.01	2.98	12.99		20.35	-0.34
Riley Odoms	159	9.75	9.81	3.12	12.93		19.73	-0.10
John Mackey	149	8.78	9.43	2.96	12.39		19.03	-0.17
Ozzie Newsome	208	11.55	8.88	3.40	12.28		17.79	-0.03
Mike Ditka	168	9.60	9.14	3.10	12.24		18.30	-0.02
Todd Christensen	148	8.52	9.21	2.91	12.12		18.01	0.40
Jerry Smith	175	9.65	8.82	3.11	11.93		17.64	0.00
Brent Jones	164	8.75	8.54	2.96	11.49		17.21	-0.14

Tight end isn’t a real deep field. A ton of 5,000-yard, 50-touchdown guys.

Rob Gronkowski announced his first retirement in March of 2019, at which point he was by far the top tight end ever. A couple of good-but-not-great years in Tampa brought him back to the pack some, but he’s still comfortably on top.

Offensive Line	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Bulldog Turner	145	10.47	11.55	3.23	14.78		14.53	8.57
Mike Webster	265	8.29	5.01	2.88	7.88		10.00	0.01
Gene Upshaw	241	7.54	5.01	2.75	7.75		9.94	0.06
Jim Langer	165	5.41	5.25	2.33	7.57		10.45	0.04
Larry Little	196	6.19	5.05	2.49	7.54		10.00	0.11
Frank Gatski	156	5.05	5.18	2.25	7.43		8.48	1.88
Mick Tingelhoff	240	7.08	4.72	2.66	7.38		9.32	0.12
Jim Ringo	190	5.78	4.87	2.40	7.27		9.63	0.11
John Hannah	190	5.76	4.85	2.40	7.25		9.53	0.16
Forrest Gregg	205	6.07	4.74	2.46	7.20		9.36	0.12
Jackie Slater	276	7.55	4.38	2.75	7.12		8.70	0.05
Bob St. Clair	120	3.84	5.12	1.96	7.08		10.06	0.18
Anthony Muñoz	193	5.56	4.61	2.36	6.97		9.12	0.10
Jim Otto	221	5.97	4.32	2.44	6.77		8.64	0.00
Dan Dierdorf	162	4.45	4.40	2.11	6.50		8.68	0.11
Joe DeLamielleure	188	4.95	4.21	2.22	6.44		8.30	0.12
Jim Parker	139	3.82	4.40	1.95	6.35		8.66	0.13
Billy Shaw	123	3.38	4.40	1.84	6.24		8.66	0.12
Lou Creekmur	122	3.34	4.38	1.83	6.21		8.69	0.07
Bob Brown	130	3.50	4.31	1.87	6.18		8.56	0.05
Roosevelt Brown	170	4.27	4.02	2.07	6.09		7.97	0.07
Russ Grimm	159	3.10	4.18	1.76	5.94		8.27	0.14
Dwight Stephenson	125	3.15	4.03	1.77	5.81		8.01	0.05
Mike Munchak	169	3.87	3.66	1.97	5.63		7.24	0.09

Two-way play matters a lot more here. It’s hard to have confidence in the rankings when the margins are so tight, but for what it’s worth, I thought Mike Webster and Gene Upshaw were the top two modern linemen before I started.

Linebackers	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
George Connor	88	4.57	8.31	2.14	10.45		8.88	7.75
Chuck Bednarik	171	6.48	6.06	2.55	8.61		3.96	8.16
Lawrence Taylor	199	6.80	5.46	2.61	8.07		0.57	10.36
Ray Lewis	250	7.99	5.11	2.83	7.94		0.91	9.31
Derrick Brooks	235	7.44	5.07	2.73	7.79		1.38	8.75
Jack Ham	181	6.01	5.31	2.45	7.76		0.63	10.01
Ted Hendricks	236	7.23	4.90	2.69	7.59		0.94	8.87
Bobby Bell	175	5.68	5.19	2.38	7.58		1.77	8.62
Brian Urlacher	189	6.02	5.10	2.45	7.55		0.95	9.24
Dave Robinson	164	5.31	5.18	2.30	7.48		1.04	9.32
Sam Huff	175	5.56	5.08	2.36	7.44		1.08	9.08
Jack Lambert	162	5.16	5.10	2.27	7.37		0.38	9.81
Derrick Thomas	179	5.55	4.96	2.36	7.32		0.67	9.27
Ray Nitschke	205	6.17	4.82	2.48	7.30		0.84	8.79
Joe Schmidt	158	4.93	4.99	2.22	7.21		0.94	9.05
Dick Butkus	119	3.82	5.20	1.97	7.17		1.01	9.39
Bill George	175	5.18	4.74	2.28	7.01		0.75	8.72
Nick Buoniconti	196	5.62	4.59	2.37	6.96		0.70	8.43
Junior Seau	278	7.30	4.20	2.70	6.91		0.31	8.10
Harry Carson	182	5.15	4.53	2.27	6.80		0.68	8.39
Willie Lanier	156	4.53	4.20	2.70	6.77		1.11	8.18
Mike Singletary	191	5.20	4.35	2.28	6.63		0.06	8.66
Andre Tippett	157	4.32	4.40	2.08	6.48		0.35	8.23
Karl Mecklenburg	194	5.05	4.16	2.25	6.41		0.47	7.86
Dave Wilcox	158	4.22	4.27	2.05	6.33		0.56	7.99
Tommy Nobis	133	3.13	3.77	1.77	5.53		0.72	6.81

Once again, there’s two two-way guys at the top of the list. LT is no surprise as the top modern linebacker, although perhaps not as dominant as one would expect, given his reputation. That, plus Derrick Thomas’ low ranking show how little sacks matter in the end. Getting to the quarterback a dozen times a year pretty great, but there’s more to linebacker play.

Defensive Line	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Len Ford	133	4.82	5.80	2.20	7.99		4.17	7.72
Alan Page	237	6.35	4.29	2.52	6.81		0.49	8.06
Reggie White	247	6.46	4.18	2.54	6.73		0.31	8.06
Jack Youngblood	219	5.60	4.09	2.37	6.46		0.11	8.07
Bob Lilly	210	5.34	4.07	2.31	6.38		0.45	7.68
Joe Greene	199	5.09	4.09	2.26	6.35		0.05	8.13
Carl Eller	244	5.91	3.88	2.43	6.31		0.19	7.57
Deacon Jones	193	4.93	4.08	2.22	6.30		0.18	7.99
LC Greenwood	188	4.76	4.08	2.19	6.27		0.05	8.11
Bruce Smith	300	6.84	3.65	2.62	6.26		0.15	7.14
Willie Davis	173	4.24	3.92	2.06	5.98		0.88	6.93
Randy White	230	5.28	3.67	2.30	5.97		0.03	7.31
Charles Haley	192	4.56	3.80	2.13	5.93		0.17	7.42
Dan Hampton	169	4.08	3.86	2.02	5.88		0.05	7.69
Merlin Olsen	218	4.96	3.64	2.23	5.87		0.12	7.17
Elvin Bethea	218	4.87	3.57	2.21	5.78		0.19	6.96
Leo Nomellini	175	4.08	3.73	2.02	5.75		1.67	5.79
Buck Buchanan	188	4.27	3.63	2.07	5.70		0.09	7.17
Doug Atkins	209	4.62	3.54	2.15	5.69		0.04	7.03
Ernie Stautner	168	3.88	3.70	1.97	5.67		0.13	7.26
Howie Long	191	4.25	3.56	2.06	5.62		0.11	7.01
Henry Jordan	175	3.85	3.52	1.96	5.48		0.12	6.92
Gino Marchetti	164	3.64	3.55	1.91	5.46		0.45	6.66
Lee Roy Selmon	125	2.86	3.66	1.69	5.35		0.19	7.13
Art Donovan	141	2.48	2.81	1.57	4.39		0.05	5.59

OK, sacks matter a bit more here. As a group, defensive linemen rate the lowest … there’s just not a lot of opportunity for them. Including Art Donavan was a bit unfair; he’s not really in this class.

Defensive Backs	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Deion Sanders	199	13.23	10.64	3.64	14.27		12.12	9.10
Rod Woodson	258	16.01	9.93	4.00	13.93		10.17	9.69
Lem Barney	141	9.41	10.68	3.07	13.75		8.88	12.48
Jack Christiansen	95	6.15	10.36	2.48	12.84		11.77	8.96
Emlen Tunnell	171	9.47	8.86	3.08	11.94		8.23	9.49
Herb Adderley	181	9.81	8.67	3.13	11.80		7.34	10.01
Mel Renfro	197	8.92	7.24	2.99	10.23		5.76	8.73
Willie Wood	176	7.64	6.95	2.76	9.71		3.76	10.13
Bobby Boyd	125	5.55	7.10	2.36	9.46		3.46	10.73
Cliff Harris	162	6.76	6.68	2.60	9.28		4.32	9.04
Paul Krause	242	9.17	6.06	3.03	9.09		2.07	10.07
Ken Houston	197	7.55	6.13	2.75	8.88		3.26	9.00
Dick Lane	157	6.21	6.33	2.49	8.82		3.16	9.50
Mike Haynes	185	7.07	6.12	2.66	8.78		3.28	8.95
Dick Anderson	132	5.31	6.44	2.30	8.74		3.73	9.15
Mel Blount	219	7.97	5.82	2.82	8.65		2.62	9.03
Ronnie Lott	212	7.72	5.83	2.78	8.60		1.84	9.81
Darrell Green	314	10.32	5.26	3.21	8.47		1.95	8.57
Kenny Easley	95	3.71	6.25	1.93	8.17		2.87	9.62
Larry Wilson	169	5.85	5.54	2.42	7.96		2.34	8.68
Willie Brown	222	6.88	4.96	2.62	7.58		1.47	8.45
Rodney Harrison	199	6.19	4.98	2.49	7.46		1.13	8.82
Jimmy Johnson	217	6.42	4.73	2.53	7.27		1.61	7.86
Steve Atwater	181	5.05	4.46	2.25	6.71		0.70	8.23
Roger Wehrli	196	5.54	4.52	2.35	6.88		1.31	7.67

Defensive backs are divided by whether they returned punts and kicks. Sanders, Woodson and Christiansen actually have higher offensive values than defensive because of their production in the return game.

Deion Sanders’ rating is for football only. Add in his baseball career and it’s 17.45, just behind Terrell Owens. If you ever wondered why he stuck to baseball for so long, consider that his 160-game average was 10.64 for football and 9.95 for baseball. In other words, he was slightly more valuable as an all-pro defensive back than he was as a journeyman outfielder.

Kickers	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
George Blanda	358	33.09	14.79	5.75	20.54		39.93	-10.66
Gary Anderson	373	28.38	12.17	5.33	17.50		26.84	-2.49
Morten Andersen	393	28.84	11.74	5.37	17.11		25.97	-2.49
Lou Groza	285	21.02	11.80	4.58	16.39		26.98	-3.38
Nick Lowery	268	19.59	11.70	4.43	16.12		25.67	-2.28
Jan Stenerud	282	18.02	10.22	4.24	14.47		24.67	-4.22

There’s a gaggle of kickers that have retired since I started — Jason Elam, Jason Hanson, John Carney, etc. — that should probably be here. I’ll get to them eventually. Vinatieri will retire one day, too.

Blanda also played quarterback, and Lou Groza was a lineman, at least for the first half of his career. That was pretty typical until specialists like Stenerud showed up. The special-teams lists are more for context than to be exhaustive.

Kick Returners	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Brian Mitchell	239	20.23	13.54	4.50	18.04		27.54	-0.45
Devin Hester	163	11.67	11.46	3.42	14.87		23.36	-0.44
Mel Gray	174	11.34	10.43	3.98	13.80		21.23	-0.38
Billy Johnson	145	8.64	9.54	2.94	12.48		19.50	-0.43

Hester has more return touchdowns than anyone, but he’s pretty far behind Brian Mitchell on yardage. The recent rule changes on kickoffs put the final nail in his stellar career. Dante Hall should be here. One more on the list …

Punters	Games	Total	Per 160	Sqr Root	Sum		Off	Def
Dave Jennings	212	15.76	11.89	3.97	15.86		0.05	23.75
Ray Guy	229	16.61	11.61	4.08	15.68		0.07	23.14
Sean Landeta	302	19.47	10.32	4.41	14.73		-0.02	20.65
Brad Maynard	249	15.85	10.18	3.98	14.17		0.14	20.22
Jeff Feagles	363	20.49	9.03	4.53	13.56		-0.01	18.07

Feagles, Landeta and Maynard are 1-2-3 in career punting yards, with Shane Lechler on the way. Guy and Jennings are in by reputation. Going by this tiny sample size, the value of punters has gone down since the 1970s. I would attribute that to fewer turnovers and more scoring; trading possession for yardage has slightly less value now than 40 years ago.

To do list:
Norm Van Brocklin
Steve Smith
Fred Taylor
Ronde Barber
John Henry Johnson
Charles Woodson
Michael Strahan
Jackie Smith
Gary Clark
Terell Davis
Andre Johnson
Jay Novacek