No 1 for all-time

I'm a Cincinnati Bengals fan so naturally I hate every other team in their division.

But I'm at least rooting for one player from an opposing squad -- Le'Ron McClain. McClain, a second year player, has 152 yards rushing on 36 carries in Baltimore's first two games. For a fullback in this day and age, that's amazing.

The position has evolved essentially into a sixth offensive lineman. Long gone are the days of Csonka, Nagurski, John Henry Johnson. Even a Larry Centers, who blocked, ran sometimes and mostly became a receiver, are over.

My favorite Bengals team, the Super Bowl '88 Bengals, featured 1,000-yard rushers at halfback, James Brooks, and fullback, Ickey Woods.

I don't know why teams went away from triple threat fullbacks, but I miss them.

So go McClain go. Until offensive coordinators get creative again, this list of the top 20 fullbacks of all time isn't likely to change.

Rank, player, years, total
1. Jim Brown, 1957-1965, 26200.3
2. Jim Taylor, 1958-1967, 21848.9
3. Roger Craig, 1983-1993, 21115.4
4. Larry Csonka, 1968-1979, 20310.2
5. Bronco Nagurski, 1930-1943, 19796.4
6. Marion Motley, 1946-1955, 19256.6
7. John Riggins, 1971-1985, 18265.7
8. Dan Towler, 1950-1955, 18089.5
9. Bill Brown, 1961-1974, 17053.3
10. John Henry Johnson, 1954-1966, 16884.6
11. Tank Younger, 1949-1958, 16726.7
12. Ken Willard, 1965-1974, 16436.0
13. Mike Pruitt, 1976-1986, 16249.9
14. Alan Ameche, 1955-1960, 15622.2
15. Don Perkins, 1961-1968, 15600.6
16. Marshall Goldberg, 1939-1948, 15213.1
17. Hewritt Dixon, 1963-1970, 15174.5
18. Keith Lincoln, 1961-1968, 15023.9
19. Mike Alstott, 1996-2005, 15022.9
20. Cookie Gilchrist, 1962-1967, 14728.9