Is Frank Gore a Top-10 All Time 49er?

He has the heart of a Niner. We are fortunate to have had so many great players. All of them had there own special skill sets I believe he is a great Niner right up with the rest of the great niners of the past

Originally posted by TheWooLick:

Absolutely but does that make up for being almost an afterthought to the opponent?

I have seen statistical studies that have shown you can make much stronger arguments for lone WRs then you can loan RBs.

there are better examples since craig was a fullback in his 1000-1000 season...but in a nut shell look at the 49ers you see Craig have a big post rice boost? not really...his production went down even though he entered his physical prime.

in the Hearst/garner years the best stuff happened after the decline of rice and before the emergence of TO.

there is some truth in stats that a RB can be better in a featured role then a tool on 3rd and short.

Superbowl win = Yes

Originally posted by susweel:
I thought 2 years ago Frank Gore was pretty much done and on his way out. I have been pleasantly surprised he has been able to perform at a high level for this long considering his bad knees and the work load he has taken. Mad respect to Frank Gore true warrior.

I agree with sentiment 100%. You don't become the most productive runningback in a franchise that includes Joe Perry and Roger Craig and Hugh McElhenny and a lot of the other great 'backs without being something special.

And the fact that he's done it with a terrible surrounding cast for many years... truly remarkable.

A side note:

Jerry Rice is hands down the best football player to ever play the game on any team.

Yes and if he gets a ring I think he should be a HOFer. Gore never gets the National Media as a top 5 RB or whatever, nut whenver we play any game commentators always just drool over how good of a football player he is. Since they're the ones that vote he should get in.

Frank is awesome, has been written off many times but always is a beast on the field. He deserves a ring more than anybody on this team imo.

Originally posted by Dshearn:

I have seen statistical studies that have shown you can make much stronger arguments for lone WRs then you can loan RBs.

there are better examples since craig was a fullback in his 1000-1000 season...but in a nut shell look at the 49ers you see Craig have a big post rice boost? not really...his production went down even though he entered his physical prime.

in the Hearst/garner years the best stuff happened after the decline of rice and before the emergence of TO.

there is some truth in stats that a RB can be better in a featured role then a tool on 3rd and short.

Wouldn't Craig's production going down when there was less talent around him indicate that what Gore has done with no talent around him is all the more impressive?

if gore had his youth with this 49ers team than he would be challenging AP for most rushing yards this season. i looked up videos of him early in his career and he was insane! he is still good but lost his break away speed

If Gore had finishing speed he would be a top ten RB of all time. How many times has he broke a big run and chased down and tacked on the one yard line. I can think of 7 such instances. He breaks into the secondary but the safety or corner always catches him from behind. Not top mention he played on a laughing stock of a team 90% of his career.

In my opinion, the best offensive player the 49ers have had since Rice. Owens of course had the ability and numbers but he didn't embody what it means to be a great 49ers player.

ABSOLUTELY a top ten player franchise player, especially when factoring in the utter lack of anything around him for 6 years of his career and the fact that defense had only him to focus on and he still made it happen... behind an awful o-line most times too boot.

If he had complementary offensive talent and blocking around him for those first 5 or 6 years of his career, you'd see him much closer to the top of the NFL list with his all-time numbers right now.

will he make the 49ers Hall of fame

Originally posted by TheWooLick:

Wouldn't Craig's production going down when there was less talent around him indicate that what Gore has done with no talent around him is all the more impressive?

cept that didn't happen ...Craigs production went down after rice's arrival.

he was used less as a weapon and more as a tool.

Gore would be a tool too in the Rice years.

Hell emit smith would have been a tool on those teams.

Gore had an offense built around him...that would not have happened with a Montana or Young team.

his red zone touches would go down and his 3rd and short dives for short yardage would account for a larger ‰ of his carries.

Gore had ADVATAGES to being "the offense"

Originally posted by 80849er4life:

Superbowl win = Yes

If he was the QB, you could make that argument.

No way you are taking anything away from Barry Sanders or Eric Dickerson for not winning a SB

Originally posted by USArmyParatrooper:
A side note:

Jerry Rice is hands down the best football player to ever play the game on any team.

Thanks for clarifying that

He's not top 10 yet. No way. There are too many HOF players ahead of him. I would put him around the 15-20 range right now, but once his career is finished he has a very real chance to finish 6-8ish.