Sooner fumbles in the NFL...

[rawlingsHOH]

Which former Sooner would you feel safest handing the ball to, sealing a victory?


Greg Pruitt
1196 carries
328 catches
300 returns
---
1824 touches
83 fumbles
1 every 22 touches


Joe Washington
1195 carries
395 catches
28 returns
---
1618 touches
42 fumbles
1 every 39 touches


Billy Sims
1131 carries
186 catches
---
1317 touches
40 fumbles
1 every 33 touches


Adrian Peterson
934 carries
85 catches
17 returns
---
1036 touches
20 fumbles
1 every 52 touches


Those were the only 4 Sooners I could think of who had at least 1000 career touches in the NFL. Have to consider Pruitt's high number of return attempts partially leading to a higher fumble rate, also.

[En_Fuego]

What about Demond Parker ?

[En_Fuego]

Oh he is not on the list...............Pruitt Can Doit.

[turner78]

gonna have to go with A-D

[Mad Dog Madsen]

I'm gonna hafta go with Boomer Billy on this one...

[kevpks]

Not Tashard Choice

[Mad Dog Madsen]

Not Tashard Choice

He went to Georgia Tech! :rolleyes:

[Lott's Bandana]

Kenny King?

[IslandSooner]

A.D. it is............

[CrimsonRez]

Is it bad that A.D. is known for his fumbling yet he is the best on this list as far as least likely to fumble?

[stoops the eternal pimp]

You know I was looking at different eras of football to see why people point out AD's fumbles so much when in compared to past greats, his fumbles aren't many...but it appears that ball security is all together better in todays game than in the past..so its almost an apples to oranges comparison

2009- regular season AD tied for most fumbles among runningbacks with 7, #1 fumbles lost with 6...2nd place lost 4

2000s- the RB with the most fumbles..Jamal Lewis with 39 in 131 games, 25 lost

1990s-Ricky Watters 130 games -29 fumbles, 19 lost

1980s-Wendall Tyler 76 games- 49 fumbles, 40 lost
others of note in the 80s
George Rogers 92 games -45 fumbles 37 lost
Walter Payton 117 games - 44 fumbles, 33 lost

1970s- Franco Harris 111 games- 66 fumbles, 55 lost
OJ Simpson 122 games- 56 fumbles, 48 lost


So when people line up an all time great list of RBs to compare fumbles(which I've done on here), I've realized its not a great comparison because of the different eras of ball control in the NFL..

[rawlingsHOH]

True, it is all relative. But the fact still remains, Peterson, thru 3 seasons, was no more fumble prone than ball-control specialists Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders. And 1990 wasn't that long ago.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Emmitt ended up with a 1.2 % fumble rate for his career...Peterson's best year so far is 1.5 in 07, followed by 2.3 in 08, and 2.0 in 09....Peterson definitely has some left to get that down...The league average with backs with over 60 touches is 1.3 over the last 3 years, so its a little worse than average..

I think another thing that gets people inn the AD fumble complaining line is that he lost 6 outta of 7 last year...in comparion, Forte who fumbled 6 times, lost 3...recoveries is not really something the RB can help, but it makes it look worse

[rawlingsHOH]

Right, he definitely has to improve. But almost all of them do.

[BransonSooner]

Replay has a lot to do with the number of fumbles. Most backs numbers would be higher today if we didn't have instant replay.

[Joe]

Replay has a lot to do with the number of fumbles. Most backs numbers would be higher today if we didn't have instant replay.

I didn't think of that. While I doubt it'll make up for 30+ fumbles, it's still something to think about.

[jkjsooner]

Emmitt ended up with a 1.2 % fumble rate for his career...Peterson's best year so far is 1.5 in 07, followed by 2.3 in 08, and 2.0 in 09....Peterson definitely has some left to get that down...The league average with backs with over 60 touches is 1.3 over the last 3 years, so its a little worse than average..

I think another thing that gets people inn the AD fumble complaining line is that he lost 6 outta of 7 last year...in comparion, Forte who fumbled 6 times, lost 3...recoveries is not really something the RB can help, but it makes it look worse

I don't think Peterson fumbles a lot at the LOS. That may explain why he loses a higher percentage than others.

The biggest reason Peterson fumbles is because he fights so hard after contact. It usually takes a couple of guys to bring him down and in those situations one is always jerking at the ball.

I would ask Peterson to be a little less agressive late in the game when the situation dictates that ball security is important. Other than that, I wouldn't dare try to change his aggressiveness.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Agreed with the first part..2nd part I agree with but probably the biggest reason is his up high running style..he provides a nice clean shot on the ball to defenders..

[rawlingsHOH]

I really don't see the upright running style in him anymore. Doesn't resemble Dickerson, like once did.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Oh its not the same as he was in college...he gets down for about the first 5 yards, and then he's back up