ProFootballTalk.com's Top 25 In 25

No. 18 Marshall Faulk.

At No. 21, we put the first quarterback on the list.  The six signal-callers who'll make it were the result of a grueling process of elimination that saw a roster of 12 great quarterbacks get trimmed down to a half of a dozen.

We faced a similar problem with the list of the best running backs.  In our view, the top ten tailbacks of the past 25 years, in alphabetical order, are:  Marcus Allen, Jerome Bettis, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Curtis Martin, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson, Thurman Thomas.

Coming up with that list of ten wasn't easy, since it left out worthy ball-carriers like Eddie George, Shaun Alexander, Tiki Barber, Priest Holmes, Jamal Lewis, and Corey Dillon.  But, again, we're talking about only the best 25 players from a 25-year period that will generate 125 or so Hall of Famers.

The first name off of the list of 10 was LaDainian Tomlinson.  Though he might end up being the best to ever play the game, the reigning NFL MVP has only six NFL seasons under his belt and, like every running back, is one awkward hit away from becoming just a guy.

The next to go was Thurman Thomas.  Though he'll make it to Canton next month, he'll have to settle with the position of ninth best tailback in the past 25 years.  (Losing his helmet at the start of one of those four Super Bowl losses didn't help his case.)

No. 8 on the list, and thus out of the running for inclusion among the final 25 across the board, is Jerome Bettis.  Though he's the fifth leading rusher of all-time, that 3.9 average per carry doesn't sit well with us.  Plus, he added very little to the passing game over the course of his career.

The next one we had to peel out of the pack is Walter Payton.  Though we'd probably put him as the best running back ever to play the game, the 1982 cut-off leaves too much of the best of his career beyond the scope of our 25-year window.

The sixth-best running back over the past two-and-a-half decades is, in our opinion, Eric Dickerson.  Though still holding the single-season rushing record more than 20 years after setting it, he was so-so for the last few years of his career, and not good enough overall to hang with the best of the best.

The fifth?  Curtis Martin.  Despite finishing fourth on the all-time rushing list, Martin lacks the kind of sizzle that makes folks recall fondly his exploits.  Think about it -- is there any signature Curtis Martin run that would lead off his highlight reel?  In our recollection, it's merely a pack of highly effective charges into the middle of the line.

The fourth guy was very difficult for us, since it was the line between who made it onto the final 25, and who didn't.  After careful thought (i.e., darts) and circumspect deliberation (i.e., coin flip), we decided that Marcus Allen should not be among the best 25 players of the past 25 years.

For one reason, he had more than 1,000 yards rushing only three times in his entire career.  And though it's not his fault that Raiders owner Al Davis let him rot on the bench for several seasons, the numbers are what they are.  In this compilation of the very best of the very best, Allen performed well enough to get onto the porch, but not inside the door.

So that leaves us with Marshall Faulk as the No. 3 running back on the list, and No. 18 overall.

Unlike teammate Kurt Warner, who was a flash in the pan, Faulk was a constant home run threat in the running game and passing game, topping more than 2,000 all-purpose yards for four straight seasons, including his final year in Indy and first three in St. Louis.  Without him, the Rams would not have turned into the force that they were from 1999 through 2001.

Click here for No. 17.