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+---- Thread: *Dante King Career Retrospective (/showthread.php?tid=41405)
*Dante King Career Retrospective - shadyshoelace - 09-30-2022
There have been a few career retrospective articles posted recently going back over the careers of recently retired or to-be-retired players and assessing their chances of being immortalized in the prestigious ISFL Hall of Fame for their accomplishments. I'm in need of money, so I'm going to do a similar thing here.
Now, Dante King isn't facing the prospect of retirement in the immediate future - as a Season 29 player, I've played nine seasons so far and have plans to ride out all the way until thirteen if my TPE levels allow me to do so. However, I'm also acutely aware that Dante has played out most of his prime and it will likely be downhill from here, although the slope of the coming dropoff remains to be seen. With that in mind, let's take a look at how things have gone for King in his career to date.
I created Dante with the intention of being a versatile, jack of all trades running back who could line up as an "offensive weapon" for his teams. To that end, I used the Receiving Back archetype despite Speed Back being the dominant meta build at the time and widely considered to be the most effective way to build a successful running back. However, I didn't mind the idea of breaking the mold and trying to do things a bit differently; I was really inspired by @run_CMC's amazing career as Ashley Owens, who entered the league and really redefined the roles that a running back could play as a dual threat on the ground and through the air. Accordingly, I selected Darren Sproles as my render - a player who sits at sixth on the NFL's all time all purpose yards list despite never being used as a primary running back for his teams. He served in committees with incredible players like LaDanian Tomlinson and LeSean McCoy as well as less incredible players like Pierre Thomas and Ryan Mathews, but always played his Swiss Army Knife role to an exceptional degree.
With that in mind, my lone DSFL season with the Norfolk Seawolves was fun but ultimately didn't advance that vision for Dante's contribution. While I was indeed in a committee with future ISFL GOAT Jay Cue Jr., that committee mostly served to split carries on the ground as I recorded just 17 receptions for about 100 yards through the air. However, my sights were on the ISFL and I elected to let teams know in draft scouting conversations that I wanted to be called up and contribute immediately. I was lucky enough to be drafted first overall by my good friends at the Baltimore Hawks, and lo and behold - the team had just invested the second overall pick in receiving back Busch Goose the year prior. I don't know if this is exactly what Infinite hoped would happen for Goose's career, but it suited me just fine - the ability to be a moveable chess piece alongside another versatile back who would never dwarf me in TPE was quite appealing.
My career in Baltimore got off to a fast start, as I recorded over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and 1,700 all purpose yards as a rookie. Those numbers put me well on the way to a successful career statline, and my usage only increased in coming seasons. I was lucky that Goose was willing to split time and my GMs were willing to be creative with my usage, as I had several outstanding statistical seasons; specifically, I'm proud of my my 1,099 receiving yards in S31 and second in the league mark of 17 rushing touchdowns in S33. Over the eight seasons that Goose and I have spent together, we've had a remarkably even split of touches and production:
Goose: 1,655 carries / 7,766 rush yards / 64 rush TDs / 412 receptions / 4,408 receiving yards / 30 receiving TDs
King: 1,667 carries / 7,724 rush yards / 76 rush TDs / 479 receptions / 5,157 receiving yards / 27 receiving TDs
Now, the question of legacy arises. Has Dante accomplished enough to etch his name in league lore? I knew that the Hall of Fame was a long shot when I set out on this player due to the atypical nature of how I would show up on the stat sheet. I never really wanted to be a primary feature back, which many of history's most successful running backs have done for at least some stretch of time. I would probably never put up numbers that won me awards or accolades compared to the highest performing players of each season. But my hope was that maybe with enough consistency and versatility over time, I could put together a worthy resume.
The ISFL record holder for yards from scrimmage is Tatsu Nakamura with 18,747. To break into the top ten, one needs to pass Reg Mackworthy's mark of 15,164 yards. Over a thirteen season career, that means a player must average between 1,166 and 1,442 scrimmage yards to be in what I'd consider truly elite company. I managed to consistently approach or clear the 1,400 yard mark over the next eight seasons after my rookie year, putting me at a career average of 1,433 yards from scrimmage through nine seasons. That's pretty good! That's good to currently place me in 22nd place all time, above Hall of Fame players like Mathias Hanyadi, Mako Mendonca and within a stone's throw of several other legendary players. I acknowledge that such a pace is unlikely to sustain in my twilight years as my TPE wanes, but as of now I am still the highest TPE running back Baltimore has and unlikely to face a significant role reduction in the next couple years even if my efficiency takes a dip. To reach the top ten all time, my tenth through thirteenth seasons need to average just 566 scrimmage yards per year. If I'm able to average 1,000 yards over those seasons, I'd end up with just under 17,000 yards for my career - more than any player but Nakamura or the aforementioned Cue Jr. (presumably).
When it comes to all purpose yards, I'm at a bit of a disadvantage given that Goose has claimed punt returns for the duration of our careers, but some amount of kickoff return contribution has helped me bolster my numbers a bit. I currently sit at 22nd all time in that stat as well, and if my career average of 599 return yards a season holds in addition to the above hypothetical, I'd end with somewhere between 24,000 and 25,000 career all purpose yards - in contention for second all time.
As for shifting the paradigm of what a receiving back can be, I look to career receiving yards by a running back - currently the record is held by Owens with 6,263. As of this writing I've accumulated 5,175 yards, so I am just under 1,100 away from surpassing that number. This seems eminently achievable with the volume I foresee in the future, as I'd need just about 275 yards a season and am currently averaging over twice that at 575, with my lowest total since my rookie season being 294. That's pretty cool!
With all that said, to get a bit of a better view I’d like to do a deeper dive into the statistical qualifications of the current crop of HOF running backs, then see how my career appears to be stacking up overall. There are currently twelve RBs who are in the Hall:
Boss Tweed
6 seasons played at RB (not including 4 seasons at LB)
Rushing:
1732 attempts, 6151 yards, 23 TDs, 3.6 yards per attempt
Receiving:
155 receptions, 1422 yards, 3 TDs, 9.2 yards per reception
All Purpose:
7573 scrimmage yards, 26 scrimmage TDs, 11369 all purpose yards, 29 all purpose TDs
Reg Mackworthy
11 seasons
Rushing:
3176 attempts, 12208 yards, 81 TDs, 3.8 yards per attempt
Receiving:
325 receptions, 2956 yards, 14 TDs, 9.1 yards per reception
All Purpose:
15164 scrimmage yards, 95 scrimmage TDs, 24481 all purpose yards, 100 all purpose TDs
Darren Smallwood
7 seasons played at RB (not including 2 seasons at WR)
Rushing:
1891 attempts, 7823 yards, 105 TDs, 4.1 yards per attempt
Receiving:
439 receptions, 3901 yards, 20 TDs, 8.9 yards per reception
All Purpose:
11724 scrimmage yards, 125 scrimmage TDs, 13041 all purpose yards, 125 all purpose TDs
Owen Taylor
9 seasons
Rushing:
2799 attempts, 11563 yards, 123 TDs, 4.1 yards per attempt
Receiving:
465 receptions, 3277 yards, 23 TDs, 7.0 yards per reception
All Purpose:
14840 scrimmage yards, 146 scrimmage TDs, 16685 all purpose yards, 146 all purpose TDs
Marquise Brown
9 seasons
Rushing:
2897 attempts, 12587 yards, 104 TDs, 4.3 yards per attempt
Receiving:
375 receptions, 3056 yards, 21 TDs, 8.1 yards per reception
All Purpose:
15643 scrimmage yards, 125 scrimmage TDs, 18269 all purpose yards, 127 all purpose TDs
Apollo Reed
9 seasons
Rushing:
2032 attempts, 8835 yards, 65 TDs, 4.3 yards per attempt
Receiving:
193 receptions, 1527 yards, 10 TDs, 7.9 yards per reception
All Purpose:
10362 scrimmage yards, 75 scrimmage TDs, 12224 all purpose yards, 76 all purpose TDs
Mako Mendonca
9 seasons
Rushing:
2051 attempts, 8210 yards, 63 TDs, 4.0 yards per attempt
Receiving:
419 receptions, 3908 yards, 22 TDs, 9.3 yards per reception
All Purpose:
12118 scrimmage yards, 85 scrimmage TDs, 14835 all purpose yards, 87 all purpose TDs
Forrest Gump
12 seasons
Rushing:
2497 attempts, 10504 yards, 70 TDs, 4.2 yards per attempt
Receiving:
409 receptions, 3681 yards, 25 TDs, 9.0 yards per reception
All Purpose:
14185 scrimmage yards, 95 scrimmage TDs, 21205 all purpose yards, 101 all purpose TDs
Mathias Hanyadi
9 seasons
Rushing:
2153 attempts, 9159 yards, 72 TDs, 4.3 yards per attempt
Receiving:
420 receptions, 3599 yards, 20 TDs, 8.6 yards per reception
All Purpose:
12758 scrimmage yards, 92 scrimmage TDs, 18766 all purpose yards, 94 all purpose TDs
Ashley Owens
11 seasons
Rushing:
2361 attempts, 9109 yards, 71 TDs, 3.9 yards per attempt
Receiving:
665 receptions, 6263 yards, 30 TDs, 9.4 yards per reception
All Purpose:
15372 scrimmage yards, 101 scrimmage TDs, 25119 all purpose yards, 104 all purpose TDs
Sam Torenson
9 seasons
Rushing:
3391 attempts, 13957 yards, 100 TDs, 4.1 yards per attempt
Receiving:
296 receptions, 1898 yards, 10 TDs, 6.4 yards per reception
All Purpose:
15855 scrimmage yards, 110 scrimmage TDs, 16880 all purpose yards, 110 all purpose TDs
Chizuru Ichinose
9 seasons
Rushing:
2123 attempts, 9213 yards, 82 TDs, 4.3 yards per attempt
Receiving:
409 receptions, 4194 yards, 26 TDs, 10.3 yards per reception
All Purpose:
13407 scrimmage yards, 108 scrimmage TDs, 21796 all purpose yards, 113 all purpose TDs
Tatsu Nakamura
13 seasons (not yet officially in the Hall, but obviously a lock worth including in the calculus)
Rushing:
3125 attempts, 14061 yards, 156 TDs, 4.5 yards per attempt
Receiving:
487 receptions, 4686 yards, 29 TDs, 9.6 yards per reception
All Purpose:
18747 scrimmage yards, 185 scrimmage TDs, 20729 all purpose yards, 185 all purpose TDs
and now, for purposes of comparison, the average Hall of Fame running back
Rushing:
2479 attempts, 10260 yards, 86 TDs, 4.1 yards per attempt
Receiving:
389 receptions, 3413 yards, 19 TDs, 8.7 yards per reception
All Purpose:
13673 scrimmage yards, 105 scrimmage TDs, 18108 all purpose yards, 107 all purpose TDs
and finally, Dante King
Rushing:
1667 attempts, 7274 yards, 76 TDs, 4.4 yards per attempt
Receiving:
479 receptions, 5175 yards, 27 TDs, 10.8 yards per reception
All Purpose:
12449 scrimmage yards, 103 scrimmage TDs, 18582 all purpose yards, 105 all purpose TDs
Looking at these numbers actually looks pretty impressive for Dante; many HOF running backs called it a career after just nine seasons rather than grind it out until the end, but even among those six (Taylor, Brown, Reed, Mendonca, Hanyadi, Ichinose) King would ranks fourth in rushing touchdowns, first in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, fifth in scrimmage yards, fourth in scrimmage touchdowns, third in all purpose yards, and fourth in all purpose touchdowns. Those are competitive numbers! As the volume stats grow over the next few seasons, it will be more worthwhile to look across the full set of players who have had longer careers, but if Dante retired today he would probably at least draw a handful of votes due to his position among these legends, if not the full slate needed for induction. As a player built to be a versatile back who contributes in all facets of the game but shines in none, he is living that out perfectly - ranking far above the average HOF running back in receiving stats, lagging behind the average in rushing stats, and lining up just about perfectly with the average in scrimmage and all purpose stats.
Will all of these projections for continued statistical ascension come to pass as my skill levels wither away in old age and further regression? Probably not, but it's nice to take a glance at where I sit relative to the history books and dream about what could happen. Even then, I have just three pro bowl selections to my name and don't expect to ever reach another; just one Ultimus victory, and likewise don't expect to add to that total; and to boot, only two years in which my teams reached the postseason at all. However, so far I'm quite pleased with how Dante's career has played out and look forward to what the coming seasons bring.
also sorry about the awful formatting, I cranked this out super quickly to earn some cash. Not going to invest the extra time to make it look pretty.