When asked to name his top-five current running backs, Marshawn Lynch joked that he'd like to include himself in that list. Lynch said that, despite having not played since the 2019 playoffs, he has not officially hung up his cleats.
All jokes aside, Lynch did put together a career that boarders on Hall of Fame worthy. A member of the league's All-2010s Team, Lynch and Seattle's dominant defense powered the Seahawks to two NFC titles and a Super Bowl win during the 2010s. He likely would have been a two-time Super Bowl champion had Pete Carroll called his number near the end of the Seahawks' loss to New England in Super Bowl XLIX.
Lynch, without including himself, did reveal his top-five list of current running backs. In no particular order, Lynch tabbed Najee Harris, Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Nick Chubb as the best running backs currently in the league during a recent appearance on the "I Am Athlete" podcast. He also gave shout outs to Seattle's Kenneth Walker and San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey.
The biggest omission from Lynch's list was Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, who won the league rushing title in 2021. Along with rushing for 1,811 yards, Taylor also scored a league-high 18 rushing touchdowns that season.
Injuries derailed Taylor's 2022 season, however. He ran for nearly 1,000 fewer yards than he did in 2021 while missing six games. Taylor did manage to post a 4.5 yards-per-carry average last year while gaining over 1,000 all-purpose yards.
Lynch wasn't the only member of the podcast that left Taylor off his top-five running back list. LenDale White, a former 1,000-yard rusher for the Titans and a two-time national champion at USC, tabbed Jacobs, Chubb, Aaron Jones, Jamaal Williams and Ezekiel Elliott as his top-five running backs.
