Roger Craig was the first real multi purpose back
While many feel Ladanian Tomlinson and Thurman Thomas were the best multi purpose backs in the game, the originator played for the Forty Niners.
Roger Craig, RB of the 49ers, had both rushing and receiving totals of 1,000 yards apiece. He was the first player to accomplish such a goal.
This is a very hard accomplishment, but the true multi-purpose back was Roger Craig. Now Shady McCoy is known as a very good multi purpose back, but did not have a 1,000 both rushing and receiving in the same season yet. Don’t worry, Adrian Peterson, Thurman Thomas, Shady McCoy and LT have all came up short.
In 1985, Craig became the first running back in NFL history to rush for over 1,000 yards and receive over 1,000 yards in the same season (Marsahall Faulk did it in 1999). He also led the league that year with a record 92 receptions as a running back. In 1988, Craig broke the 2,000 yard combined yardage mark again.
NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com