Ranking the 10 best small school college football RBs of all time
By Zach Bigalke
Before LaDainian Tomlinson became an NFL star, he was running roughshod over WAC defenses. During his freshman season, Tomlinson was eased into action in a platoon with Basil Mitchell. As a sophomore, Patrick Batteaux was also sharing substantial carries in the TCU backfield. By 1999, however, the Horned Frogs had made Tomlinson the focus of their offense.
He repaid them immediately with a junior season where he rushed for 1974 yards and 20 touchdowns. Those marks put him second nationally in rushing yards and first in rushing scores. As a senior, Tomlinson blew the lid off his own numbers as TCU threatened to become the first BCS Buster. Ultimately the Horned Frogs fell to San Jose State, derailing their BCS dreams, but Tomlinson led the country in rushing yards (2,158) and rushing touchdowns (22).
After that, the rest was history. Tomlinson finished fourth in the Heisman voting and was named a consensus All-American. He was then drafted fifth overall by the San Diego Chargers in the 2001 NFL Draft. With San Diego he was a five-time Pro Bowler and was named both the Offensive Player of the Year and the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2006. In an 11-year pro career, Tomlinson gained over 18,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 162 touchdowns. He added another 644 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns in 10 career postseason games.