ESPN places all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith fourth on 'GOAT' RB rankings

ESPN gathered 50 analysts, experts and reporters recently to determine who the greatest of all time (GOAT) players are in the history of the NFL at every position. They released their rankings for seven offensive positions on Tuesday, with the likes of Tom Brady and Jerry Rice dominating the vote to unsurprisingly capture GOAT status at quarterback and wide receiver, respectively.

While Brady garnered 44 of the 50 first-place votes and Rice captured 45 first-place tallies, the remaining five positional battles were significantly closer. Rob Gronkowski won the GOAT title at tight end (23 votes), Anthony Munoz was first among offensive tackles (27 votes), Larry Allen was named the GOAT offensive guard (21 votes) and Mike Webster barely finished on top at center with 15 votes.

Perhaps the most controversial result came with the running back rankings though, where all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith placed just fourth (three votes), behind Jim Brown (23 votes), Barry Sanders (14 votes) and Walter Payton (six votes), but ahead of Marshall Faulk (two votes), Eric Dickerson (one vote) and LaDainian Tomlinson (one vote). At 18,355 career rushing yards, some believe that Smith's record is one of the most unbreakable in the sport, so when the GOAT rankings came out, many were flabbergasted to see where the Hall of Famer stood.