Who is better, Sanders or Young?
Barry Sanders leads with a GOAT score of 86.5 against 86.5 for Steve Young — a gap of 0.0 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
AthletesTeams
Sanders vs Young
Shareable comparison — send this exact matchup to anyone.
Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently scores Barry Sanders and Steve Young level at 86.5. Barry Sanders leads on Dominance, Statistics, Peak. Steve Young leads on Longevity, Honours.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
SandersWinner
86.5Sanders wins: Dominance, Peak, Statistics
Young
86.5Young wins: Longevity, Honours
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/barry-sanders-vs-steve-young
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Barry Sanders
86.5
Sanders leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Barry Sanders
2. Steve Young
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Barry Sanders5 seasons played · career day 1,8256,789 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Steve Young5 seasons played · career day 2,19126 touchdowns
-99.6% vs Sanders at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Sanders | 0 | 0 | 1,470 | 2,774 | 6,789 | 13,778 |
| 🇺🇸 Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 70 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | SandersRetired | YoungRetired |
|---|---|---|
| MVP awards | 1 | 2 |
| Rushing yards | 15,269 | — |
| Rushing titles | 4 | — |
| Pro Bowls | 10 | — |
| 1,000-yard seasons | 10 | — |
| Yards per carry | 5 | — |
| Super Bowl titles | — | 3 |
| Super Bowl MVP | — | 1 |
| Passer rating titles | — | 6 |
| Touchdown passes | — | 232 |
| Rushing touchdowns | — | 43 |
| Dominance w25% | 88 | 84 |
| Peak w20% | 94 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 74 | 82 |
| Honours w20% | 84 | 86 |
| Statistics w15% | 94 | 90 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Sanders86.5
Young86.5
FAQ
Where does Young beat Sanders?
Young scores higher on honours, longevity. Sanders leads on peak, dominance, statistics.
How is the Sanders vs Young score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Sanders: 86.5, Young: 86.5.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Sanders vs Young. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.