Who is better, Olsen or Payton?
Merlin Olsen leads with a GOAT score of 87.7 against 87.6 for Walter Payton — a gap of 0.1 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Olsen vs Payton
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Merlin Olsen above Walter Payton: 87.7 vs 87.6. Merlin Olsen leads on Peak, Longevity, Honours. Walter Payton leads on Dominance, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
OlsenWinner
87.7Olsen wins: Peak, Longevity, Honours
Payton
87.6Payton wins: Dominance, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to American FootballShareable URL · /compare/merlin-olsen-vs-walter-payton
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Merlin Olsen
87.7
Olsen leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Merlin Olsen
2. Walter Payton
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. 🇺🇸 Walter Payton5 seasons played · career day 1,8256,926 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Merlin Olsen5 seasons played · career day 1,825372 touchdowns
-94.6% vs Payton at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Olsen | 0 | 0 | 60 | 127 | 372 | 719 |
| 🇺🇸 Payton | 0 | 0 | 679 | 2,069 | 6,926 | 11,625 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
| Metric | OlsenRetired | PaytonRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Pro Bowl selections | 14 | — |
| First-team All-Pro selections | 5 | — |
| Defensive Player of the Year awards | 1 | — |
| Career games | 208 | — |
| Seasons played | 15 | — |
| MVP awards | — | 1 |
| Super Bowl titles | — | 1 |
| Career rushing yards | — | 16,726 |
| Pro Bowls | — | 9 |
| Rushing touchdowns | — | 110 |
| Rushing titles | — | 1 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 87 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 90 |
| Longevity w20% | 88 | 86 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 85 |
| Statistics w15% | 90 | 91 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Olsen87.7
Payton87.6
FAQ
Where does Payton beat Olsen?
Payton scores higher on dominance, statistics. Olsen leads on peak, honours, longevity.
How is the Olsen vs Payton score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Olsen: 87.7, Payton: 87.6.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Olsen vs Payton. 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.