Detroit Lions running back Kerryon Johnson was named Lions Rookie of the Year by the Detroit Sports Media Association on Thursday.

It's far from a surprise, considering Johnson was well on his way to rushing for 1,000 yards as a rookie before suffering a season-ending injury.

It was a season that even drew notice from Lions great Barry Sanders: "I thought he handled himself well. I forgot how many games he played, but out of the rookie running backs he looked as good as any of them, other than (Rookie of the Year) Saquon (Barkley), obviously."

So, as Dave Birkett asks, is Johnson the greatest Lions' RB since Sanders?

The Lions have had 16 players rush for at least 500 yards in their time with the Lions since Sanders retired prior to the 1999 season.

It's a slightly sad, if familiar list of running backs, with one exception: Sitting at 10th on the list is Matthew Stafford, a quarterback. And not a particularly mobile one, by reputation.

What makes it worse? Stafford, who turned 31 on Thursday, has just 1,020 rushing yards; his career high came in 2016, when he picked up 207 yards on 37 carries. (For comparison, Aaron Rodgers is fourth on the Packers' list in that same span, but with nearly 3,000 yards. Stafford is 34th in rushing among QBs in that span, just ahead of ... Tom Brady.)

Related:Detroit Lions remain undefeated in Super Bowl's 53-year history

Anyway, here's the full list of Lions 500-yard rushers since 1999. Enjoy(?) the trip down memory lane:

Kevin Jones: 3,067

James Stewart: 2,890

Kevin Smith: 2,346

Joique Bell: 2,235

Reggie Bush: 1,303

Ameer Abdullah: 1,251

Shawn Bryson: 1,177

Maurice Morris: 1,036

Theo Riddick: 1,023

Matthew Stafford: 1,020

Jahvid Best: 945

Mikel Leshoure: 807

Zach Zenner: 685

Kerryon Johnson: 641

Artose Pinner: 622

Greg Hill: 542

Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.