Who would you place at all time best LB?

[kickedface]

LT was a force all on his own. ray lewis was an amazing player as well.

as far as bills i would have to go with biscuit or talley.

i'd put spielman on there but he wasn't around long enough

paup just fed off reggie white and then bruce smith. once he was on his own he didn't fare so well.

[Chandler#81]

I have to go LT...or Jack Lambert. I am old enough to have seen Butkus, but, for some reason I don't really remember seeing him much...guess we didin't get a lot Bears games back then. I don't feel qualified to have an opinion on him, though no doubt he was great. The guys I have seen, Lambert and Taylor...

 

We're old enough to remember Bobby Bell, Jim Lynch and Willie Lanier. Each was a tremendous LB in their own rite and probably aren't considered as All-timers because they played at the same time FOR THE SAME TEAM!

 

IMO, those Chiefs teams don't get the recognition they deserve from that era. Like Lombardi's Packers, they played in 2 of the 4 AFL - NFL Championship games and whooped up on the 'vaunted Vikings!'. Also lost to Oakland in AFL title game for the 2nd SB and played in the historic Christmas Day OT thriller with Miami. They just kept matriculating the ball down the field..

[26CornerBlitz]

We're old enough to remember Bobby Bell, Jim Lynch and Willie Lanier. Each was a tremendous LB in their own rite and probably aren't considered as All-timers because they played at the same time FOR THE SAME TEAM!IMO, those Chiefs teams don't get the recognition they deserve from that era. Like Lombardi's Packers, they played in 2 of the 4 AFL - NFL Championship games and whooped up on the 'vaunted Vikings!'. Also lost to Oakland in AFL title game for the 2nd SB and played in the historic Christmas Day OT thriller with Miami. They just kept matriculating the ball down the field..

 

Those KC teams were absolutely loaded. Bobby Bell was a great great LB for the Chiefs as was Lanier. Their job was made much easier by having Curly Culp, Buck Buchanan, Jerry Mays, and Aaron Brown.

 

They are similar to the great Steelers LB trio of Ham, Lambert, and Russell that was helped by having the great front four led by Mean Joe Greene.

Edited May 3, 2013 by 26CornerBlitz

[Chandler#81]

 

 

Those KC teams were absolutely loaded. Bobby Bell was a great great LB for the Chiefs as was Lanier. Their job was made much easier by having Curly Culp, Buck Buchanan, Jerry Mays, and Aaron Brown.

 

They are similar to the great Steelers LB trio of Ham, Lambert, and Russell that was helped by having the great front four led by Mean Joe Greene.

 

Stram's LB's were also helped out tremendously by J. Kearney, J. Robinson, J. Marsalis & E. Thomas behind them.

 

Lanier & Bell are HOFers.

[Kelly the Dog]

Stram's LB's were also helped out tremendously by J. Kearney, J. Robinson, J. Marsalis & E. Thomas behind them.

 

Lanier & Bell are HOFers.

And Buck Buchanon and Jerry Mays and Curly Culp and Ernie Ladd and... up front. Buchanon was a Hall of Famer, too.

[26CornerBlitz]

Stram's LB's were also helped out tremendously by J. Kearney, J. Robinson, J. Marsalis & E. Thomas behind them.

 

Lanier & Bell are HOFers.

 

Lynch was an excellent LB in hi own right. Can't believe those KC teams only won one SB championship.

 

And Buck Buchanon and Jerry Mays and Curly Culp and Ernie Ladd and... up front. Buchanon was a Hall of Famer, too.

 

Psst----> http://forums.twobillsdrive.com/topic/158083-who-would-you-place-at-all-time-best-lb/page__st__60#entry2803099

[Webster Guy]

I think Patrick Willis is the best in the nfl today.

 

OLB career gotta say derrick thomas and LT

 

Inside I'd take Ray Lewis and Urlacher

 

All time Bills Best single season I'd say paup, biscuit and cowart had that monster season before the achilles.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

There is no common position on the field more different than olb and MLB.

 

 

There is no interchangeability whatsoever..., comparing the two may as well be comparing Jerry Rice to Barry Sanders...

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Those KC teams were absolutely loaded. Bobby Bell was a great great LB for the Chiefs as was Lanier. Their job was made much easier by having Curly Culp, Buck Buchanan, Jerry Mays, and Aaron Brown.

 

Stram's LB's were also helped out tremendously by J. Kearney, J. Robinson, J. Marsalis & E. Thomas behind them.

 

Lanier & Bell are HOFers.

 

Don't forget 9-time All-Pro safety Johnny Robinson, a member of the All-AFL first team.

 

Marvin Upshaw was also an excellent player.

 

edit: I see Chandler got Robinson accounted for.

 

:thumbsup:

Edited May 4, 2013 by San Jose Bills Fan

[Quester74]

Terry Tate

[Helpmenow]

Bobby bell

 

Bobby bell

[KeisterHollow]

Just this conversation has made me remember how much Buffalo has LACKED a big-time playmaking LB for tooooo long! I can't believe we've overlooked that critical position for as long as we have. I have high hopes for Kiko, but to have a LB who has the size to be a big-time hitter, and the tenacity and guts to go out and make those big hits, and the speed to come up on QB's and run down WR's and TE's - an all-around great MLB really can take away the middle of the field, stopping the run up the middle and taking away the cross routes and underneath stuff.

 

I think we go LB heavy next year, depending on how well our guys pan out this year. Who knows - Bradham and Kiko could perform so good as to make that unnecessary; in fact, I have more suspicion of Mario and Manny's ability to handle the OLB roles than I do Bradham's and Kiko's ability to man the ILB spots. All in all, though - all the great defenses seem to have been built around great LB'ers.

[KOKBILLS]

I honestly don't think it's close...

 

LT by a bit when you're grouping all LB's...

 

I think if it's Inside guys only you have Ray, Lambert, and Butkus...I can't see how anyone could think one of those 3 was much better than the other two...They were all great...But none of them was as good as LT...

[CookieG]

First off, there is no "all time best" at any position. Each player is limited and/or elevated by the players around him, the teams in his division, the coaching, the era in which he competed and so on.

 

I fully agree with that statement. In terms of this thread each of the greats mentioned have different attributes that made them great.

 

Butkus played at 245-250, which was nearly as big as most offensive linemen at the time. That's like a LB playing at around 290-300 today. And yet, he could play sideline to sideline. He was a little before my time, but I knew the other great LB's mentioned played alongside some great players. As far as I know, he didn't have a Steel Curtain in front of him, or a Manimal/Dent/McMichael, or a Harry Carson/Carl Banks alongside him.

 

I can give names of more than one of the defenses of that time, whether it be Green Bay, the Chiefs, or Dallas. But I can't think of another Bears defender. Maybe I'm wrong, though.

 

Lambert was a part of a system, but he was an indispensible cog in that great, great machine they had. The toothless grin, the finger waving at QB's was nice for show, but those weren't his best attributes. He had range, he could cover in pass pro, and was extremely smart (per Jack Ham). It was because of him, Russell and Ham that the Cover 2 was created. His D's finished in the top 5 5 of his 1st 6 years. His play outdistanced his persona, and he had a pretty good persona to begin with.

 

LT changed the way the game was played on defense, he changed the way the game was played on offense. For the next 15 years, everyone in the draft was looking for the "next LT". None quite measured up to him, those some were damn good.

 

On the all underrated list:

 

Jack Ham- possibly the most complete LB ever. With the way teams loved to run sweeps in the 70's (everyone had a good pulling guard or two), you'd think they could exploit a somewhat undersized LB. Not when they ran at him.

 

He was probably the league's best open field tackler at the time, and the best in pass coverage.

 

Randy Gradishar- a guy that never gets much mention, but he was asked to take on centers and guards on nearly every play, AND make the tackle from sideline to sideline. His defenses with Denver were top 10 or top 5 during most of his career.

 

Cool thread..I like the topic.

[Jim in Anchorage]

 

 

The number of plays where he completely stood up/drove back a RB moving forward are pretty damn impressive. 6'3" 245 was huge for his day.

Yep that's what caught my eye. Not just tackle, drive em back through the tunnel.

[benderbender]

 

I would have to agree with this. I lived in NYC during his entire career watched a lot of games. Taylor had that rare ability to just take over a game. Kind of like Micheal Jordan did. Taylor was scary good.

Cocaine and steroids will make you scary. My vote is for Junior Seau. You had to know where he was on every play. You tried to avoid him, and he still usually made a play.

[Pirate Angel]

No love for Derrick Brooks?

Edited May 5, 2013 by BILLriant

[tennesseeboy]

I have to go old school on this one and go with Mike Stratton, form back in the 60's. He was a punisher (what older Bills fan doesn't remember the hit on Keith Lincoln in the championship game!

Stratton was a good solid linebacker, but that hit against Lincoln was what made him. By the way, judging from the number of people who were in that stadium and saw that hit war memorial would have had well over 100,000 fans in attendance! LOL I will say this about that team...the linebacking corp of Tracey, Jacobs and Stratton (together with the D Line of Sestak Day Dunaway and McDole) made for one of the best defenses the Bills ever put on the field. Not meaning to slight Butch Byrd, Porkchop Warner, Booker Edgerson, George Saimes and Hagood Clarke! Great great defense.