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Top ten Steelers Linebackers All Time

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by Steelresolve, May 9, 2022.

  1. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, I think we would be better off with a list of inside linebackers and a separate list of outside linebackers.

    I think Farrior was easily a better free agent signing than Hartings. He was a fantastic player from the moment he arrived and a key part of two Super Bowl championship teams and another that got there.
     
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  2. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    1. Lambert
    2. Ham
    3. Harrison
    4. Watt
    5. Lloyd
    6. Farrior
    7. Kirkland
    8. Porter
    9. Greene
    10. Woodley

    I'll take a shot at breaking them up, but I'm not confident in the last five spots on my list of inside linebackers.

    Outside linebackers
    1. Ham
    2. Harrison
    3. Watt
    4. Lloyd
    5. Porter
    6. Greene
    7. Woodley
    8. Gildon
    9. Russell
    10. Merriweather

    Inside linebackers
    1. Jack Lambert
    2. James Farrior
    3. Levon Kirkland
    4. Chad Brown
    5. Hardy Nickerson
    6. David Little
    7. Lawrence Timmons
    8. Earl Holmes
    9. Larry Foote
    10. Ryan Shazier

    Call me sentimental with the last one. I was running out of inside linebackers. I may have to revisit the last five spots.
     
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  3. CK 13

    CK 13 Well-Known Member

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    Solid list! Although I would have Greene and Porter shifted.
     
  4. Steelresolve

    Steelresolve Well-Known Member

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    I would too if you took into consideration Greeneā€™s whole career.
     
  5. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    andy russell had 18 interceptions. most of his play was prior to the dynasty. hinkle was quite good as well. earl holmes was too. larry foote wouldn't make my list. :smiley1::cool:
     
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  6. Steelresolve

    Steelresolve Well-Known Member

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    I like this even better than mine. I do think Watt is above Harrison, if not now then by the end of this season.
     
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  7. Rollers

    Rollers Well-Known Member

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    Myron Pattios was pretty good as well. But was only here for 5 years I think
     
  8. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    kendrell bell and devin bush as rookies and then nose dive to notta. :cool:
     
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  9. 88Unstoppable82

    88Unstoppable82 Well-Known Member

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    For me 58 and 59 are tied at 1. It's interesting how different the perception of Ham has always been among fans/reporters/onlookers versus those on the teams/inside the game when he played. There are quite a lot of the latter who have always said that not only was Ham the best Steeler linebacker ever, but the equal of ANY linebacker who ever played (and a couple I've heard call him the greatest ever). You have to understand why that is, though. They understand every detail of assignment-to-technique that they claim Ham was the supreme player at fulfilling that they've ever seen. And I can't disagree with them on that, either.

    Which for me is why I have "the two Jacks" equal at the top of my list. They both made playing their respective positions look like both artwork and devastation all at the same time. It's absolutely mind numbing thinking back to how excruciatingly difficult it was trying to even move the ball, let alone score, on those two roaming the field at the same time, let alone behind that indescribable defensive line in front of them, with the greatest corner ever, an all time great safety and a handful of other top players alongside them. Ha ha, man, that was fun!
     
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  10. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    loren towes over larry foote in my book.:cool:
     
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  11. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    No Woodley??
    Without Woodley We don't win that last SB , or maybe even go. He was very good those playoffs that year just counting sacks ....I believe he had 6 in the playoffs that year, and pretty much ended the SB game for us with a strip sack......His 2nd sack of the game.
     
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  12. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Thanks. I can certainly see Watt moving up at least one spot on that list before he is done, but Harrison was an absolute monster for a long time.
     
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  13. TuRnDoWnForWaTT

    TuRnDoWnForWaTT Well-Known Member

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    I agree with everything you just said. There are just so many names to consider, especially when you combine positions. When I look at overall career I can't put Woodley ahead of any of the other guys on my list. Gildon is a player that is historically very underrated. I feel like both Farrior and Kirkland each had overall better careers than Woodley.
     
    Last edited: May 12, 2022
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  14. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    let's hope myles jack and genard avery and buddy johnson make the list before their careers are over. :smiley1::cool:
     
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  15. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    That's why we should separate them into OLB, and ILB. Just 2 many.
     
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  16. TuRnDoWnForWaTT

    TuRnDoWnForWaTT Well-Known Member

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    Exactly. It's hard to compare a guy like Levon Kirkland to Joey Porter. Completely different players playing completely different positions.
     
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  17. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    Also I meant 2 add Woodley was a awesome player from the beginning.....until He got that big pay day....I believe with that,and everything came easy while He was here....He got fat,and disinterested.
    Yes is very hard 2 compare a Holmes, Kirkland, and hell even a Foote 2 a Porter, Harrison, or a TJ......totally different....
    Also with the Hams, and Lamberts.....since We ran a totally different Defense then.
     
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  18. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    Agreed. That's why I offered up separate lists of OLB and ILB along with a combined one. I had to dig down a little deeper for the inside guys. I think there is a significant dropoff after the top five there.
     
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  19. Steel_Elvis

    Steel_Elvis Staff Member Mod Team

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    I think the right positional breakdown is LB or Edge.
     
  20. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    That's a good idea. Guys like Ham and Russell played a very different role from Harrison and Watt. Would you then include someone like L.C. Greenwood with the edge rushers?

    Let's try it with Greenwood. I put Chad Brown with the edge rushers. He really could go anywhere, but I thought that was where he was most productive.

    Linebackers
    1. Jack Lambert
    2. Jack Ham
    3. James Farrior
    4. Levon Kirkland
    5. Hardy Nickerson
    6. Andy Russell
    7. David Little
    8. Lawrence Timmons
    9. Earl Holmes
    10. Larry Foote

    Edge rushers
    1. James Harrison
    2. T.J. Watt
    3. L.C. Greenwood
    4. Greg Lloyd
    5. Joey Porter
    6. Kevin Greene
    7. LaMarr Woodley
    8. Jason Gildon
    9. Mike Merriweather
    10. Chad Brown
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2022
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  21. Steelresolve

    Steelresolve Well-Known Member

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    Man we have been spoiled at Linebacker and Edge Rusher.
     
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  22. 88Unstoppable82

    88Unstoppable82 Well-Known Member

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    So true. There's a reason the Steelers have been the greatest linebacker franchise in league history (at least during the Super Bowl era, anyway). Many teams can point to a season, or run of seasons, where they had great linebackers. Nobody else has the consistency of great linebacker play over the number of decades that the Steelers have had. And that includes the 80s, when the overall talent level on the entire team was down. But not the linebackers. They were still excellent.
     
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  23. The Sodfather

    The Sodfather Well-Known Member

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    Then that puts Huey Richardson at 1,124.
     
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  24. The Sodfather

    The Sodfather Well-Known Member

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    I'm glad to see David Little's name out there. He was a really good player on some mediocre to bad Steeler teams. Larry Foote was a solid, dependable player as well.
     
  25. Formerscribe

    Formerscribe Well-Known Member

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    I really enjoyed watching Little play. Despite being an All-American at Florida, he was a seventh-round pick in 1981, one round after they selected Bryan Hinkle, who was also a hell of a player. This was when the draft was a lot longer. They also drafted Mike Mayock in the 10th round that year, but he was part of the first round of cuts. And yes, it is that Mike Mayock.

    The Steelers really did know how to find good linebackers. They got Mike Merriweather in the third round the following year.
     
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