Best steelers players in the last 40 years?

Meant to respond to this lol

 

I could watch Harrison's 100 yard interception return over and over again. So many things had to go right for that to happen.

 

I hold Troy Polamalu is the the best Strong Safety to ever play the game. I've never seen people jump over the offensive line on the snap and sack the QB. No one has has a defense designed around a player just making splash plays.

According to Lebeau, the was a hybrid of Rod Woodson and Carnell Lake.

 

He had Woodson's explosiveness, but he couldn't cover nearly as well as either of them.

 

Best Steeler - that's a simple question to me. That means most impactful to the team. I think some people are making it complicated. People are interpreting it as the highest ranked Steeler at his position. I don't see it as that. If the OP meant that he would've said as much. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

If this were for the previous 10 years it would be a tie between Terry and Mean Joe - most impactful and best Steelers. Terry is not ranked as high as some of his contemporaries - but the best Steeler? He and Joe Greene easily come first, with Jack Lambert following close behind.

 

I think the idea of framing it as the last 40 years was to leave out the '70s. That allows for a different discussion.

Of course, I disagree with your premise. What we are talking about is the difference between best player and most valuable. The value of discussing best instead of most valuable is it allows for discussion of non-quarterbacks. If you include the '70s, you can make an argument for Greene being more impactful than Bradshaw, but that was a different game. In the modern game, the quarterback is in a far better position to affect the outcome of games. If the question is who was the most impactful or valuable player the last 40 years, it's Roethlisberger. It isn't close. Best player, however, is a different matter entirely. Woodson, Polamalu, Dawson, and a few others were better players.

 

Maybe, but he had more impact on the entire defense imo. The Lebeau defense designed the entire defense around him to make big plays.

With that said, comparing him and Rod Woodson really comes down splitting hairs. Two of the best at their position. The biggest regret I have is that they did not re-sign Rod Woodson.

But as much as love Woodson, I didn't see him sacking the QB or getting Tackles behind the LOS jumping over and through offensive lineman at the snap count.

Some of Polamalu's ints and returns are historic. I've never seen a man play like that, which is why I admire him with my avatar
He gets my nod as the GOAT at his position.

 

It is interesting that you claim you didn't see Woodson sacking the quarterback. Woodson had 13.5 sacks in his career, more than Polamalu. Woodson got all of his sacks during his time with the Steelers, six of them in 1992.

Woodson returned six interceptions for touchdowns as a Steeler, 12 total in his career. Polamalu returned three interceptions for touchdowns. To be fair, those are regular-season numbers, so they don't include the one Polamalu brought back against the Ravens in the postseason.

Though Polamalu was more involved in the run defense as a safety, Woodson was also a fantastic run defender for his position and a big hitter. I don't think tackles for loss was kept as a statistic when Woodson was playing. I could be wrong about that, but profootballreference.com doesn't have it.

The other aspect of the comparison is the return game. Woodson was a weapon on kickoff and punt returns. Polamalu did not return kicks.

I think many people here have forgotten just how spectacular Woodson was during the prime of his career.

 

Woodson was an absolute stud of a player throughout his entire career. The man is in the HOF and like I stated the man would get my vote if Polamalu never played.

I don't think stats alone tell the whole picture as the entire defense revolved around Polamalu being the X factor when he was here. He had a knack for making huge plays at critical times.

The Carson Palmer int for TD has to be one of the best highlight reels ever. Dude catching balls 2 inches off the ground with one hand while diving mid flight. Man jumping over offensive lineman at the goalline sacking Kerry Collins or a loss. The list goes on and on with that guy.

I've never seen a player play like that and who knows might never see it again so Troy gets my vote as the GOAT.

 

My avatar says how I voted.

 

I get that, but Polamalu also relied heavily on 10 other defenders covering for his freelancing. He was able to do those things because the front seven pressured quarterbacks, not allowing them time to adjust to whatever Polamalu was doing. He also had Ryan Clark adapting his game to fill in the areas Polamalu abandoned.

Woodson was a cornerstone of the defenses he played in, too, in essence tilting the entire defense because he was able to do so much from the corner.

It isn't just the statistics that favor Woodson. It was the plays we saw him make. He didn't look as flashy as Polamalo diving over the line of scrimmage with all that hair flailing around, but he was just as explosive.

Choosing Polamalu is totally fair, but Woodson was able to make just as many big plays, more in some areas, while fitting in with the defense rather than needing to freelance to affect the game.

 

The Day I Loved Ward was when He laid out Woodson.

I actually didn't read. I'm bored with the conversation. You may have had some good points.

 

Woodson never shined in a big game for us like Troy P did.....never.

 

LoL. I will argue with Him about it, but not You. You never watched Him play. You are going purely off of stats, and stats don't show a game .....they show a number. So go away stat boy. You want to argue. Argue about something You actually watched.

 

It's funny how you seem to get bored when you face an argument that you can't counter, but sure.

 

He may be relying totally on statistics, but he has a point. I think the way you are looking at 1995 is backwards. It wasn't that the defense gave up more points because the offense scored more. It was that they had to open things up on offense more because the defense was so much more vulnerable without Woodson. It is sort of like what we saw at the end of the 2023 season. They opened things up because they couldn't rely as much on a defense that was decimated by injuries at linebacker and safety. Cowher did an amazing job with that team, making major changes to the offense and defense on the fly.

 

Are you saying he was Head and Shoulders above any other Steeler?

 

No .....I get bored easily. Everyone that knows me knows this...., but hey believe what you want. Go ahead, and count it as a win. LoL

 

I made an argument you can't counter, so there is no other way to see it.

 

You know ....I will give You an example....if You are smart enough You will gain some insight....if not
I once ran into a guy in New Orleans that wanted to fight....I was trying to get laid, and had no interest in fighting.....so He took this as I was afraid, and was scared. I wonder to this day if He still thought that when His friends finally got him up, and around later. Just because someone doesn't want to do something doesn't make them ....wrong, have no answers , or scared. Sometimes they just don't feel like it, or want to waste their time.

 

You've wasted more time making excuses than it would have taken to read and respond to the post. Also, that analogy doesn't work. You do want to argue. It shows up in the way you post here. You just don't want to deal with arguments that aren't working for you. You would rather make your false accusation and bail, which isn't great. You are capable of much better.

 

Boooo

 

what is the best player? Are we talking about stats and accolades? Besides impact thats all there really is. I was hoping the OP would chime in because his post is doesn't really explain the premise. Just says judge only during the time with the steelers. Didnt say anything about excluding Qb’s.

I think your premise is just your take on it. I see posts about Troy for instance and his impact on the team so there you go - we’re coming back to judging based on impact.

 

Fun Fact: TJ Watt has never played a playoff game where the opposition didn’t score 40.

He’ll be 30 when the next chance comes. Maybe he didn’t make the turnovers like Ben did, but Ben won occasionally and didn’t get boat raced every time.

 

JG was the best player on 4 SB teams. Polamalu was the best player on 3 SB teams. Polamalu was a rare talent (phyically and mentally) that made it difficult for offenses to game play against. We may never see another Troy P again. My vote went to Troy P.