Jeff Hartings. Jerome Bettis.
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Jeff Hartings. Jerome Bettis.
Some good names on here.
I remember seeing Levon Kirkland miss ONE tackle. I remember it was the only time I saw him miss, and I was like wow. And I saw EVERY game he played in from 1992 on.
John Jackson was the most underrated Steeler in the last 20 years. He was arguably the best lineman on the NFL's best line in the the 90's (Cowboys line likely a step a ahead at that time). Jackson was one of the GREAT last Noll draft selections. Noll always loved those compact under 300 lb technicians. This guy was so solid no one ever talked about him because he rarely ever got beat. Dawson (same Noll draft class) and Searcy got alot of the love but Jackson was just as good at his best.
And let's not forget the under-rated Lester and Kreider. They were the last of the great blocking FBs with the Steelers.
I sometimes forget about Dan Kreider, dude was a load.
I think Louis Lipps is one of the most underrated players for the Steelers. He was probably the only offensive weapon we had on some of those teams in the 80's yet opponents still couldn't stop him. He had one of the greatest years ever for a Steeler receiver ... I think it was 1985 ... where he scored double digit touchdowns receiving, scored rushing the ball, and also scored several times as a return guy. If he had a QB to throw to him and maybe a couple of other offensive options to take the pressure off of him he might have been in a HOF discussion.
[QUOTE=Captain Lemming;596307]This is just wrong. Lloyd was a machine against the run. Without question MUCH better defending the run than as a pass rusher. Heck K Greene was a FAR better pass rusher than Lloyd was.
Lloyds sacks were just memorable (punishing and violent) which is why that perception exists.
I do agree JH is the best 3/4 LBer we have had.
DMVP season JH was "LT at his best" great in my opinion.
The two Jacks were easily best for a career, but neither was as dominant as JH was at his very best.[/QUOTE]
Never said he wasn't a violent tackler or good against the run. In fact, I said he was complete OLB. But, come on, he was known as a pass rusher. That was his identity and that was what he was born to do.
Barry Foster.... possibly the most talented RB I've seen in B&G, and that says a lot because I remember Franco. It would be a tough discussion.... He had agility, power and speed all in the same package.
Loving Dwayne Woodruff on the original list - FROM.... Louisville.
[QUOTE=Ernie;596276]Good calls... esp Kirkland. What a beast[/QUOTE]
The reason I didn't have #99 on my list is because he was fairly highly touted when he was here, so I didn't think he was underrated. Also, his last two seasons were not that good because he took excessive weight for a LB to new, unproductive levels. it was amazing how fast he remained for his first several years, but then he just got too damn fat, and he wasn't as good. I was pissed at Cowher for allowing that to happen. He was too buddy buddy with Levon when he should have told him those extra 30 lbs were not acceptable. He proved that at 265 he got it done. But not at 295.
[QUOTE=steelblood;596280]Lloyd was better than Ham or Lambert? That might be a tough sell. I will say for about 2-3 seasons Lloyd was probably the most feared OLB in the game. He was quick, mean, and strong. He forced a lot of fumbles and even picked off some passes showing he was a complete linebacker. However, I don't know that he was even better (more productive) than James Harrison was. Harrison might be the most complete 3-4 OLB we've ever had. Lloyd was primarly known as a pass rusher. He did get a lot of pressures. But, he only finished his career with 54.5 sacks in 139 starts. I'm not sure you can call those numbers elite. Harrison had 66 sacks in 105 starts. Sure, those were different decades and there was more passing in the 2000s, but Harrison's numbers are probably better. Harrison's FFs per start are also similar to Lloyd's. Harrison also had the best season every for a Steelers 3-4 OLB when he recorded 16 sacks, a pick, 7 FF, and a safety to go along with 90 or so tackles.
As far as Ham or Lambert go, the comparison is more difficult because they played different positions and statistics were not kept for things like FF or Sacks until the early 80s. Are you old enough to have watched them play in their prime or are you going from the few old highlights they show. Because, I can tell you that Jack Ham was the best outside linebacker in football for several years. His range and coverage skills were unparalleled. He wasn't the strongest guy, but he was the smartest and most instinctive linebacker you've ever seen. And Lambert was perhaps twice as intimidating and intense as Lloyd was. Lambert wasn't big, but every hit was a demolition, every moment was pure intensity. And, unlike Lloyd, Lambert was great for a decade. Like I said, they didn't keep all the stats like they do now. But, I know Lambert had six interceptions twice. Think about that. 6 would be insane for a MLB now. But, in the running era of the late seventies and early 80s, those were very impressive numbers. He was also a tackling machine, a great blitzer and fumble inducer (too bad they didn't keep track of sacks and FF until the end of his career). Lambert was a sight to behold.
I loved Lloyd as a player. In my book, he belongs in the conversation with the great lin[/QUOTE]
I do remember watching Lambert and Ham play, but pretty young. I do recall watching Lambert play and he was awesome, striking fear in QBs' heart. I remember a QB saying that when Lambert came over center and started barking out calls, that the QB legs began to shake uncontrollably. That was funny.
My thoughts are that if Lloyd played on those 70's teams, he'd be considered just as great as those two. Oh, and I agree on Harrison; he may be even better than Lloyd. But let's not forget Lloyd had that nasty staph infection that cut a few seasons off his career. That totally sucked. The one trait with both Lloyd and JH is on so many plays, you see a blur shooting for a tackle at the end of the play. They both causes maximum impact all day long.
[QUOTE=SteelerOfDeVille;596363]Barry Foster.... possibly the most talented RB I've seen in B&G, and that says a lot because I remember Franco. It would be a tough discussion.... He had agility, power and speed all in the same package.
Loving Dwayne Woodruff on the original list - FROM.... Louisville.[/QUOTE]
I agree with you. BF was flat out great. He just didn't have the heart for the game after his first big contract. But he had a few years there were he was a top 3 back in the league. Cowher ran the wheels off him, though. Might have helped lead to early retirement. But Barry Bananas was the real deal for a few seasons.
[QUOTE=steelblood;596354]Never said he wasn't a violent tackler or good against the run. In fact, I said he was complete OLB. But, come on, he was known as a pass rusher. That was his identity and that was what he was born to do.[/QUOTE]
IDK, I think he was all around good. I recall watching him just in on one play after another, making tackles all over the field, whether it be tackling backs or whomever. I also loved the fact that he kept the entire team in line. Story goes, that some rookies were complaining on the work outs being too long, and Greg snapped at them, "We don't talk like that here. I don't want to hear you say anything like that again," and they never did. We might need some of that kind of fired up leadership right about now. I think that is one thing we are lacking, to be honest. Troy is a quiet leader. Clark is gone. Woodley never was much a leader. I think it's on Heyward to fill that roll; he was the leader on D at OSU. We had no problem with team attitude with Lloyd, Greene, Woodson, Lake....but I feel we are lacking now. Harrison in his prime offered some of that. If he came back, could he offer it now? Maybe.