Feeling Verklempt. Top 10 Steeler LB's of All Time. Discuss.

[RuthlessBurgher]

It's the offseason in the midst of a lockout. There is literally no football to talk about. So we need to spurn some actual discussion. I tried starting folks talking about their own personal top 5 Steeler QB post-Bradshaw and pre-Ben, but that seemed to die out quickly because, frankly, they all sucked. So...what doesn't suck? STEELER LINEBACKERS, that's what!!! Gimme your own personal top 10. Here's mine:

1. Jack Ham
2. Jack Lambert
3. James Harrison
4. Greg Lloyd
5. James Farrior
6. Andy Russell
7. Levon Kirkland
8. Joey Porter
9. Kevin Greene
10. LaMarr Woodley

Here another interesting thought...with so many great Steeler linebackers, I wonder if our next ten LB's (11-20) would be better than most team's top 10 LB's in history? Off the top of my head, the next 10 Steeler LB's would include guys like Robin Cole, Mike Merriweather, Chad Brown, Lawrence Timmons, David Little, Jason Gildon, Bryan Hinkle, Earl Holmes, Jerry Olsavsky, and Clark Haggans (if you want to put Larry Foote in over Holmes, Olsavsky, or Haggans, I'll give you that one). Our second tier guys aren't going to beat out teams like the Bears (Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, etc.) or the Giants (Lawrence Taylor, Sam Huff, Harry Carson, Carl Banks, etc.), but isn't our 11-20 LB's better than, say, the Bengals' 1-10 LB's (and numerous other teams, for that matter)?

[sentinel33]

Can't leave out Gildon.

In a couple more years-Can't leave out Timmons.

Can't make a top 10.

Not this team.

Maybe other teams, but not this one.

Here We Go!!!

[flippy]

1. James Harrison
2. Jack Ham
3. Jack Lambert
4. Andy Russell
5. Lawerence Timmons
6. Lamar Woodley
7. James Farrior
8. Chad Brown
9. Greg Lloyd
10. Levon Kirkland

I had the hardest time picking between Harrison and Ham. I really have those 2 at 1a and 1b. I gave the edge to Harrison because of the splash plays, the QB sacks, the FFs, and the tackles for a pass rusher are insane. Ham's the gold standard for all around LB play, so it was hard to put him at 2. It's hard to compare cause they played different positions and had different responsibilities. In the end I gave the edge to Harrison because of his pick 6 in the SuperBowl - greatest Steelers highlight of all time in my book.

It's not like the rest of the list beyond #3 and #4 was easy for me either.

Timmons at 5 is premature, but I had to put him there because he's the only other LB that has it all like the top 4. And he's got the talent to reach the top of the list when it's all said and done. I also considered Woodley @ 5 too even though it's premature. I'm more or less predicting where those 2 guys end up.

Then I went with Farrior who plays his position perfectly a la Jack Ham. If I had a kid that wanted to be a LB, I'd tell him to watch as much of Jack Ham and James Farrior. If Farrior had half of Ham's range in coverage, we might be able to make the case for him @ #1.

At this point, I was a little miffed I hadn't put Lloyd, Kirkland, Brown, or Porter in my list. I can make a case for all 4 of those guys going in the 8-10 spot, but there were only 3 spots.

Brown had the best all around game of the 4, so I gave him the edge over Lloyd since I went the other way with Harrison/Ham. If I was consistent, I'd have Lloyd @ 8, but I'm not. How to rate splash plays versus all around play? It's easy to go either way.

That left Porter and Kirk. Really a toss up and again hard to compare across positions. So on this one, it came down to what made these guys unique for their respective positions and I think it was their coverage ability. Joey was the best in coverage for a 3-4 OLB and Kirkland was the best 300+ LB player I've ever seen in coverage. So I gave the nod to Kirkland just because it was more impressive a guy that big was so nimble.

But I'm bummed to have left Porter out who is one of my favorites. His ability to get inside a guy's head is legendary. And he backed up his talk and took pressure off the young guys. The way he became the story in SuperBowl XL, made Stevens his huckleberry, and took away all the media pressure from Ben was vintage Porter. I always thought there was a method to his madness. So I figured leaving him off the list would make him mad and be poetic justice.

[Shoe]

I agree with the Gildon remark, though I also wouldn't put him on MY top 10. How do you leave the all-time sack leader in team history off the list?

I like RuthlessBurgher's list more. Though Harrison's game is still fresh on my mind and as objectively as possible: he probably has been the better player. I have trouble elevating him over my all-time 1b player, #95.

flippy: I don't know how you put Chad Brown over Lloyd. Even under your criteria of all-around player, I wouldn't say he was. In either case, he only gave us what, four years, maybe three good years? Lloyd had probably six, seven good years with the team.

[flippy]

When we move Brown outside in 94 he was a beast. He had way more sacks that year than Lloyd ever did if I remember correctly. The one are Lloyd had over Brown imho was the forced fumbles and the intimidation.

If Brown woulda stayed in Pittsburgh @ OLB, his career stats would have blown away Lloyd's. They may have, I didn't really follow him closely when he went to Seattle. And I should probably drop him off the list because of his short stint in Pittsburgh.

I do remember being bummed when we lost him.

[papillon]

Ham
Lambert
Harrison
Russell
Farrior
Lloyd
Greene
Porter
Kirkland
Woodley

Honorable Mention: Timmons, Jason Gildon, Robin Cole, Chad Brown, Hardy Nickerson, Mike Meriweather, Henry Davis, Dirt Winston, Jerry Olsavsky, Loren Toews, Bryan Hinkle, Foote, David Little, Kendrell Bell, etc. I'm sure there are others that I have missed for the honorable mention list. My list only goes back to circa 1970; I have to assume there were good to great linebackers in the early years, but I didn't see them play, so they aren't on the list.

Timmons will be replacing someone on this list in a couple years provided he produces in similar fashion as he did last year and to a lesser degree the year before.

Does any other team have the pedigree at one position throughout their history that the Steelers have at the linebacker position?

Pappy

[Discipline of Steel]

Jack Lambert set the Steeler Standard as Intimidators and for that i will always revere him as #1. James Harrison has been such a joy to have on the team, he plays a complete game and carries the tradition well (Flippy ). With that said heres my stab at it...

Lambert
Harrison
Ham
Lloyd
Farrior
Kirkland
Russell
Porter
Merriweather
Timmons

Dirt Winston 11...Brown, Greene, and Nickerson didnt stick around long enough.

[hawaiiansteel]

Jack Lambert (my all-time favorite Pittsburgh Steeler)
Jack Ham
Greg Lloyd
James Harrison
Kevin Greene
Levon Kirkland
James Farrior
Andy Russell
Joey Porter
Mike Merriweather

[MadSteel]

1. Jack Lambert
2. James Harrison
3. Jack Ham
4. Levon Kirkland
5. Greg Lloyd
6. Jason Gildon
7. James Farrior
8. Andy Russell
9. Joey Porter
0. LaMarr Woodley

4-8 could be arranged in about any order and you could take out 9 or 10 and add Kevin Greene or Mike Merriweather.

[steelblood]

Russell me up some Greene Ham and Lamb(ert).

1.Ham (Best linebacker ever)
2.Lambert (Meanest Linebacker ever)
3.Russell (Smartest Linebacker ever)
4.James Harrison (creates turnovers and sacks at a rate unlike any other Steeler)
5.Greg Llyod (stats don't tell the story. He was nearly as disruptive as Lawrence Taylor)
6.James Farrior (So smart, so tough, complete player and top notch tackler)
7.Levon Kirkland (Offensive linemen playing linebacker)
8.Kevin Greene (not enough years in the B&G to be any higher)
9.Joey Porter
10. I can't decide here. Wood is good. Chad Brown was no Clown. Timmons has vast potential. Hinkle, Holmes, and Little were all good players with good Steeler careers. Merriwether was a great talent while he was here and not holding out.


Woods and Porter are great 3-4 pass rush