Who are the all-time best LB units in Pgh?

[lloydroid]

Woodley
Timmons
Farrior
Harrison

The above is good, especially before Farrior got too old.

Greene
Kirkland
Brown
Lloyd

Maybe the best ever. A shame that group saw only 1 SB and won zero. I chalk that up to Cowher choking in the play offs. That was one hell of a LB unit.

Ham
Lambert
Russell

Kind of tough because of running a 4-3 instead of 3-4. Some automatically assume the above was the best LB unit even, but I don't think so. They were damn good, no question, but did have the advantage of playing behind the best starting 4 DL of the decade. Plus they had mad skills in the backfield, all of which making it easier for the LB to shine. But these guys were very small compared to the other groups. Yes, some will say if they trained in the modern world, they would also be bigger, but we don't KNOW this. Can you imagine a 220 lb MLB today? That's all Lambert was.

I'm gonna say the middle group was the best ever, especially if viewed as in the day before Kirkland weighed 300 lbs playing ILB. Before he got too heavy, he was amazing, combine with Greene and Lloyd in their primes. That group should have won a ring or two.

[D Rock]

Farrior played at 218, so yes, I can imagine a 220 lb LB

[supersteeler]

Lambert & Ham are HOF ers. The only LB in the other groups that can make the HOF is Greene possibly.

Who are the all-time best LB units in Pgh?

Ham was the best OLB in Steelers history, I'm talking all around.

Lambert and the rest @ middle wouldnt even be close. Lambert could do it all and he had range.

[flippy]

Farrior played at 218, so yes, I can imagine a 220 lb LB

I was thinking the same thing. Farrior looked smaller than some safeties.

[flippy]

My vote is for

Woodley
Timmons
Farrior
Harrison

Primarily because of Harrison. I think he's the best of all the Steelers LBs. Not by longevity, but by peak performance.

If we're going by longevity, I'd have to go with Ham. Although, I'd take Timmons over him and think if you plugged Timmons into the 70s he'd be a monster in that system because he has everyone in terms of athleticism.

In terms of versatility, I'd say Chad Brown had that hands down. He was fantastic inside and out. I'm not sure how many guys could make that transition so easily. Timmons can't and he's quite easily the best athlete we've ever had at LB.

[supersteeler]

Here is how good Ham was:

Pro football career Ham was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second-round (34th overall) of the 1971 NFL Draft. He won the starting left linebacker job as a rookie. He was first-team All-Pro six years and was named to eight straight Pro Bowls.[1] He was named the greatest outside linebacker of all time by a consortium of professional sports writers, beating Lawrence Taylor for this honor.[

Dobre Shunka!!!

[MeetJoeGreene]

Ham, Lambert, and Russell. Without a doubt.

[birtikidis]

Not even close. Ham was best ever at olb and lambert makes Harrison look like a pussycat.

[BradshawsHairdresser]

Agreed on Ham, Lambert, and Russell. And don't sell Russell short, he was a great one, too, even if not in the HOF.

[Chucktownsteeler]

How about creating your best all-time 4-3 LB corp and 3-4 LB corp. Mix and match from any ERA.

Go!

[Sugar]

Not even close. Ham was best ever at olb and lambert makes Harrison look like a pussycat.

Jack Lambert was my favorite Steeler growing up, but Deebo is nobody's pussycat. Kent State in the house??

[Shoe]

Not even close. Ham was best ever at olb and lambert makes Harrison look like a pussycat.

Oh, give that a rest! NO ONE makes Harrison (I'm talking about his play on the field) "look like a pussycat". Take off the rose-colored glasses, and come back to reality. The greatest MLB I ever saw (I never really watched Lambert) was Ray Lewis. And even a prime Ray Lewis... Harrison (at his peak) had a comparable impact vs.

GTFOOH with that noise.

[Shoe]

On a similar note, PLEASE don't discount players based on accolades. I'm not about to say that Ham/Lambert weren't all that, but anyone who watched Harrison or Greg Lloyd can say that they could've/would've played on those 70's teams too. And if they did, they would've reaped similar accolades.

Let's be honest--you have Joe Greene bringing heat from the inside, and Mel Blount mauling anyone on one side of the field (i.e. shut-down), and it wouldn't be hard for LBs to make some big plays.

[Jooser]

[Jooser]