Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Lots of talk of Aaron Donald's greatness. Is he one of the best DTs ever? Obviously. But is he really the BEST DT ever? Got me to thinking about how my own personal "Best 11" defense has probably changed over the years. I'm sure some of it is bias, but its interesting how certain players are probably locks, while other positions could have a number of different "best ever" candidates. Here is my list:

DEs - Deacon Jones, Reggie White: these came to mind fairly easily. JJ Watt has 3 DPOY awards, but didn't have the longevity, IMO. Kind of like the Dick Butkus of DEs

DTs - Bob Lilly, Aaron Donald: tough choices here. The best testimonial was from Ed White, who played a number of years in both conferences, and he said that without question the best player he faced was Bob Lilly. I've always liked Joe Greene, but he honestly wasn't at his peak after he got injured in 1975. Aaron Donald is simply dominant in an era where both DTs in particular and defenses in general are handcuffed.

OLBs - Lawrence Taylor, Ted Hendricks: I know Dr Z liked Jack Ham, and you have a similar guy like Derrick Brooks, but I think LT and Hendricks were rather unique players. LT might be the most "consensus" selection of any defender, and everyone has tried to imitate him. Hendricks is almost impossible to imitate, and he played at a high level for 15 years.

MLB/ILB - Ray Lewis: please talk me out of it, because he might be my least favorite player of all time, but he was consistently good for a long period. He excelled while the defensive players and schemes around him changed. Dick Butkus was more dominant, but again didn't have the longevity.

CBs - Rod Woodson, Dick Lane: I'm sure most people would have Deion Sanders, and he was great at coverage, but I just think that other DBs were better. Woodson to me is the best overall DB in history. He could do everything well. Night Train was a terror on defense and a trendsetter. I think both of these players had more longevity than Mel Blount.

SS - Troy Polamalu: sacrilege to not have Ronnie Lott? Polamalu did a lot of different things on the field from a defensive strategy standpoint. He played twice as fast as everyone else.

FS - Ed Reed: another tough choice, and maybe stupid to have two all time safeties who played in the same era, but Ed Reed was just as effective as any S in history. One guy who has been lost in history is Larry Wilson, who used to be my all time FS.

Only changes.

DE: None. Clear choices.

DT: For sure Lilly. I'd still have Joe Greene but argument for Donald is valid.

OLB: Definitely LT. Bobby Bell would make sense, especially as LLB or strongside LB to pair with. Jack Ham is the other choice though I like Derrick Brooks, too. Then get to Hendricks.

MLB/ILB: If it was MY team I'd pick Jack Lambert because he's a favorite. Butkus and Joe Schmidt are the other two you could try to replace Lewis with if you don't like him on your team. I think he has a strong argument as the best, though.

CB: Lane and Deion. Seems like Woodson should be part of an all-time secondary but he's #3 on CB list, for me.

SS: Lott. Wouldn't be Polamalu, for me. He looks like the player to attack on your 'all-time' defense.

FS: For sure Ed Reed. Though if you're trying to get Woodson on your team could put him at FS.

Taking a cue from John Turney, My Mt Rushmore at all positions

Mt Rushmore - Defense

DE -- Jones, White, Marchetti, Youngblood (Eller just missed)
DT -- Lilly, Greene, Page, Olsen (Donald not there yet)
NT -- Culp, Smerlas, Washington, Wilfork (though Krumrie was very underrated)
OLB -- Ham, Brooks, Bell, Taylor (Taylor is the pass rusher)
MLB/ILB -- Lewis, Butkus, Schmidt, Seau (Seau is inside-outside swing)
FS -- Lott, Reed, Christiansen, Dawkins (Robinson just missed)
SS -- Houston, Tunnell, Shell, Wilson (D Woodson just missed)
CB -- Lane, R Woodson, Adderley, Blount (Brown, Haynes just missed)

My Mt Rushmore -- Offense

QB -- Montana, Brady, Unitas, Staubach (Layne, Graham, Luckman just missed)
HB -- Payton, Sanders, Simpson, Faulk (Smith, Sayers, Tomlinson, Peterson just missed)
FB -- Brown, Harris, Taylor, Csonka (running over blocking)
WR -- Warfield, Rice, Hutson, Alworth (Berry, Harrison, Largent, Moss just missed)
TE -- Casper, Ditka, Gronk, Gonzalez (Gonzalez as receiver over Winslow, Smith)
OT -- R Brown, Munoz, Gregg, Ogden
OG -- Allen, Hannah, Parker, Hutchinson
OC -- Stephenson, Ringo, Webster, Otto
K -- Lowery, Anderson, Vinatieri, Tucker
P -- Guy, Lewellen, Wilson, Davis

Brian wolf wrote:Taking a cue from John Turney, My Mt Rushmore at all positions

Mt Rushmore - Defense

DE -- Jones, White, Marchetti, Youngblood (Eller just missed)
DT -- Lilly, Greene, Page, Olsen (Donald not there yet)
NT -- Culp, Smerlas, Washington, Wilfork (though Krumrie was very underrated)
OLB -- Ham, Brooks, Bell, Taylor (Taylor is the pass rusher)
MLB/ILB -- Lewis, Butkus, Schmidt, Seau (Seau is inside-outside swing)
FS -- Lott, Reed, Christiansen, Dawkins (Robinson just missed)
SS -- Houston, Tunnell, Shell, Wilson (D Woodson just missed)
CB -- Lane, R Woodson, Adderley, Blount (Brown, Haynes just missed)

I agree with this, except for Ronnie Lott. I would have Ed Reed first team.

Its very close, Reed had better range and probably confused QBs more with his alignments but I believe Lott was better at tackling and hitting and better in the postseason in my view

Personally I would have Kenny Easley in there, somewhere, but people don't talk about him much these days (probably because he didn't play all that many years AND because his teams never won any championships). Ronnie Lott, himself, said that the only difference between him and Kenny Easley was that "I played longer. That's the only difference."

I thought about Easley as well but his career wasnt the same after the injuries. Its close though because he could really rock opposing players ...

Maybe a spot for Nitschke at MLB??

I have a personal all-11, but one thing I always hesitate on is OLB because if you choose 4 DLs and include a 3-4 OLB like LT, its kind of a mismatch of players. I rationalized leaving LT out that way since I figured my DEs could fill that role.