Who are your favorite all time starters on defense?

[paydirt]

With the draft coming up I thought it would be fun to put together a defense with all of your favorite players on it. I know some players from decades past have had more storied careers, but I like to pick some guys that I actually got to see play. Here is my list:

RE Bruce Smith All time sack leader
LE Reggie White Threw all pro Tackle Erik Williams out of the way with one arm
DT John Randle Tenacious player with a non stop motor
OLB Charles Haley versatile can also play DE
MLB Ray Lewis maybe the best in 2 decades
MLB Mike Singletary team leader on one of the best defenses ever
ROLB Lawrence Taylor maybe the best defensive player I have seen
CB Deion Sanders maybe the second best defensive player I have seen
CB Rod Woodson can play anywhere in the secondary at a pro bowl level
FS Ronnie Lott people did not want to get hit by Lott
SS Troy Polamalu exciting and fun to watch
honorable mention:
RE Richard Dent
OLB Kevin Greene
CB Darrell Green
FS Ed Reed

[MI Rob]

Charles Woodson. Plays outstanding no matter what position he plays. He can blitz from anywhere. Incredible to watch.
Ndamukong Suh. Plays hard and is also very versatile.

[paydirt]

Those are two very good players, and If I was to pick an all pro defense from today's players, it would go something like this:

RE Jared Allen
LE Julius Peppers
DT Justin Smith
LOLB Clay Matthews
MLB Patrick Willis
MLB Ray Lewis
ROLB Aldon Smith
CB Darelle Revis
CB Patrick Peterson
FS Ed Reed
SS Troy Polamalu

[nhamus]

no way Aldon Smith belongs on the list already. He doesn't even play every down.

[Admetstiger]

With the draft coming up I thought it would be fun to put together a defense with all of your favorite players on it. I know some players from decades past have had more storied careers, but I like to pick some guys that I actually got to see play. Here is my list:

RE Bruce Smith All time sack leader
LE Reggie White Threw all pro Tackle Erik Williams out of the way with one arm
DT John Randle Tenacious player with a non stop motor
OLB Charles Haley versatile can also play DE
MLB Ray Lewis maybe the best in 2 decades
MLB Mike Singletary team leader on one of the best defenses ever
ROLB Lawrence Taylor maybe the best defensive player I have seen
CB Deion Sanders maybe the second best defensive player I have seen
CB Rod Woodson can play anywhere in the secondary at a pro bowl level
FS Ronnie Lott people did not want to get hit by Lott
SS Troy Polamalu exciting and fun to watch
honorable mention:
RE Richard Dent
OLB Kevin Greene
CB Darrell Green
FS Ed Reed


Great list... Very well put together....

[popmaz]

Since it is my favorites...here goes
DE Reggie White/Richard Dent
DT Garin Veris or Santana Dotson
OLB Greg Lloyd/Derrick Thomas
ILB Mike Singletary/ Hardy Nickerson
CB Hanfor Dixon/Patrick Hunter
S Thomas Everett/ Donnie Shell

[Apakalypto]

I think Greg Lloyd At the very lest Deserves an Honorable mention.
That Dude was a beast.
And this is coming from a Bengals Fan.

[MasterPattie]

DE: Deacon Jones
DT: Bob Lily
DT: Warren Sapp
DE: Reggie White
OLB:Lawrence Taylor
MLB:Ray Lewis
OLB: Derrick Brooks
CB: Deion Sanders
S: Ronnie Lott
S: Rod Woodson (like him better at S than CB)
CB: Dick "Night Train" Lane

[BroncosFAN#1]

DT- Ndamukong Suh, Warren Sapp
DE-Reggie White, Bruce Smith
MLB- Ray Lewis
OLB- Lawrence Taylor, Not sure who else id put here
CB- Champ Bailey, Deion Sanders
S-Steve Atwater was fun to watch, never forget when he put the huge hit on the Nigerian Nightmare.
S- Ronnie Lott was also one of my favs

Thats all, I have a few people for the last OLB spot but cant decide

[MarinoHOF]

DE Reggie White
DE Lee Roy Selmon
DT John Randle
DT Alan Page
OLB LT
MLB London Fletcher
OLB Derrick Brooks
CB Darrell Green
CB Night Train Lane
S Paul Krause
S Rod Woodson

[FreeFlow]

RE Bruce Smith
LE Reggie White
DT Richard Seymour and Marcell Dareus now.
OLB Demarcus Ware
MLB Ray Lewis
MLB Dick Butkus
ROLB Lawrence Taylor
CB Deion Sanders
CB TIE Charles Woodson and Darell Revis
FS Ronnie Lott
SS Troy Polamalu

Dareus and Ware not all time greats now but I believe in 10 years they may be considered in the top 20 ever in there position.

My list had about half of the same as yours, Great thread, Been awhile since I thought about the all time greats of every defense position :)!

[bettydaw1970]

[QUOTE=paydirt;2528162]With the draft coming up I thought it would be fun to put together a defense with all of your favorite players on it. I know some players from decades past have had more storied careers, but I like to pick some guys that I actually got to see play. Here is my list:


CB Deion Sanders maybe the second best defensive player I have seen
i think he was the GDPOAT better then LT (who could have trouble with crafty tackles in the running game..
and best of all no steroids..
alot of these great defensive players were on the juice..

[papalaps88]

who remembers Bill Bates!!!!!!!!!!!! An animal

[paydirt]

no way Aldon Smith belongs on the list already. He doesn't even play every down.

Aldon Smith can get 14 sacks with only playing half the time, who is out there now that you can say that about.

[FreeFlow]

Aldon Smith can get 14 sacks with only playing half the time, who is out there now that you can say that about.

I gotta agree, Myself projecting Dareus to go down as one of the top 20 all time in 10 years was far more fetched then Aldon Smith..... That guy is un-real. I watched a lot of 49ers games last year, He didn't play every down because he's a rookie and harbaugh likes to keep um fresh. He will get some more playing time this year but not much more with those defensive schemes.

[freethrowtommy]

DL Reggie White
DL Gilbert Brown
LB Ray Nitchske
LB Clay Matthews
LB A.J. Hawk
DB Charles Woodson
DB Herb Adderley
DB Leroy Butler
DB Nick Collins

Doesn't make a full defense, but these are some of my favorite guys.

[cadillac540]

DE Reggie White
DE Lee Roy Selmon
DT John Randle
DT Alan Page
OLB LT
MLB London Fletcher
OLB Derrick Brooks
CB Darrell Green
CB Night Train Lane
S Paul Krause
S Rod Woodson

Nice list right here.

[weaponX]

Mine might be a bit biased but I still think it's a legit list...

DE: Reggie White
DE: Deacon Jones
DT: John Randle
DT: Jerome Brown
OLB: Lawrence Taylor
MLB: Chuck Bednarik
MLB: Ray Lewis
OLB: Demarcus Ware
CB: Deion Sanders
CB: Lester Hayes
FS: Brian Dawkins
SS: Ed Reed

[Mattsurewood]

I'm a Redskins fan...but being able to watch Ray Lewis and Ed Reed for their entire careers has been a privilege. The Derrick Brooks mention was nice by MarinoHOF--I went to FSU and watched him his whole career. Great player, and a class act to boot.

[KevJo]

Clay Matthews is my Favorite Defensive player. Others are A.J. Hawk, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Champ Bailey, Polamalu and Brian Cushing.

Up and comers,

Tramon Williams, Casey Matthews, Ryan Kerrigan, JJ Watt, Aldon Smith, Patrick Peterson and my breakout coming up this season Brooks Reed

Kevin

[BAMBAM]

If they had kept track of sacks back when he played, Deacon Jones would have been the all-time sacks leader to this day. He and Reggie White were the two best defensive linemen ever. I say DL instead of DE because you could move them inside as well and they'd still dominate.

[BigNate]

The Freeney/Mathis DE combo is my favorite. It's beautiful to watch.

[BAMBAM]

Lets not forget the guy you need to coach the D and come up with a game plan. For me there is only ONE obvious choice.....

BUD CARSON

The mastermind behind the Steel Curtin is his claim to fame but he was a whole lot more than that. What is seemingly lost these days is one of the greatest defensive seasons in NFL history coached by Carson with the '91 Eagles. I'd take him over anyone including Buddy Ryan, Mavin Lewis or Dom Capers.

[BostonNut]

Tedy Bruschi always knew where the ball was going to be before it got there.

[verbal13]

If they had kept track of sacks back when he played, Deacon Jones would have been the all-time sacks leader to this day. He and Reggie White were the two best defensive linemen ever. I say DL instead of DE because you could move them inside as well and they'd still dominate.

+1. Deacon was as mean and ruthless on the field as they came. Head slap all day.

[56LightsOut56]

How about some all-time AFL defensive players. A monster on the field and in the ring.

Ernie Ladd
Ernie Ladd - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Ladd)

[NJNets24]

Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas have got to be up there

[bubble]

How is Derrick Thomas not on more lists?

[sportnutt80]

Watching Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett was something special growing up. Those two players made me pay attention to the defensive side of the ball when so much attention is usually given to the offense.

[stalzer49]

Aldon smith will start this year.