Best players comparatively at their position

[Mango]

A friend and I were having a conversation the other day about players who were best compared to everybody else they were playing against in their era. Hands down better than everybody else at their position without question. 

 

We are at the tail end of a QB surplus, so it’s hard to argue a guy like Rogers who plays with Brees, Brady, and Manning. All are sure fire first ballot HoF, and  no one isn’t a standard deviation better than the rest. 

 

Pass Rushers are hard from the mid 80’s to 90’s as well. Bruce, Reggie White, LT. They had peers of similar caliber.

 

Same with RB. Thurman, Barry Sanders, Emmett Smith. 

 

My thoughts on guys I can remember since I understood football, not just watched: 

 

Adrian Peterson

Derrelle Revis

Ray Lewis- Urlacher is over rated IMO

Steve Tasker- as a special teamer 

Devin Hester- as a returner

Pat Williams- might be a homer pick

 

Any others? 

Edited February 9, 2018 by Mango

[ThunderGun]

List of the best of the last 20 years

 

WR- Moss, TO, Antonio Brown, Megatron, and Larry Fitzgerald

Edge- Julius Peppers, V.Miller, Ware, Strahan, Rice

Tackle- Thomas, Pace, Peters, Jones, Ogden

RB- Tomlinson, Faulk, Peterson, Bell- Zeke and David Johnson both have a very decent chance at making it too.

TE- Gonzalez, Gronk, Gates... Only draft TE's who's last name starts with G

DT- Sapp, Wilfork, Seymour, Donald, Watt 

LB- Lewis, Brooks, Urlacher, Willis

Safety- Polamalu, Reed, Dawkins, Berry 

CB- C. Woodson, Revis, Bailey, Peterson, Sherman

C- Saturday, Kreutz, Mawae,  Mack

G- L. Allen, Faneca, Hutchinson, Brown, Martin, Yanda

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by ThunderGun

[Mango]

17 minutes ago, ThunderGun said:

List of the best of the last 20 years

 

WR- Moss, TO, Antonio Brown, Megatron, and Larry Fitzgerald

Edge- Julius Peppers, V.Miller, Ware, Strahan

Tackle- Thomas, Pace, Peters, Jones, Ogden

RB- Tomlinson, Faulk, Peterson, Bell- Zeke and David Johnson both have a very decent chance at making it too.

TE- Gonzalez, Gronk, Gates... Only draft TE's who's last name starts with G

DT- Sapp, Wilfork, Seymour, Donald, Watt 

LB- Lewis, Brooks, Urlacher, Willis

Safety- Polamalu, Reed, Dawkins, Berry 

CB- C. Woodson, Revis, Bailey, Peterson, Sherman

C- Saturday, Kreutz, Mawae,  Mack

G- L. Allen, Faneca, Hutchinson, Brown, Martin, Yanda

 

 

 

 

 

20 years was an estimate for my life. In my early 30’s. I can’t say I understood football at a mediocre level until later. In you lifetime would probably be better....but hey narcissism. 

 

Lokikngdor exponentially better than than everybody else.

 

The quoted are a ton of guys who are arguably similar to others. Gotta pick a singular guy. 

 

WR- I would say Moss is easily the most talented of all time. Not even a question. But production and effort don’t match up. 

 

DE- another log jam of similar output. If you can’t differentiate, then I’d say it’s a disqualified position. Strahan was always solid, he did have a season with 20+ sacks with the next best at something like 15. Argument coupd be made. 

 

OL as a whole- in all honesty, I’m not fluent enough in OL play to differentiate between very good/dominant and better than the entire league. I just don’t watch individuals enough there to have an opinion.  

 

RB- those are good. Not much overlap. I think you hit it pretty well. 

 

TE- as a complete player, there’s Gronk and a mile between every other TE in the league in his tenure. As a pass catcher it’s arguable. Gonzalez is probably the closest. 

 

DT- this gets tough. But Sapp deserves credit. I broke it down as pass rusher. So I over looked 

 

LB- IMO Ray Lewis since 2001 and it’s not close.

 

CB-Revis. Honorable mention Peterson because DR is on the downside of his career. 

 

Name one player who was the absolute best at any position, that most would agree on, during their playing time. 

Edited February 9, 2018 by Mango

[hondo in seattle]

I hate to say this considering (1) it's cliche, and (2) he was a failure as a human - but OJ was maybe the most dominant player I've ever seen. 

 

Back in the 1970s, football was about the run.   Teams wanted franchise RBs back then the way teams want franchise QBs today.  Defenses were geared to stop  the run. 

 

And in that environment, OJ gained 2,003 yards when the next best guy only gained 1,144.  

 

OJ just about doubled the rushing total of the #5 leading rusher in 1973 (HOFer Larry Csonka, 1003). 

 

The #5 guy on the passing yardage list this past season was Big Ben with 4,251 yards.  Imagine Brady threw for 8,000+ yards instead of 4,577.  That's how dominant OJ was in '73.

 

 

Edited February 9, 2018 by hondo in seattle

[bigK14094]

5 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

I hate to say this considering (1) it's cliche, and (2) he was a failure as a human - but OJ was maybe the most dominant player I've ever seen. 

 

Back in the 1970s, football was about the run.   Teams wanted franchise RBs back then the way teams want franchise QBs today.  Defenses were geared to stop  the run. 

 

And in that environment, OJ gained 2,003 yards when the next best guy only gained 1,144.  

 

OJ just about doubled the rushing total of the #5 leading rusher in 1973 (HOFer Larry Csonka, 1003). 

 

The #5 guy on the passing yardage list this past season was Big Ben with 4,251 yards.  Imagine Brady threw for 8,000+ yards instead of 4,577.  That's how dominant OJ was in '73.

 

 

Yes, I saw OJ, and he was better than any other imho.  He had speed, cutback ability and power.  But, he needed a good line, as do any rb's on the list.  OJ had a few mediocre years before the all world season you quote.

[BuffaloHokie13]

11 hours ago, ThunderGun said:

TE- Gonzalez, Gronk, Gates... Only draft TE's who's last name starts with G

Ringing endorsement for Mike Gesicki!

[Buffalo716]

OJ Simpson 

 

The original LT

Edited February 9, 2018 by Buffalo716

[BuffaloBillyG]

12 hours ago, Mango said:

A friend and I were having a conversation the other day about players who were best compared to everybody else they were playing against in their era. Hands down better than everybody else at their position without question. 

 

We are at the tail end of a QB surplus, so it’s hard to argue a guy like Rogers who plays with Brees, Brady, and Manning. All are sure fire first ballot HoF, and  no one isn’t a standard deviation better than the rest. 

 

Pass Rushers are hard from the mid 80’s to 90’s as well. Bruce, Reggie White, LT. They had peers of similar caliber.

 

Same with RB. Thurman, Barry Sanders, Emmett Smith. 

 

My thoughts on guys I can remember since I understood football, not just watched: 

 

Adrian Peterson

Derrelle Revis

Ray Lewis- Urlacher is over rated IMO

Steve Tasker- as a special teamer 

Devin Hester- as a returner

Pat Williams- might be a homer pick

 

Any others? 

Jerry Rice springs to mind. People can argue about Reed/Sterling Sharpe pre injury or whomever else they want...the man was a freak and head and shoulders above anyone else.

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

12 hours ago, Mango said:

A friend and I were having a conversation the other day about players who were best compared to everybody else they were playing against in their era. Hands down better than everybody else at their position without question. 

 

We are at the tail end of a QB surplus, so it’s hard to argue a guy like Rogers who plays with Brees, Brady, and Manning. All are sure fire first ballot HoF, and  no one isn’t a standard deviation better than the rest. 

 

Pass Rushers are hard from the mid 80’s to 90’s as well. Bruce, Reggie White, LT. They had peers of similar caliber.

 

Same with RB. Thurman, Barry Sanders, Emmett Smith. 

 

My thoughts on guys I can remember since I understood football, not just watched: 

 

Adrian Peterson

Derrelle Revis

Ray Lewis- Urlacher is over rated IMO

Steve Tasker- as a special teamer 

Devin Hester- as a returner

Pat Williams- might be a homer pick

 

Any others? 

Urlacher is under rated, that cover 2 defense that the Bears played required a MLB that could cover the deep middle, go sideline to sideline and stuff runnng lanes. He was around 6'4 254 and looked faster than players 40 lbs lighter. His film study was top notch, like Luke Kuekly he appeared to know where the play was going before it happened. All I can say after watching him play for his whole career is that a player like him comes around once every 20 years.

[K D]

I will just go with the best I've seen do it and who comes to mind when I think of the position:

 

QB: No response because i don't like the answer.  But he's head and shoulders above anyone playing in this era or the last.

 

RB: Every time Barry Sanders ran the ball i held my breath.  It was amazing to watch.  He won't go down as the best ever because he retired early, played on a bad team, had a lot of negative plays, and comparatively was right there in many ways with Emmitt and Thurman, but he was the most fun to watch.  Walter Payton was the smoothest and Jim Brown was the toughest.  Depends on what style you prefer.

 

WR: Randy Moss is a freak.  Jerry Rice had the best career but Moss is just a whole other level of athlete.  He could have been pro in a number of sports and was a freak.  Best to do it imo.

 

DE: Bruce is probably the 2nd best of all time which is amazing that he played for our team.  Reggie White was the best though.  But Bruce stands out as a pure athlete who had power, size, strength, speed.

 

LB: Lawrence Taylor is the prototypical LB and a mean sob.  One of the best players in the NFL during his era.

 

S: Ronnie Lott.  Ed Reed is up there but Lott had absolutely no regard for his body and would light receivers up.  It would be a flag in today's game but back then it was fun to watch.

 

CB: Darelle Revis was an absolute lock down corner for about 5-6 yrs where you couldn't even throw his way.  Prime Time comes to mind but he refused to tackle and he was all about the fame.  Tough call.

Edited February 9, 2018 by kdiggz

[BuffaloHokie13]

I'll toss out Champ Bailey at CB.

[boyst]

Two or three years ago nobody even thought about Urlacher. Now that he's up for the Hall of Fame people remember him as one of the best ever, that's a joke

 

He might have been in the top 50 linebackers, I really don't know. he might be worth the Hall of Fame, I don't know. But I do know that he is not worthy of being called one of the best at his position

[BuffaloBillsGospel]

On 2/9/2018 at 1:33 AM, Mango said:

A friend and I were having a conversation the other day about players who were best compared to everybody else they were playing against in their era. Hands down better than everybody else at their position without question. 

 

We are at the tail end of a QB surplus, so it’s hard to argue a guy like Rogers who plays with Brees, Brady, and Manning. All are sure fire first ballot HoF, and  no one isn’t a standard deviation better than the rest. 

 

Pass Rushers are hard from the mid 80’s to 90’s as well. Bruce, Reggie White, LT. They had peers of similar caliber.

 

Same with RB. Thurman, Barry Sanders, Emmett Smith. 

 

My thoughts on guys I can remember since I understood football, not just watched: 

 

Adrian Peterson

Derrelle Revis

Ray Lewis- Urlacher is over rated IMO

Steve Tasker- as a special teamer 

Devin Hester- as a returner

Pat Williams- might be a homer pick

 

Any others? 

 

You lost me at Urlacher is over rated and listing Adrian Peterson over Barry Sanders or Emmitt Smith. BTW Jim Brown is the best RB of all time in any era.

Edited February 10, 2018 by BuffaloBillsGospel

[Mango]

I didn’t put AP as better than Sanaders or Emmett. The question was guys who were exponentially better than everybody they played with. 

 

AP early and mid career was hands down the best RB in the league, with the next best a mile back. The question wasn’t meant to cross era’s 

[Royale with Cheese]

21 hours ago, kdiggz said:

I will just go with the best I've seen do it and who comes to mind when I think of the position:

 

QB: No response because i don't like the answer.  But he's head and shoulders above anyone playing in this era or the last.

 

RB: Every time Barry Sanders ran the ball i held my breath.  It was amazing to watch.  He won't go down as the best ever because he retired early, played on a bad team, had a lot of negative plays, and comparatively was right there in many ways with Emmitt and Thurman, but he was the most fun to watch.  Walter Payton was the smoothest and Jim Brown was the toughest.  Depends on what style you prefer.

 

WR: Randy Moss is a freak.  Jerry Rice had the best career but Moss is just a whole other level of athlete.  He could have been pro in a number of sports and was a freak.  Best to do it imo.

 

DE: Bruce is probably the 2nd best of all time which is amazing that he played for our team.  Reggie White was the best though.  But Bruce stands out as a pure athlete who had power, size, strength, speed.

 

LB: Lawrence Taylor is the prototypical LB and a mean sob.  One of the best players in the NFL during his era.

 

S: Ronnie Lott.  Ed Reed is up there but Lott had absolutely no regard for his body and would light receivers up.  It would be a flag in today's game but back then it was fun to watch.

 

CB: Darelle Revis was an absolute lock down corner for about 5-6 yrs where you couldn't even throw his way.  Prime Time comes to mind but he refused to tackle and he was all about the fame.  Tough call.

 

I agree with you about Moss.  No one at WR dominated like he did.

 

Rice is the greatest ever because of his total career no doubt.  But if you gave me the choice between a 26 year old Moss and 26 year old Rice...I take Moss.

[GoBills808]

QB: Brady and then Rodgers and no one besides Brees is that close.

 

RB: Barry Sanders.

 

WR: Randy Moss.

 

DE: Bruce Smith or JJ Watt. Then 2011 Jared Allen.

 

LB: Urlacher is meh IMO. Kuechly is the new NFL prototype and has been the standard at MLB for some time now.

 

S: Honestly would put the Chancellor/Thomas combo up for consideration. 

 

CB: Tie between Champ Bailey and Revis. 

 

[Playoffs?]

22 hours ago, kdiggz said:

I will just go with the best I've seen do it and who comes to mind when I think of the position:

 

QB: No response because i don't like the answer.  But he's head and shoulders above anyone playing in this era or the last.

 

RB: Every time Barry Sanders ran the ball i held my breath.  It was amazing to watch.  He won't go down as the best ever because he retired early, played on a bad team, had a lot of negative plays, and comparatively was right there in many ways with Emmitt and Thurman, but he was the most fun to watch.  Walter Payton was the smoothest and Jim Brown was the toughest.  Depends on what style you prefer.

 

WR: Randy Moss is a freak.  Jerry Rice had the best career but Moss is just a whole other level of athlete.  He could have been pro in a number of sports and was a freak.  Best to do it imo.

 

DE: Bruce is probably the 2nd best of all time which is amazing that he played for our team.  Reggie White was the best though.  But Bruce stands out as a pure athlete who had power, size, strength, speed.

 

LB: Lawrence Taylor is the prototypical LB and a mean sob.  One of the best players in the NFL during his era.

 

S: Ronnie Lott.  Ed Reed is up there but Lott had absolutely no regard for his body and would light receivers up.  It would be a flag in today's game but back then it was fun to watch.

 

CB: Darelle Revis was an absolute lock down corner for about 5-6 yrs where you couldn't even throw his way.  Prime Time comes to mind but he refused to tackle and he was all about the fame.  Tough call.

This list is dead on.

and despite being a crazy Bills fan, Barry Sanders is my favorite NFL player of all time for the wow-factor you mention above. The guy simply made magic happen.

[Kirby Jackson]

32 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

QB: Brady and then Rodgers and no one besides Brees is that close.

 

RB: Barry Sanders.

 

WR: Randy Moss.

 

DE: Bruce Smith or JJ Watt. Then 2011 Jared Allen.

 

LB: Urlacher is meh IMO. Kuechly is the new NFL prototype and has been the standard at MLB for some time now.

 

S: Honestly would put the Chancellor/Thomas combo up for consideration. 

 

CB: Tie between Champ Bailey and Revis. 

 

I like where you are on a lot of this. 

 

Guys to me that hat had no peers in their primes (in the last 20 years): Moss, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Barry Sanders, Tony Gonzalez, Revis, and Aaron Donald at the moment.

 

The best player in football right now is Antonio Brown.

[buffaloboyinATL]

23 hours ago, kdiggz said:

 

WR: Randy Moss is a freak.  Jerry Rice had the best career but Moss is just a whole other level of athlete.  He could have been pro in a number of sports and was a freak.  Best to do it imo.

Definitely the first one to jump into my mind. The most physically gifted WR to ever play the game.

[mjt328]

On 2/9/2018 at 1:16 AM, ThunderGun said:

List of the best of the last 20 years

 

WR- Moss, TO, Antonio Brown, Megatron, and Larry Fitzgerald

Edge- Julius Peppers, V.Miller, Ware, Strahan, Rice

Tackle- Thomas, Pace, Peters, Jones, Ogden

RB- Tomlinson, Faulk, Peterson, Bell- Zeke and David Johnson both have a very decent chance at making it too.

TE- Gonzalez, Gronk, Gates... Only draft TE's who's last name starts with G

DT- Sapp, Wilfork, Seymour, Donald, Watt 

LB- Lewis, Brooks, Urlacher, Willis

Safety- Polamalu, Reed, Dawkins, Berry 

CB- C. Woodson, Revis, Bailey, Peterson, Sherman

C- Saturday, Kreutz, Mawae,  Mack

G- L. Allen, Faneca, Hutchinson, Brown, Martin, Yanda

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my lifetime:

 

Quarterback:  This has always been a battle of what you consider the most important in the position.  Do you want a guy who dominates the stat sheet?  Or the guy who wins in the clutch?  Back in the day, the argument was Joe Montana vs. Dan Marino.  Then it became Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady.  There is a chance Aaron Rodgers joins this list eventually.

 

Running Back:  Barry Sanders (best big play RB), Emmitt Smith (best between the tackles grinder), LT (best all-purpose back)

 

Wide Receiver:  Jerry Rice alone.  Randy Moss could have been the best, but often wasted his talent.  Calvin Johnson was on his way, but retired too early.

 

Tight End:  Tony Gonzalez by himself.

 

Offensive Linemen:  Anthony Munuz.  Lots of other great ones, but nobody really that stands out in my mind.

 

Defensive Ends:  Bruce Smith, Reggie White

 

Defensive Tackle:  Lots of really good ones.  Nobody that really stood head and shoulders above the rest.

 

Outside Linebacker:  Lawrence Taylor and Derrick Thomas

 

Inside Linebacker:  Ray Lewis, Junior Seau

 

Cornerback:  Deion Sanders, Darrell Revis

 

Safety:  Ronnie Lott, Ed Reed