Best linebacker of the steelers since 1990?

[polamalubeast]

Who's the best linebacker of the steelers since 1990?

Where you will place Harrison in your list?

[Steeltreal]

Probably behind the all time sack leader Woodley

[ALLD]

Harrison made the most significant LBer play in Steeler's history. Probably most fined too. Maybe not as vocal as Lambert or sublime as Dobra Shunka, but as tough and mean as Levon Kirkland, Greg Llyod and Joey Porter.

[GoSlash27]

The single "best" linebacker? That's a tough one!
I've got to go with Greg Lloyd, but it's a tough call. Kevin Greene, Peezy, Deebo, Woodley, Kirkland... they're all pretty stellar IMO.

[86WARD]

I'd say it comes down to Lloyd and Harrison with Kirkland and Porter close behind.

I'd go with Lloyd if I had to pick one.

[Steeldude]

Who's the best linebacker of the steelers since 1990?

Where you will place Harrison in your list?

Lloyd and then Harrison.

Then probably Kirkland, Farrior, Porter, Brown...

Can't forget Olsavksy somwhere in the mix. He was very underrated, IMO.

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Probably behind the all time sack leader Woodley

Woodley isn't the all-time sack leader. I believe it is Gildon followed by Harrison.

[86WARD]

Sack leader is Gildon with 77. I think Harrison, Porter, Willis and then Woodley and Lloyd.

[tube517]

Lloyd and Harrison are damn close if looking at stats. Both 5x Pro Bowlers. Lloyd 3 time All Pro. Harrison 2 time first team All Pro 2 time second team all pro. Lloyd AFC DPOY.....Harrison NFL DPOY

Harrison 64.5 sacks, 6 INTs, 24 Forced fumbles
Lloyd 54.5 sacks, 11 INTs

[dislocatedday]

I'd put Harrison at 1........with Lloyd at 1a.

[zulater]

I'd put James just slightly over Lloyd. Harrison was better at taking on a left tackle straight up and shedding the block. Lloyd you had to sometimes scheme him free with help against the better tackles. Still both were great and should be considered for HOF induction. But neither will get a sniff because injuries shortened their prime, and neither was much liked outside of Pittsburgh by press, fans or the league.

[BigNastyDefense]

1a. James Harrison
1b. Greg "I Wasn't Hired For My Disposition" Lloyd

[Mojouw]

Harrison
Lloyd
Porter
Chad Brown (would've had a much better career if he stayed in this system)

The Porter moment that I will always remember is a game against Tampa. Don't remember they year, but I think it was during the lost years of Tim Lewis coordinating the defense. Anyways, Porter was simply having his way against Tampa's o-line and he knew it. He was lining up every play and signaling to the coaches box (Lewis called the plays from upstairs) that they should either send him on the blitz or he was going to go anyways. That kinda summed up Porter for me. Always cranked to it up to 11.

[Devilsdancefloor]

Lloyd
harrison
kirkland a man that size moving like he did is amazing

[Craic]

I'm surprised Porter is being put so high. Sure, he was good, but I'd put Harrison, Lloyd, Greene, Kirkland, and Timmons ahead of him. Farrior and Brown are probably equal to him, and Brown really wasn't everything to jump over, either. He had one very good year, but outside of that, he ranked more as a "pretty good" LB.

[NJarhead]

Total package? At OLB, it's a tie: Lloyd - Porter - Harrison.

MLB would have to be measured separately.

[tube517]

I'm surprised Porter is being put so high. Sure, he was good, but I'd put Harrison, Lloyd, Greene, Kirkland, and Timmons ahead of him. Farrior and Brown are probably equal to him, and Brown really wasn't everything to jump over, either. He had one very good year, but outside of that, he ranked more as a "pretty good" LB.

Brown was moved to OLB the year Lloyd got hurt (96) and he had a great year. Then free agency and he was gone. Like Mojouw said, if he had stayed, he probably would've been up there with the Steelers OLB greats.

[HollywoodSteel]

I'm not going to compare stats. For me it is Harrison, no question. I love all the guys mentioned, but in addition to everything else JH did, on the biggest stage ever, on the biggest night ever, he gave us, arguably, the biggest individual play ever.

Plus he had to work harder to get there than any of the others. Cut like 4 or 5 times, and willed himself to be an NFL caliber player… and then some. Also, he played in an era that had everything stacked against him, with a target on his back specifically, allowed to be held on almost every play by the refs, and yet he never wavered from his badassery. Put all of that together and Harrison takes it for me.

[TMC]

I like Joey Porter out of all those guys. The thing is, Harrison and Lloyd were with the Steelers for 10 years while Porter was there for 8. Porter had 60 sacks in his 8 years. Harrison had 64 and Lloyd had 53.5. The Steelers let Porter go and in the next three seasons, he had 32 sacks. Neither Harrison or Lloyd did much after the Steelers let them go. Lloyd and Porter both had 10 INTs while with the Steelers (Porter in 2 less seasons) while Harrison was at 5. Lloyd's total tackles were much better as was his forced fumbles.

I guess the key for me would be things like how many years did they really impact (and these guys are pass rushers firsts). Lloyd had one season with 10 or more sacks. Porter and Harrison had 3. Porter and Harrison also brought home Super Bowl trophies and both were instrumental in getting them there. Harrison had the big return in the Super Bowl, Porter had 3 sacks during the Steelers playoff run and came up big in the final moments against the Colts. If people remember, he had the sack of Manning on 2nd down, pressured him on 3rd, and then split a sack with Farrior on 4th to give the Steelers the ball on the Indy 2 (right before the Bettis fumble). In essence, his play should have sealed that game.

And, Porter was the heart and soul of that defense. He was the mouthpiece and the motivator. He was vocal and they followed him. He set the stage.

It is very close IMO, but I just give Porter the edge as an all-around linebacker, impact guy, and leader.

[Mojouw]

Yeah but Steve Young or Jim Harbaugh said Lloyd hit harder than anyone.

Also there is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNDJidkiSkg

[zulater]

James Farrior meant so much to this team too. Losing him is what took this team down from being a perennial double digit winning team to being a .500 team the past couple years.

[jb500ex]

I'm surprised Porter is being put so high. Sure, he was good, but I'd put Harrison, Lloyd, Greene, Kirkland, and Timmons ahead of him. Farrior and Brown are probably equal to him, and Brown really wasn't everything to jump over, either. He had one very good year, but outside of that, he ranked more as a "pretty good" LB.
Farrior was superior to Timmons. Timmons doesn't deserve to be that high. Down for down he's a negative player he fools people with his occasional highlight play

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James Farrior meant so much to this team too. Losing him is what took this team down from being a perennial double digit winning team to being a .500 team the past couple years.
Bingo

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I like Joey Porter out of all those guys. The thing is, Harrison and Lloyd were with the Steelers for 10 years while Porter was there for 8. Porter had 60 sacks in his 8 years. Harrison had 64 and Lloyd had 53.5. The Steelers let Porter go and in the next three seasons, he had 32 sacks. Neither Harrison or Lloyd did much after the Steelers let them go. Lloyd and Porter both had 10 INTs while with the Steelers (Porter in 2 less seasons) while Harrison was at 5. Lloyd's total tackles were much better as was his forced fumbles.

I guess the key for me would be things like how many years did they really impact (and these guys are pass rushers firsts). Lloyd had one season with 10 or more sacks. Porter and Harrison had 3. Porter and Harrison also brought home Super Bowl trophies and both were instrumental in getting them there. Harrison had the big return in the Super Bowl, Porter had 3 sacks during the Steelers playoff run and came up big in the final moments against the Colts. If people remember, he had the sack of Manning on 2nd down, pressured him on 3rd, and then split a sack with Farrior on 4th to give the Steelers the ball on the Indy 2 (right before the Bettis fumble). In essence, his play should have sealed that game.

And, Porter was the heart and soul of that defense. He was the mouthpiece and the motivator. He was vocal and they followed him. He set the stage.

It is very close IMO, but I just give Porter the edge as an all-around linebacker, impact guy, and leader.
Don't forget they use to put Lloyd at MLB for passing downs. To me none of these guys impacted a game like Lloyd did

[Craic]

Farrior was superior to Timmons. Timmons doesn't deserve to be that high. Down for down he's a negative player he fools people with his occasional highlight play

That's almost funny.

Since 2010, Timmons has 322 tackles, 137 assists, 6 forced fumbles, 26 passes defended, 8 interceptions, and 14 sacks. His player average on a site like pro-football-reference, which has a unique and pretty dang good valuing system, is 11 from 2010-12, and 9 in 2013, which makes a rounded average, 11.

Farrior, on the other hand, cherry picking his TOP FOUR consecutive years in his prime (2004-2007), has 286 tackles, 147 assists, 11 forced fumbles, 29 passes defended, 6 interceptions, and 15.5 sacks. His player average, averaged over the four years, is rounded average of 11. However, his 2004 year was an average of 19, and the rest were 8, 9, 9.

In short, what you said was exactly wrong. Timmons is the better player day in and day out. Farrior had flashes of great playing, but he had a whole lot more variance in his game from season to season. And if you compare all seven of Timmons's years to Farrior's first seven years, Timmons comes out vastly ahead.

[Mojouw]

That's almost funny.

Since 2010, Timmons has 322 tackles, 137 assists, 6 forced fumbles, 26 passes defended, 8 interceptions, and 14 sacks. His player average on a site like pro-football-reference, which has a unique and pretty dang good valuing system, is 11 from 2010-12, and 9 in 2013, which makes a rounded average, 11.

Farrior, on the other hand, cherry picking his TOP FOUR consecutive years in his prime (2004-2007), has 286 tackles, 147 assists, 11 forced fumbles, 29 passes defended, 6 interceptions, and 15.5 sacks. His player average, averaged over the four years, is rounded average of 11. However, his 2004 year was an average of 19, and the rest were 8, 9, 9.

In short, what you said was exactly wrong. Timmons is the better player day in and day out. Farrior had flashes of great playing, but he had a whole lot more variance in his game from season to season. And if you compare all seven of Timmons's years to Farrior's first seven years, Timmons comes out vastly ahead.

A come one. Why let data and stats get in the way of a good old Timmons bashing. Why people have the knives out for him is beyond me. So he can't play OLB. Big deal.

[Craic]

James Farrior meant so much to this team too. Losing him is what took this team down from being a perennial double digit winning team to being a .500 team the past couple years.

Yes and no. I agree he meant a whole lot to the team and losing him was a blow, but that wasn't because of his on field play as much as it was due to his leadership. On top of which, the defense aged out, and that's what caused a double-digit team to be .500 the last two years. Farrior was part of that aging out, but so were all three of our defensive lineman, our best linebacker since the mid nineties, and the best safety tandem in the NFL (though Troy is still there, he's not at the level he was five years ago).

[Dwinsgames]

I'd put Harrison at 1........with Lloyd at 1a.


I would take those two ( in their prime ) as my bookends and smile all the way to the Big Dance

[Craic]

I would take those two ( in their prime ) as my bookends and smile all the way to the Big Dance

Why? You think they'd do well in the NCAA basketball tournament?

[Dwinsgames]

Why? You think they'd do well in the NCAA basketball tournament?

haha