In Franchise History, Who Are The Most Underrated Steelers?

[DesertSteel]

Mike Wagner

[Dwinsgames]

8.5 sacks a year average for Jason Gildon think about that .... Jarvis Jones , Chris Carter , Bruce Davis combined career totals do not equate to 8.5 sacks in a career to date

[86WARD]

I've been thinking about Lipps. You are correct and I agree.

But, I think he gets lost in conversations about Steelers WR's because Stallworth was still playing and the shitty QBs they had in the 80s.

I'll agree with that he gets lost in the discussions but I think he's got some stiff competition. If I were ranking them as players based on what we've seen and what would translate to today's game, I'd put them in this order:

AB, Stallworth, Ward, Swann, Lipps, Holmes, Burress, Thigpen. I could flip flop Lipps and Swann but I think Swann was better and Stallworth could totally play in today's game and dominate.

I think Yancey was a very under the radar guy for the Steelers. I also think Randle El got less credit than he deserved. He was a damned good punt returner and not horrible as a WR.

[tube517]

I'll agree with that he gets lost in the discussions but I think he's got some stiff competition. If I were ranking them as players based on what we've seen and what would translate to today's game, I'd put them in this order:

AB, Stallworth, Ward, Swann, Lipps, Holmes, Burress, Thigpen. I could flip flop Lipps and Swann but I think Swann was better and Stallworth could totally play in today's game and dominate.

I think Yancey was a very under the radar guy for the Steelers. I also think Randle El got less credit than he deserved. He was a damned good punt returner and not horrible as a WR.

Yeah, ARE in the slot w/Burress and Ward is what I'm hoping for Juju and even Eli. Get those 1st downs and sneak in some YAC. Plus he was the greatest emergency QB of all time.

Thigpen would have dominated in 96 had he stayed healthy and I was sad when he left in 1998

[GBMelBlount]

Tunch Ilkin

[GBMelBlount]

I will also mention Mel Blount, in that he was arguably better than most rate him.

Bleachers has him as the 3rd best Steelers player ever as of 2010.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...rs-of-all-time

[43Hitman]

Tunch Ilkin

Good one.

[zulater]

A lot of good ones already taken. Hoge, Tunch, and Kolb were a few I thought of right away. Kolb particularly. Never made a Pro Bowl despite a career of shutting down the game's best DE's. You watch some of those old games and there were times Bradshaw could have read a novel while waiting for someone to get open.

I don't think anyone's mentioned Sam Davis yet either. Offensive captain of those SB teams. Small but gritty. Rarely got beat. Robin Cole did a helluva job replacing Ham when he went down in 79. Obviously he wasn't Ham ( who was?) but he was a damn good player in his own right.

One last one that many will disagree belongs in this category. Franco Harris. In his time he wasn't underrated. But in historical context he's been sold short, not only when the discussion is all time great backs, but also when we talk all time greatest Steelers. The truth is from 72-77 when teams game planned to stop the Steelers offense it wasn't Terry, Swann, or Stallworth that was giving them night sweats. It was Franco. The game plan to stop the Steelers was always based on stopping Franco.

In an NFL context when he retired he was the league's all time second leading rusher. And of course he was the leader in post season rushing yards and held every SB rushing record. Obviously being on a great team helped him accumulate these stats, but let's not forget the Steelers never won a damn thing or even made the playoffs until Franco lit up the scene as a rookie in 72.Anyway anytime you see a list of the league's best all time backs you never see any mention of Franco. And that's just wrong.

[Steelerette]

Merril Hoge
Buddy Dial
Larry Foote
Dwayne Woodruff

[86WARD]

If you want to talk historical context then Terry Bradshaw is number one on that list. He constantly gets pushed down the ladder of greatness because he played on a "Hall of Fame" team...

[Dwinsgames]

If you want to talk historical context then Terry Bradshaw is number one on that list. He constantly gets pushed down the ladder of greatness because he played on a "Hall of Fame" team...

and without him just how many of the others never get to put on that Golden Jacket ?

Swann , Stallworth for sure maybe Harris too and that is being short sighted about it ...

if we want to be really clear it could be most of them because lets face it no great QB not any SBs and not a ton of wins so even the guys on Def take a hit on likelihood of making it to Canton ...

[polamalubeast]

In 1974, the steelers won the super bowl, although Bradshaw was not very good for most of the year but he was excellent in the other 3 years that the steelers won the super bowl.

You can win one super bowl without a good QB and a great defense like the 2000 ravens or the 2015 broncos, but you can't win mutiples super bowl without a great QB.

[tube517]

Bradshaw in the Super Bowl threw a TD pass to either win the game or seal it every game.

He was a big game QB. I know we all get tired of his act on TV, but he rose to the occasion as a player

By 1978-79, his performances had to bail out the defense. In XIII, the defense played prevent to hold onto Bradshaw's lead. In XIV, Ferragamo and Wendell Tyler (2 unknowns at the time) were having their way and Franco could not gain yardage on the Rams stingy defense. Noll told Bradshaw he had to pass to win with no Lynn Swann in the 4th. Talk about clutch.