Most of the highlights we see are his sacks. This video shows just how dominant he was in the run game. This is actually more impressive than his sack highlight videos.
For those of you who are too young to have watched him as an adult... enjoy.
LT Run Defense - (
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The only people who disagree are idiots. There are some guys close but he was the best. Not even Butkus or Reggie White bad teams putting 3 guys to just handle them.
If George young could’ve worked draft better with usfl guys, he could have been ours
Seriously how the heck could you control those two?
I wouldn’t know how to draw up plays vs them. May need half your offense to block them
Yet how many plays did you see Jim Burt, Leonard Marshall, George Martin and Carl Banks right there, too.
Agree Phil. This has been my contention since his career ended. I watched every one of these plays live on tv and so I am not surprised by his dominance but I'm always amazed to see his speed, violence, and ability to beat every block and not miss many tackles. I miss watching this player.
No gain of course (actually a yard because Taylor popped him up in the air and it took him awhile to come down).
It was the trend to not block the outside LB on the other side of the running play because they would never get in the play. In Taylors first practice, he immediately starting doing what you see there, running down the RB from behind. People were amazed. This caused a whole new blocking dynamic because you had to take of him, even if the play went the other way
Even when he's blocked, he's really not blocked..
That is the only way to describe it
I loved watching LT.
If George young could’ve worked draft better with usfl guys, he could have been ours
Seriously how the heck could you control those two?
I wouldn’t know how to draw up plays vs them. May need half your offense to block them
Probably would have won two more SBs. GY screwed up. Was that when he wanted to draft Zimmerman?
I take nothing away from LT, but I'd say that Deacon Jones is pretty close to him.
In his time, Jones was just as dominant a defender as LT was in his.
Opposing offenses regularly went backwards.
That's not biased.
And when you throw in that he changed the very definition of his position, well, that cements it.
G.O.A.T.
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But that is the greatest defensive player that has ever played. No one is even close to him.
I take nothing away from LT, but I'd say that Deacon Jones is pretty close to him.
In his time, Jones was just as dominant a defender as LT was in his.
Imagine LT if he was able to use the head slap.
Reggie White is close.
If you were foolish enough to not game plan for HIM, he would disrupt your entire offense almost single handed. An amazing, amazing player. I don't ever think we will see another like him in our generation. The game has changed too much, and quite frankly he probably would have gotten unnecessary roughness calls against him now which would mask the terror he brought to opposing QBs, Linemen, TEs, and RBs.
Too bad for the character flaws, imagine if he were as saintly as Jeter or Eli?
I was a little dissapointed because, the majority were just foolish teams trying to run away from LT. Everyone always thinks you could never run against Carl Banks. This tape reveals the real reason.
Thats why convention at the time was to run at LT, because anything else was completely futile. And in that regard some of the most fun tape to watch is LT and Leonard Marshall holding up the entire opposing OL on runs directed against them. Real football.
My sympathies to those who never had the pleasure
He’s already been acknowledged as the best ever by the NFL. He might even be the best player, period.
Marshall was an All-Pro, Burt and Martin very stout against the run, excellent at maintaining their gaps, allowing the All-World linebackers to make plays - Harry Carson was already an All-Pro by the time LT arrived, you cannot overstate that units greatness.
Opponents realized running up the gut was futile - a brick wall, running outside worse. Banks could stand up any Tackle or TE, would consistently blow up double teams. LT would consistently catch backs running away from him for losses and strip fumbles. Off-tackle plays, sweeps usually feature pulling linemen and do NOT block that backside LB - LT FEASTED.
Teams actually started running AT Taylor - felt the back had a better chance if he could see Taylor.
It didn't work.
Yeah he was fast, but he also played fast mentally. That was the thing I always remember most about him, he wasn't just fast, he was naturally very strong, his football instincts were ridiculous and he had no fear of contact or committing to a play. You can see how he just gives himself up physically to make the tackle. That defense was so much fun to watch.
Marshall was an All-Pro, Burt and Martin very stout against the run, excellent at maintaining their gaps, allowing the All-World linebackers to make plays - Harry Carson was already an All-Pro by the time LT arrived, you cannot overstate that units greatness.
Opponents realized running up the gut was futile - a brick wall, running outside worse. Banks could stand up any Tackle or TE, would consistently blow up double teams. LT would consistently catch backs running away from him for losses and strip fumbles. Off-tackle plays, sweeps usually feature pulling linemen and do NOT block that backside LB - LT FEASTED.
Teams actually started running AT Taylor - felt the back had a better chance if he could see Taylor.
It didn't work
And these guys were coached by the GOAT ... in retrospect, it doesn’t seem fair... but yet they only won 2 SBs
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But I've never seen a LB play anywhere close to his speed. He honestly looks like a madden cheat code out there.
Yeah he was fast, but he also played fast mentally. That was the thing I always remember most about him, he wasn't just fast, he was naturally very strong, his football instincts were ridiculous and he had no fear of contact or committing to a play. You can see how he just gives himself up physically to make the tackle. That defense was so much fun to watch.
He really wasn't that fast, nor did he have extraordinary strength, he just had the strongest will, was a competitive freak, and was the most instinctual player I've ever seen.
I was a little dissapointed because, the majority were just foolish teams trying to run away from LT. Everyone always thinks you could never run against Carl Banks. This tape reveals the real reason.
Thats why convention at the time was to run at LT, because anything else was completely futile. And in that regard some of the most fun tape to watch is LT and Leonard Marshall holding up the entire opposing OL on runs directed against them. Real football.
My sympathies to those who never had the pleasure
"You're never going to make a living running sweeps at Lawrence Taylor."
-- John Madden
I don't think I agree with that. His track time 40 may not have been exceptional (although it was still pretty fast for an LB of that era) but he played incredibly fast on the field.
And the way he routinely ragdolled OTs, I'm gonna say he was incredibly strong and powerful, particularly when you take into account that he never lifted weights.
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He really wasn't that fast, nor did he have extraordinary strength
I don't think I agree with that. His track time 40 may not have been exceptional (although it was still pretty fast for an LB of that era) but he played incredibly fast on the field.
And the way he routinely ragdolled OTs, I'm gonna say he was incredibly strong and powerful, particularly when you take into account that he never lifted weights.
Most sights say he ran a 4.53 which is plenty fast. In fact SI made a big thing when Clowney was coming out because he ran the same 40 time as LT.
So you have a guy who is an athletic freak, has 4.5 speed, and is 6'3" 245 give or take. Plus as we all know, combo measurements don't make a player
a good definition of greatness is to make those around you great.... Taylor did that
he wrecked teams, I mean wrecked them
the front 7 in 1986 Plus Mark Collns was HOF defense.
that defense HATED to give up 1 YARD, Hated it
rewatch the 1986 Playoff with SF, the Giants Defense destroyed them and because of all the attention Taylor got, other players would get free and make plays
I got to see it all and I'm still in awe
Banks was the only one who came close on the Giants
My Dad would put Taylor up with Jim Brown, as the 2 best he ever saw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQrQh-dueKM
His closing speed is unlike anything I've seen. The fact that he's the "deep safety" in a lot of the Goal-line highlights shows how much respect the coaching staff had for his sideline-to-sideline speed/tackling ability. Even if you transported Von Miller to Khalil Mack or the Bosas to the 1980s, I don't think they would have the sideline-to-sideline speed to play the deep safety position at the Goal-line like LT did.
He stands out so much from a strength/speed/hustle standpoint on these vids. All that crazy speed I mentioned above yet he is out there throwing Lomas Brown and Joe Jacoby around with realtive ease.
I think you could make an argument for Reggie White as the Defensive GOAT based on his longevity. Reggie Whit at age 35 was the defensive MVP of a Super Bowl team in '96, where he was absolutely dominant in the big game. Reggie White was league DPOY at the age of 37 in '98. Whereas LT was done being an impact player at the age of 31 and retired at the age of 34.
But in terms of defensive impact at their best, I don't think anyone is on LT's level. His versatility forced the game to evolve in order to limit his greatness from single-handedly wrecking games.
Agrred! He's the best football player of my lifetime and its not close.
You couldn't run at him. You couldn't run away from him. They created entire pass blocking schemes just to keep him from wrecking the game...and it slowed him down a bit some weeks. He could cover. He had good hands. He was the strongest. He was the fastest. He had elite instincts. He could sniff out a screen or other BS.
It wasn't fair.
You couldn't run at him. You couldn't run away from him. They created entire pass blocking schemes just to keep him from wrecking the game...and it slowed him down a bit some weeks. He could cover. He had good hands. He was the strongest. He was the fastest. He had elite instincts. He could sniff out a screen or other BS.
It wasn't fair.
Didn't help that he never trained at all.
Didn't help that he never trained at all.
Reggie White's longevity a good measuring stick for any player. And Reggie White, as great as he was - NEVER played at LT's level. Noone did.
Didn't help that he never trained at all.
Yea it's one of the craziest things about him. Almost every other "GOAT tier" athlete in sports always talks about how hard they trained and practiced. They go out of their way to prove to the public that their work ethic is why they reached the pinnacle.
LT was the opposite. He wanted people to know that he was just more naturally gifted than everyone else and it didn't matter how hard he worked. That level of cockiness is just wild, especially when he could back it up until he got older. Makes you wonder.
In other sports people wonder "Could Mantle have been the GOAT if he didn't tear up his leg at the beginning of his career and if he took better care of his body in his later years instead of being an alcoholic?" or "Could Shaq have been the GOAT if was more focused on basketball than off-the-court entertainment pursuits when he was young and if he took better care of his body instead of ballooning in weight as he got older?". Guys who still end up as all-time greats but fall short.
"Could LT have been the GOAT if he wasn't a drug addict who chose not to take weight training seriously?" That's a legitimate question we could've been asking. Except LT was so damn good that he STILL became the defensive GOAT. But you still have to wonder if there was another level he could've reached had he been more responsible with his body. Or maybe it takes away something from his game if he wasn't living such a wild lifestyle. Interesting to think about.
Didn't help that he never trained at all.
12 years is a pretty long career.
Then we had Strahan, Osi, Tuck, Jpp.
So I took for granted decades of good edge play, along with multiple SBs as a result.
However, as we all painfully know, our D's in the past few years are flaming dumpster fires. Even in the Dave Brown/Kent Graham/Kannell days, there was always a good D to keep me satisfied as fan.
On CenterStage Frank Gifford was asked who he thought the 3 best of all time were and he said "Jimmy Brown, Jimmy Brown, Jimmy Brown"
Link - ( New Window )
The Real LT - ( New Window )
The Real LT - ( New Window )
LT exploded into players, which you never really seen out of Strahan, Watt, Ware, etc.,
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Dominance.
Marshall was an All-Pro, Burt and Martin very stout against the run, excellent at maintaining their gaps, allowing the All-World linebackers to make plays - Harry Carson was already an All-Pro by the time LT arrived, you cannot overstate that units greatness.
Opponents realized running up the gut was futile - a brick wall, running outside worse. Banks could stand up any Tackle or TE, would consistently blow up double teams. LT would consistently catch backs running away from him for losses and strip fumbles. Off-tackle plays, sweeps usually feature pulling linemen and do NOT block that backside LB - LT FEASTED.
Teams actually started running AT Taylor - felt the back had a better chance if he could see Taylor.
It didn't work
And these guys were coached by the GOAT ... in retrospect, it doesn’t seem fair... but yet they only won 2 SBs
Defenses win championships, but offenses are needed for dynasties.
SF & DC had enough defense but better offense.
The Real LT - ( New Window )
Whoa!!! How about that block on the Perry Williams INT!!!!!!!!
1985 Skins at Giants. End around by the Skins WR (Gary Clark??). LT ran along the LOS, when Clark turned up field WHAM! LT met him head on and clobbered him.
I would say that before Plan B, dynasties were stonger and lasted longer. 90's Cowboys, 80's Giants, Niners, Skins, Bears, 70's Raiders, Steelers, Vikings - these teams were good with All-Pro loaded rosters for YEARS and if it weren't for the 87 strike and Parcells fucking the organization after 90, I'd say the Giants would have DEFINITELY had another one or 2 Lombardi's.
Teams now are fundamentally poorer, have less depth, face less defense and physicality in the game, and more often than not the healthiest team is winning it all. Removing what defenses used to be able to do has fundamentally made the game much different in the negative, imv.
Take the Patriots 18-1 team, perhaps the best team of the past fifteen seasons ... do you think they beat any of the great teams of the 80s or 90s? Not me.
They're proof the old way still works, within the constructs of the modern CBA. But, they're not as talented as SB winning teams of the past, imv. Teams now are unable to replicate this success due to lack of practice time, lack of physical contact in the game. The result is a poorer fundamental, backyard type of football game.
But, ultimately how many SBs would the Belicheck Pats have won in the Golden Age? Maybe two, imo, which is also why Brady isn't the goat in my book.
And I also don't think that 18-1 Pats team would fare well against the big boys of the 70s and 80s.
And I also don't think that 18-1 Pats team would fare well against the big boys of the 70s and 80s.
Frankly, I always thought the opposite. Pats beat the Warner Rams for Chrissake. That Ram offense was the best I ever saw.
I was there for the 70's and 80's and yes, it was a golden age, but don't go watering down the great teams of this century.
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in an era where it was incredibly difficult to win one at all, unlike the past fifteen years or so.
When 1/2 the teams in the Super Bowl the last 15 years have been the Patriots, how is it easier?
I would say that before Plan B, dynasties were stonger and lasted longer. 90's Cowboys, 80's Giants, Niners, Skins, Bears, 70's Raiders, Steelers, Vikings - these teams were good with All-Pro loaded rosters for YEARS and if it weren't for the 87 strike and Parcells fucking the organization after 90, I'd say the Giants would have DEFINITELY had another one or 2 Lombardi's.
Giants didn't have the offensive power to proclaim they would have won more.
They won just as much as they should have.
Any doubt, watch the 88 “Saints,” game in N.O., with a LBer corps that was on par with ours.
If LT, was injured ina game, he went into a different gear. The only Giant, that gave you the play you absolutely had to have, always.
Didn't help that he never trained at all.
LT's drinking and drug use are why he didn't have a longer career. Not faulting him for it, probably a big part of why he was such a god damn animal. Dudes like him def like to party.
Say what you will about the man with nary the drive to improve his innate ability within the weight room, nor the ability to conform to the pragmatics imposed upon him. IMHO, drug use detracted from his game, & I take umbrage to those whom use it to infer that his choices made him the player he was. The greatest player to ever grace the gridiron, no position excluded.
I would take 1993 LT over any LB we've had in quite some time, for example.
As for the poster whom inferred Thomas, was a better pass rusher. He would have never posted those numbers in the NFC, let alone against the “Hogs.” And, I believe Even Dave Craig (sp.) would attest to that, having dealt with LT, making he, Williams, and Warner look pedestrian as a Seahawk.
Anyone saying 6 years didn’t watch him play.
LT would toss around tackles on top of having similar quickness at the snap. His power game was significantly above what Thomas had, completely different levels.
Thomas sacrificed run defense in order to pressure the QB. This was such a big hole in his game that he was benched in the AFC Championship Game vs. the Bills because they kept running it at him. LT never sacrificed his ability to stop the run in order to get to the QB.
I think Von Miller is a better comp for Thomas, and even then Miller was the more complete player and had a historic SB/playoff run so I'd lean towards him in that comparison too. Almost as quick as Thomas and arguably no one's ever been better at dipping their shoulder to get around the corner.