Two players that forced teams to actually change their schemes. 4-3 defense was developed to stop Brown. Gibbs two TE offense was developed to stop LT. I don't know any players that did that.
during an era where team would focus on the run... and he was not rushing the passer on every passing down (sometimes dropping into coverage).
The first statement is true, but there are actually fewer sacks today due to more 3 step drops and passing game based on quicker decision making. Whereas back in LT's prime, there were 7 step drops and more of a downfield passing game with plays that took longer to develop. So while passing attempts are up now, sacks are a little down.
But your second statement is something I've been interested in, because it does seem like LT dropped back into coverage much more than the typical guys he has been compared to over the years.
The following was written by a guy posting under the name of "Sam Mandonald" on Footballperspective.com's list of Top pass rushers of the last 30 years (written in 2012). I would link that website but it's giving me issues, you guys can google it and go to the comments section of that article.
"In LT's first 5 years (1981 -1985) he rushed the passer just 55% of the pass attempts he was on the field for. In 1986 (the year he recorded 20.5 sacks) Taylor dropped into coverage on 242 passing downs. That's over 1/3 of all QB drop backs!
You know how many times Demarcus Ware dropped into coverage in 2012? Answer - 64 times.... on 518 passing plays (12%). In other words, Lawrence Taylor dropped in coverage on passing plays 3X more than Demarcus Ware.... "
This guy claims to be the same guy who created the Forced Fumble video that was linked at the start of the thread, as well as a half dozen other in-depth LT highlight vids. I would love to get in touch with him to find more about the information he was able to gather while tracking LT's game tape.
But if what he's saying is true, it really puts into perspective how LT's impact went beyond the sack totals and how it's not fair to compare him to guys like Ware/Miller/Mack who almost always rushed the passer. He wasn't a pure edge rusher until his later years. When he took the league by storm in the early/mid 80s, he was very much a complete linebacker who just so happened to be an unblockable pass rusher.
Because there are four more teams now than there were in the '80s. The raw numbers may not be too far off, but the per game numbers would probably show a greater decline.
you are right. The mid-80's were really an outlier.
Since then, even doing an average per team fluctuates between 33 and 38 for most seasons. With the 2000's slightly higher than the 1990's and the 2010's slightly higher than the 200's.
The plays in this video look less like football and more like a Godzilla destroying Tokyo.
It looks like from about '87-'88 on he "lost a step" down to merely being the best defender in the league by a couple miles. But from '81-'87...no one has ever put together a highlight reel of plays that look like that. It just doesn't look real.
It's not a crazy difference in terms of the raw sack totals. From '80-'89, teams averaged roughly 2.59 sacks per game. From '10-'19, teams averaged roughly 2.35 sacks per game. But considering that teams throw a little bit more today, the difference is a little bit more noticeable in the Sack% where it was 7.5% in the 80's and 6.4% in the 10's.
:)
+1
I can't tell if this is a joke of not lol
Did I see 3 in one game vs the WTFs in '89?
No comparison
You know how bad I wanted to post this as soon as I saw this thread. Rat Bastid
No comparison
Both were better than AD
No comparison
Two players that forced teams to actually change their schemes. 4-3 defense was developed to stop Brown. Gibbs two TE offense was developed to stop LT. I don't know any players that did that.
LOL
I liked the Andy Headen TD return the best,.
What's crazy is that this shows that, at least early in his career, LT was also the gunner on the punt team - holy crap.
The first statement is true, but there are actually fewer sacks today due to more 3 step drops and passing game based on quicker decision making. Whereas back in LT's prime, there were 7 step drops and more of a downfield passing game with plays that took longer to develop. So while passing attempts are up now, sacks are a little down.
But your second statement is something I've been interested in, because it does seem like LT dropped back into coverage much more than the typical guys he has been compared to over the years.
The following was written by a guy posting under the name of "Sam Mandonald" on Footballperspective.com's list of Top pass rushers of the last 30 years (written in 2012). I would link that website but it's giving me issues, you guys can google it and go to the comments section of that article.
"In LT's first 5 years (1981 -1985) he rushed the passer just 55% of the pass attempts he was on the field for. In 1986 (the year he recorded 20.5 sacks) Taylor dropped into coverage on 242 passing downs. That's over 1/3 of all QB drop backs!
You know how many times Demarcus Ware dropped into coverage in 2012? Answer - 64 times.... on 518 passing plays (12%). In other words, Lawrence Taylor dropped in coverage on passing plays 3X more than Demarcus Ware.... "
This guy claims to be the same guy who created the Forced Fumble video that was linked at the start of the thread, as well as a half dozen other in-depth LT highlight vids. I would love to get in touch with him to find more about the information he was able to gather while tracking LT's game tape.
But if what he's saying is true, it really puts into perspective how LT's impact went beyond the sack totals and how it's not fair to compare him to guys like Ware/Miller/Mack who almost always rushed the passer. He wasn't a pure edge rusher until his later years. When he took the league by storm in the early/mid 80s, he was very much a complete linebacker who just so happened to be an unblockable pass rusher.
Hell, he even played quite a bit on special teams!
1983 - 1215
1984 - 1313
1985 - 1300
Then had a lower part in the early 90's:
1990 - 1068
1991 - 962
1992 - 1140
1993 - 1055
And have leveled off or slightly increased since then:
2002 - 1175
2003 - 1092
2015 - 1187
2016 - 1118
2017 - 1195
Since then, even doing an average per team fluctuates between 33 and 38 for most seasons. With the 2000's slightly higher than the 1990's and the 2010's slightly higher than the 200's.
It looks like from about '87-'88 on he "lost a step" down to merely being the best defender in the league by a couple miles. But from '81-'87...no one has ever put together a highlight reel of plays that look like that. It just doesn't look real.
1983 - 1215
1984 - 1313
1985 - 1300
Then had a lower part in the early 90's:
1990 - 1068
1991 - 962
1992 - 1140
1993 - 1055
And have leveled off or slightly increased since then:
2002 - 1175
2003 - 1092
2015 - 1187
2016 - 1118
2017 - 1195
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/NFL/passing.htm
It's not a crazy difference in terms of the raw sack totals. From '80-'89, teams averaged roughly 2.59 sacks per game. From '10-'19, teams averaged roughly 2.35 sacks per game. But considering that teams throw a little bit more today, the difference is a little bit more noticeable in the Sack% where it was 7.5% in the 80's and 6.4% in the 10's.