03-22-2018, 07:11 PM
(03-21-2018, 10:03 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Not too far apart, but a little far on the bolded bit....
Eagles actually seem more of a outlier than anything on the whole LB/Championship thing:
'17 Eagles: As Stated
'16 Patriots: Dont'a Hightower (his absence is probably a big part of why their 2017 defense was ran all over)
'15 Broncos: Von Miller, Brandon Marshall, Danny Trevathan
'14 Patriots: Jamie Collins, Dont'a Hightower
'13 Seahawks: Bobby Wagner, Bruce Irvin
'12 Ravens: Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs (they played the 49ers, who had Patrick Willis and Navarro Bowman)
Then once you go back a bit further, you start adding more like Ray Lewis/Lawrence Timmons/James Harrison/Tedy Brusschi/Mike Vrabel/etc
I'm not saying all those guys are total gamechangers, but I look at them and go "yeah, they're probably a big part of why they won".
Yeah most of these teams run a 3-4 though, and I'm talking about 4-3 LB's. Even then, the Seahawks were known for the secondary, Wilson and Lynch. The Pats for Brady and Gronk + Revis the one year. Ray Lewis was just a name in 2012. His play had slipped in a major way. I'll give you the Broncos, but again...3-4.
If you go back further than that, you're getting into a different era of football.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.