Brian Urlacher, First Ballot HoF?

[LaserFocus]

On 9/25/2017 at 11:28 AM, Forge said:

Thomas definitely will, i agree. And thats a shame. His greatness is underrated

Zach Thomas was great at amassing total tackles, but I don't think the HOF should automatically induct players with "x" amount of Pro Bowls. He was a very good inside linebacker, but wasn't feared or impacted the game the way you would expect a HOF-caliber guy to do. Tackles alone aren't really the only standard for evaluating the position, and Thomas made too many of those tackles past the line of scrimmage. I think he'll be just shy of Canton, and I think the reason his case hasn't had much traction is because voters saw plenty of Dolphin games during his era. I give Thomas full credit for overcoming a lack of athleticism to have a terrific career, but I think the HOF should have impact players. Where are the signature moments? Jack Lambert wasn't much of an athlete either, but had tons of signature moments.      

[cddolphin]

19 minutes ago, LaserFocus said:

Tackles alone aren't really the only standard for evaluating the position, and Thomas made too many of those tackles past the line of scrimmage.

Run stuff rate

Brian Urlacher: 6.65%
Zach Thomas: 2.56%
Ray Lewis: 2.34%

19 minutes ago, LaserFocus said:

Where are the signature moments?

[cddolphin]

12 minutes ago, LaserFocus said:

Tackles alone aren't really the only standard for evaluating the position

Taking this further, # of impact plays per game (sacks, turnovers, stuffs)

Brian Urlacher: 1.00
Ray Lewis: 0.70
Zach Thomas: 0.58

Tackles per game

Zach Thomas: 9.35
Ray Lewis: 8.99
Brian Urlacher: 7.43

 

For what it's worth.

[Forge]

1 hour ago, LaserFocus said:

Zach Thomas was great at amassing total tackles, but I don't think the HOF should automatically induct players with "x" amount of Pro Bowls. He was a very good inside linebacker, but wasn't feared or impacted the game the way you would expect a HOF-caliber guy to do. Tackles alone aren't really the only standard for evaluating the position, and Thomas made too many of those tackles past the line of scrimmage. I think he'll be just shy of Canton, and I think the reason his case hasn't had much traction is because voters saw plenty of Dolphin games during his era. I give Thomas full credit for overcoming a lack of athleticism to have a terrific career, but I think the HOF should have impact players. Where are the signature moments? Jack Lambert wasn't much of an athlete either, but had tons of signature moments.      

I think it's really undervaluing and underselling Thomas to call him just a tackling machine. 

[LaserFocus]

8 hours ago, cddolphin said:

Run stuff rate

Brian Urlacher: 6.65%
Zach Thomas: 2.56%
Ray Lewis: 2.34%

Where are those numbers from?

[cddolphin]

1 minute ago, LaserFocus said:

Where are those numbers from?

stuffs over total tackles

[coors]

First ballot going bald to a full head of hair. 

[brownie man]

I pretty surprised this is even a topic

Urlacher redefined the MLB position with that Cover 2 he was more than a start he was the core of a dominate team