Who was more dangerous. Lawrence Taylor on Defense or Moss on Offense?

[mdonnelly21]

Who do you think was more dangerous of a football player. 

Lawrence Taylor on Defense or Moss on offense? 

Edited October 16, 2021 by mdonnelly21
Lol

[Shady Slim]

i think that ladanian tomlinson may struggle matched up on quicker wide receivers, though with the hits he took game in game out you'd expect he'd probably specialise in some sort of bump and run coverage where he uses his size to win the match up

on the other hand winston moss wasn't averse to getting the ball in his hands and running with it, even picked a score up back in '87 playing for the bucs - he has to take it

[mdonnelly21]

1 minute ago, Shady Slim said:

i think that ladanian tomlinson may struggle matched up on quicker wide receivers, though with the hits he took game in game out you'd expect he'd probably specialise in some sort of bump and run coverage where he uses his size to win the match up

on the other hand winston moss wasn't averse to getting the ball in his hands and running with it, even picked a score up back in '87 playing for the bucs - he has to take it

Lmao! 

[Chargers]

I've never heard any kid tackle some one and yell out "You got Taylor'd". Moss was a easy long TD away anytime you wanted it seems. 

[DontTazeMeBro]

Joe Theisman has some thoughts on this.

[ET80]

3 hours ago, Chargers said:

I've never heard any kid tackle some one and yell out "You got Taylor'd". 

Because kids growing up during Taylor's era didn't say stuff like that.

[biggie.]

Taylor. Moss could stop caring at any given notice.

[diamondbull424]

10 hours ago, Chargers said:

I've never heard any kid tackle some one and yell out "You got Taylor'd". Moss was a easy long TD away anytime you wanted it seems. 

No, but there’s a movie called The Blindside because Taylor was so dominant that the left tackle instantly became the 2nd most important position on an offense and teams opened up the checkbook to accommodate.

Moss’ impact was never quite as effectively felt by those at the top as LT. 

Edited October 16, 2021 by diamondbull424

[SBLIII]

LT was a one man wrecking crew more than anyone I have ever seen.

[mdonnelly21]

2 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

No, but there’s a movie called The Blindside because Taylor was so dominant that the left tackle instantly became the 2nd most important position on an offense and teams opened up the checkbook the accommodate.

Moss’ impact was never quite as effectively felt by those at the top as LT. 

I'm sure you probably think its close though in terms of overall impact. 

[mdonnelly21]

I do think it's a great debate because, the way Moss stretched the defense making their corners and safeties play off with the fear of being mossed on any given play...

While at the same time, LT truly being a one man wrecking crew as was said. It's very close tight battle. However, I feel like a rush linebacker has more impact on the game, then a WR. So if anything LT wins out simply because of position. 

[diamondbull424]

43 minutes ago, mdonnelly21 said:

I'm sure you probably think its close though in terms of overall impact. 

Well, I’ve never seen LT play live. So his impact is lost on me beyond what I can glean from his impact on the sport itself.

So how close? Not sure. I have however seen and lived through Moss’ dominance during my tenure as a fan. Moss’ impact was good enough to boost a great Patriots team to a GOAT passing attack, same with the Vikings prolific attack.

Yet Moss’ impact was lazy enough that his consistency wasn’t at that level consistently enough. It led to no rings either.

So was the impact close? Probably not. Though I also think from a player perspective that LT benefits from being the 1st guy to do what he did (well Deacon Jones, but that was in a different kind of NFL) and thus sort of inflates how good he would be comparable to the modern NFL athlete/rushers. I think he’d still be great, a Von Miller. But not as prolific as his legacy.

So I think LT definitely owns the impact over Moss and it’s not particularly close, but from a pure player rating/level, I do think it would be pretty darn close.

[///mcompact]

LT.   It didn't matter where he lined up or if he was off the ball, he couldn't be contained...only slowed down every once in awhile.  If you took today's best defender and put them back in the 80's, they still wouldn't have dominated as much as LT did.  Then you add the level of fear that he put on the QBs (especially after the unfortunate Theismann injury).   The man was feared.  Broadcasters like to throw that around loosely nowadays, but QBs don't fear pass rushers to that degree anymore with all of the protection the league has built in.  In the '80s, helmet to helmet was rated "E for Everyone", even QBs. 

Extreme Athlete + Unmatched motor + level 100 Crazy = LT.     

[Jotun_Fan]

16 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

Well, I’ve never seen LT play live. So his impact is lost on me beyond what I can glean from his impact on the sport itself.

So how close? Not sure. I have however seen and lived through Moss’ dominance during my tenure as a fan. Moss’ impact was good enough to boost a great Patriots team to a GOAT passing attack, same with the Vikings prolific attack.

Yet Moss’ impact was lazy enough that his consistency wasn’t at that level consistently enough. It led to no rings either.

So was the impact close? Probably not. Though I also think from a player perspective that LT benefits from being the 1st guy to do what he did (well Deacon Jones, but that was in a different kind of NFL) and thus sort of inflates how good he would be comparable to the modern NFL athlete/rushers. I think he’d still be great, a Von Miller. But not as prolific as his legacy.

So I think LT definitely owns the impact over Moss and it’s not particularly close, but from a pure player rating/level, I do think it would be pretty darn close.

LT is the only guy to do what he did.  His impact as a pass rusher transformed the game, but his impact as a run defender was just as important back in the 80's, as it was primarily a run first league.  General game plans for pass rushers involve running right at them and running misdirection at them, but Taylor was too good at beating blockers, diagnosing plays, and tackling to make any of that effective.  Teams eventually decided the best way to play against the giants was to run away from Taylor, but if the ball carrier had to move parallel to the line of scrimmage or was not able to hit the hole immediately, then that gave Taylor time to close and make tackles.  His MVP season he had 20.5 sacks, but overlooked now is his also >100 tackles (with teams running away from him.)  He could be, and usually was, involved in the play regardless of the playcall.  He was also doing this against the best teams in the league.  The NFC, in particularly the NFC east was stacked in the 80's.

That being said, he didn't accomplish what he did in a vacuum, I think the 80's was the perfect era for him to play.  I still think he'd be one of, if not the best defender in the league, but the lack of importance of running the ball, shorter qb drops, injury protocol, and enforcement of defensive penalties would all negatively affect his impact on the game if he played today. 

It's not quite the same as watching him live, but youtube user john smith has uploaded a lot of Lawrence Taylor highlights (Run Defense, pass rush, forced fumbles, goal line defense.)  

[diamondbull424]

3 hours ago, Jotun_Fan said:

LT is the only guy to do what he did.  His impact as a pass rusher transformed the game, but his impact as a run defender was just as important back in the 80's, as it was primarily a run first league.  General game plans for pass rushers involve running right at them and running misdirection at them, but Taylor was too good at beating blockers, diagnosing plays, and tackling to make any of that effective.  Teams eventually decided the best way to play against the giants was to run away from Taylor, but if the ball carrier had to move parallel to the line of scrimmage or was not able to hit the hole immediately, then that gave Taylor time to close and make tackles.  His MVP season he had 20.5 sacks, but overlooked now is his also >100 tackles (with teams running away from him.)  He could be, and usually was, involved in the play regardless of the playcall.  He was also doing this against the best teams in the league.  The NFC, in particularly the NFC east was stacked in the 80's.

That being said, he didn't accomplish what he did in a vacuum, I think the 80's was the perfect era for him to play.  I still think he'd be one of, if not the best defender in the league, but the lack of importance of running the ball, shorter qb drops, injury protocol, and enforcement of defensive penalties would all negatively affect his impact on the game if he played today. 

It's not quite the same as watching him live, but youtube user john smith has uploaded a lot of Lawrence Taylor highlights (Run Defense, pass rush, forced fumbles, goal line defense.)  

Agreed. That’s kind of where I was going with what I was saying. Not nearly as eloquently or informed.

But yeah in the modern NFL I think someone like Von Miller might be the closest thing (at his peak) to what LT was.

A guy like TJ Watt might also be in a similar caliber (though probably not in the same level) at a similar position.

But yeah LT would still be one of the (of not THE) best defender in the modern NFL.