CBS names All-Decade Team

[UTSINCE96]

On lists like these there is always a lot of controversy about not including older players. Personally I respect them but i'm realistic about it. Can players who were great in the 50s really line up and compete with the modern athlete? Athletes today are bigger, stronger, and faster for a variety of reasons. I just don't see those older athletes from the 20s 30s 40s and 50s competing with them. That is not a knock on them. It's just how I see it.

 

[MUBuck]

You're joking right?

Two of them are Heisman winners and the other is one of the most clutch and best dual threat QB's ever. Between them they have a claim at 5 NC's. Leinart is 39-2 and Vince Young only has like 2-3 losses. They all have great stats.

I don't really see the reach with the three.

And to the person who said "Well other QB's have won the heisman before". I didnt use the Heisman as my only critiera for getting on the list.

Notice you started your argument with "two of them are Heisman winners."

Other QB's fitting your criteria from the first post:
Sam Bradford: Heisman winner, 22-4* (.846), lost to UF in NC game.
Troy Smith: Heisman winner, 25-3 (.893), lost to UF in NC game.
Jason White: Heisman winner, 17-2 (.895%), lost to USC in NC game.

The list goes on.

 

[Bucklion]

On lists like these there is always a lot of controversy about not including older players. Personally I respect them but i'm realistic about it. Can players who were great in the 50s really line up and compete with the modern athlete? Athletes today are bigger, stronger, and faster for a variety of reasons. I just don't see those older athletes from the 20s 30s 40s and 50s competing with them. That is not a knock on them. It's just how I see it.

In a vacuum? Maybe not. If you give them modern wight training facilities, modern dietary structure, and modern equipment, many of the older players would annihilate many of the newer players. And not one single player in 2009 would fuck with Bronko Nagurski.

 

[akronbuck]

I always thought Chris Gamble but, these are experts :)

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

In a vacuum? Maybe not. If you give them modern wight training facilities, modern dietary structure, and modern equipment, many of the older players would annihilate many of the newer players. And not one single player in 2009 would [censored] with Bronko Nagurski.

exactly

Everyone is entitled to apply their own standard here, and I appreciate those who take the effort to define their standard.

But any standard that compares a player to anything other than those around him is questionable for exactly the reasons that Bucklion names.

Jim Brown was absolutley dominant. Penalizing him (or anyone else)for when he was born makes no sense to me.

 

[stxbuck]

I think the list is pretty good, the only major problems are

1-VY should be in over Leinart
2-Jermaine Gresham should be in over Heath Miller-Miller is in b/c of his uccess w/ the Steelers.
3-Nick Mangold ought to be on the team as a pure OC-he is definitely better than Alex Barron.
4-I'd take a # of USC LBs-Rivers,Maualuga,Cushing over Calmus. putting JL on the 1st team might be a little bit generous as well. Patrick Willis got the shaft,IMO.

 

[Bucklion]

I think the list is pretty good, the only major problems are

1-VY should be in over Leinart
2-Jermaine Gresham should be in over Heath Miller-Miller is in b/c of his uccess w/ the Steelers.
3-Nick Mangold ought to be on the team as a pure OC-he is definitely better than Alex Barron.
4-I'd take a # of USC LBs-Rivers,Maualuga,Cushing over Calmus. putting JL on the 1st team might be a little bit generous as well. Patrick Willis got the shaft,IMO.

Great call on Willis, he is definitely getting hose-bagged.

I was thinking one of the Davises at TE (Vernon or Fred)...I agree Miller doesn't belong.

Thanks for the props, DBB.

 

[Airon89]

JL isn't too bad a selection. You can make an argument for about 5 others (Patrick Willis comes to mind), but their arguments aren't any better or worse than JL's. Vince Young should probably be 1st. I'd take him over Tebow right now. Tebow is great but he has had a lot more to work with team wise. Vince was a one man show many Saturdays. Moreno could slip in there at running back as well, somewhere.

 

[Dryden]

We are so spoiled by the great LBs that have come through Ohio State that half this thread is Buckeye fans actually arguing against having the most decorated LB in Ohio State history on an All-Decade All-American list.

SEC fans can blow me. It's still a good time to be a Buckeye.

:osu:

 

[BigWoof31]

SEC fans can blow me.

:(

 

[jwinslow]

We are so spoiled by the great LBs that have come through Ohio State that half this thread is Buckeye fans actually arguing against having the most decorated LB in Ohio State history on an All-Decade All-American list.

Do you watch Laurinaitis and think he's the best LB to play this decade?

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Do you watch Laurinaitis and think he's the best LB to play this decade?

Subjectivity drives this argument, but JL is certainly a fair choice for first team.

Not only was he highly decorated, he was MLB for three great defenses on some very highly-ranked, very successful (National Ch'ps notwithstanding) teams. On top of that, he was the first Mike selected in his draft, and, at last word, will be a starting rookie MLB for the Rams... you can argue for other LBs to be in his place, but on paper I don't know how any are clearly better than JL. Maybe there are alot of "just as good" guys out there - or even some bigger/faster/stronger types (Willis) - but no one head-and-shoulders better, IMO.

 

[Dryden]

Do you watch Laurinaitis and think he's the best LB to play this decade?

376 tackles.
9 interceptions.
13 sacks.

I think he covered up a lot of teammates' mistakes and routinely cleaned up plays in areas of the field that weren't even his responsibility, and I do not know if there is any other LB as good as him in pass coverage. He was the MVP of the '06 Texas game in his third start, and he never looked back the rest of his career.

He won or was a finalist for virtually every single award a LB can win over his final three years, he lead the team in tackles all three of those seasons, once in INTs, anchored a defense that played for two national titles, etc etc ...

We have short memories. I don't see how we can applaud him for being the best defensive player in the country in '06, the best LB in '07, and so on and so, yet not say he's one of the six best LBs this decade. He was 4-0 as a starter against Michigan (technicality on '05). He played LIGHTS OUT against LSU and Florida (18 tackles, 15 tackles, respectively), so nobody can say it was his fault he didn't leave here with two national titles.

Imagine if JL didn't have to do all this while fighting off blocks and constantly playing in heavy traffic because he didn't have the luxury of superior, dominant D lines!

He is a victim of us being spoiled by the Wilhelms and Hawks and Carpenters. He left without a ring, so he's downgraded a little.

 

[stxbuck]

Do you watch Laurinaitis and think he's the best LB to play this decade?

I think top 6 is fair, top 3 is too high. JL has great instincts in pass coverage, and covered for his teammates mistakes, but, IMO, he isn't the hitter that Hawk or Willis is.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

Alright, alright...

If we really have to come out and say it; JL could run down a play anywhere on the field, but he was not at his best when you ran a power play right at him. It's the same problem that Chris Spielman had. Both made plays all over the place, but had trouble getting off blocks fast enough to take on a play coming right at them.

A top-3 guy, this decade, shouldn't have any holes in his game. A.J. Hawk is a good example of a guy without any holes in his game.