Ray Lewis in the pantheon of great linebackers

It was posted on the NFL Week 6 thread that Ray Lewis has a torn tricep. His season is over, and his career might be as well.

I don't know if that's the case or not, but that's never stopped discussion here before.

Where is Ray Lewis among the greatest linebackers ever? I'd put him second behind Lawrence Taylor.

 

As far as the all-time linebacking corp, I would have Lewis, Taylor and Butkus.

 

Number 1. Others matched his ferocity, but none of them could come close to his speed.

Others can chime in with more authority, but as I understood Taylor's career he was something of a liability against the run who then became adequate. But in his prime, there was no part of Lewis' game in which he didn't rank among the top two or three in the league.

 

It would be very close between Ray Lewis and LT.

 

Nitschke, Lanier, Butkus = Pre-merger
Taylor, Singletary, Lambert = Post-merger

Who would Ray-Ray take out?

 

I'd say three-way tie.

 

Before I weigh in, I find the whole comparison to LT to be a little weird. One is was a rushing linebacker who almost never played in space, where as the other was a middle linebacker who almost always did. It's like comparing a bass player to a electric guitar player.

 

They're all behind Urlacher.

Bearssss.

 

LT 9 career INTs. Lewis 31 career INTs, I'm thinking that 31 is alot for a MLB.

132.5 sacks vs 41.5

 

Urlacher, the classic bottom

 

That's a great point. You really have to limit it to MLB's. Have to think about it some but one factor for me in moving Lewis to the top was his pass coverage ability. Teams pass a lot more than they did when Bukkus and Nitschke were playing.

 

Man that's a tall order. Ray is fast but I don't think he is faster than Taylor was. Taylor's speed went away later in his career but he could hit a tad harder than Ray. Derrick Thomas, Singletary, Nitschke, Lanier, Butkus, Lambert. Man its tough to pick just three. But here goes. Taylor, Lewis, Butkus are first team on the all-Drip team. Lanier, Nitschke, Singletary, make second team status. Thomas, Lambert and Jack Ham are third team all-Drip team selections.