Debate: Who are the top 3 defensive players of all time

[Chuck 54]

Bruce Smith all time sack leader

He also had just as many first team all pro awards as Reggie and LT……8.

cowboys like Lilly and White start showing up at 7.

 

[RonnieT24]

True but then the same could be said for Reggie White, Eric Williams beat that man like a step child, had Reggie throwing a fit on the field.

Yeah I was going to mention what Big E did to Reggie White too.. but he was seemingly a more dominant and well rounded player than Smith .. He just had the misfortune of being drafted into the same division as The Great Wall and then when he became a free agent he didn't have the good sense to go to an AFC team so that he would not see them until the Super Bowl.

 

[slick325]

Tough one but I'm going with,

• LT
• Deion
• Late Reggie White

As good as Donald is, he's not even top 10 IMO

1) L.T.
2) Reggie White
3) a lot of people can be argued about for this spot...Primetime, Aaron Donald, Mean Joe Greene, Deacon Jones, etc.

 

[Doomsday101]

Yeah I was going to mention what Big E did to Reggie White too.. but he was seemingly a more dominant and well rounded player than Smith .. He just had the misfortune of being drafted into the same division as The Great Wall and then when he became a free agent he didn't have the good sense to go to an AFC team so that he would not see them until the Super Bowl.

200 sacks in a career I think deserve it's dues. No one has produced more than Bruce Smith. How he fared vs Dallas in the 90's was poor but as I said so Reggie White.

 

[CouchCoach]

Sanders was a cover corner, not a complete corner so he wouldn't make my three.

Lawrence Taylor
Aaron Donald
Reggie White

 

[fivetwos]

There's a LOT of great players I just didn't see.

Guys like Alan Page, Dick Butkus, Deacon Jones...

How many around here actually saw those guys play in their prime? Impossible to judge if you didn't.

So from what I've seen, the original tweet got it right, but not in order....

Sanders, Taylor, Donald. Reggie is 3A.

 

[john van brocklin]

Tough one but I'm going with,

• LT
• Deion
• Late Reggie White

As good as Donald is, he's not even top 10 IMO

Give you the Cowboys top 3:
Randy White
Bob Lilly
Primetime

 

[plymkr]

I got to go with my ex girlfriend. She was so defensive about everything you couldn't even talk to her. She belongs in some kind of hall of fame for defensiveness.

As far as football players go. I have a hard time Deion being in the top 3 cuz he didn't tackle. I go Reggie, LT and I have a lot of ties for 3rd, Donald, Lott.

 

[john van brocklin]

Bobby Carpenter
Trystan Hill
Taco Charlton

 

[Cboyfan4ever]

Reggie White
LT
Ronnie Lott

 

[Tabascocat]

The only wrong answers are those that do not contain LT!

 

[JBS]

Donald not top 10 lolol

let me guess, Donald isn’t a superstar hahah

this guy has a bad take every single day..keep it going.

 

[JBS]

It’s not that the pro bowl means much..but when only 3 players have ever done it..yeah, you are a top 10 defensive player of all time

 

[CowboysDrew]

Tough one but I'm going with,

• LT
• Deion
• Late Reggie White

As good as Donald is, he's not even top 10 IMO

Really no argument with you there.

 

[Cowpolk]

No Deacon Jones?

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Bobby Carpenter
Trystan Hill
Taco Charlton

 

[plasticman]

In the entire NFL? I was trying to figure out the three best defensive players in Cowboys history before I read everyone else's comments.

If Deacon Jones isn't one of them then this is not a serious conversation.

Let me amend that. When posters are listing their three choices, they should include the year they first started watching NFL football. I could totally understand a much younger fan not mentioning Dick Butkus, Dick (Night Train) Lane, or (Mean) Joe Greene.

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

He also had just as many first team all pro awards as Reggie and LT……8.

cowboys like Lilly and White start showing up at 7.

Heres a stat for you:

Aaron Donald has yet to play his age 31 season.

He already has 7

 

[SackMaster]

Bobby Carpenter
Trystan Hill
Taco Charlton

 

[CouchCoach]

If I got a 4th, I would put Darrell Green in that secondary. No one ever did it better, more consistently or longer than he did. He's that one Skin I always wished had been a Cowboy. Class act as well.