Quote:
Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud
Derrick Thomas didn't play in an era against extremely athletic 6'7 320 pound tackles week in and week out.
While I'm sure he'd be among the best OLBers/Defensive Ends in the NFL if he had played today, his game would be completely different.
Not only has the athleticism completely improved and accelerated across the board, offenses are designed for quick passes, which is why it's so difficult to get sacks from the edge in today's game.
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I get that tackle play has improved as a whole, but DT's first step would be the great equalizer.
Its arguable that DT had the quickest first step ever. I don't believe that any tackle has a quicker lateral step than DT had going forward. DT was also smart, and he had different techniques for every tackle. Whatever they struggled with, he made sure he took advantage of.
Tackles seem to set up even more offset now, and that is really just creating more space to force the tackle to cover. DT didn't always go outside. And DT had the speed to not immediately win, but outwork the tackle and still get to the QB in time.
I am not saying it's recency bias, but DT had a skill set to win, and win often, in a pass rushing role, in any era.
What he didn't have was the same prowess in the run game. I still get sick thinking about DT standing on the sideline in Buffalo, especially since that game got mentioned each time he didn't make the HOF.
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