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Darrelle Revis, Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas- the last all-time great DB's?

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I'll try to keep this simple- how can we expect DB's to thrive for 5, 6, 7+ years in today's league? With all of the rules in favor of the offense, with offensive schemes and tactics as advanced as they are, with how freakish the WR's of today are, and with the emergence of TE's who are pass catching monsters, it seems unfair to expect any DB to have that type of lasting success going forward. I can name a ton of DB's who I grew up idolizing- Deion, Westbrook, Reed, Polamalu, a couple of guys named Woodson, etc. Does anyone else feel like we'll be seeing fewer and fewer truly great DB's going forward?

Earl Thomas is (was) a very good player, but he’s not in the same category as the other true “greats” you mentioned.  

Rules are slanted to favor the offense. A lot of guys that we think were great cover guys got away with a ton of shit. Looking at you Revis. Not saying they aren’t badass, but once you get a rep for locking down someone, you get the benefit of the doubt from the refs.

12 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Does anyone else feel like we'll be seeing fewer and fewer truly great DB's going forward?

No

1 minute ago, EZ$ said:

Earl Thomas is (was) a very good player, but he’s not in the same category as the other true “greats” you mentioned.  

Better than Sherman, imo.

Patrick Peterson probably among this group as well. Though public opinion of him is higher than my personal opinion is.

4 minutes ago, EZ$ said:

Earl Thomas is (was) a very good player, but he’s not in the same category as the other true “greats” you mentioned.  

completely disagree. For about 3 to 4 years at his peak in Seattle one could argue he was their best player and maybe the best player in the league on that side of the ball. He was the guy that let all the others guys specialize in their own bit - sherman and chancellor. His range and brain were just otherworldly in this time frame. He is like 29 or 30 now and not even close to what he used to be. Thats young to slip as much as he has, but I always thought he was a small dude that bulked up bigtime to play in the NFL and that just can't last for long. 

21 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

I'll try to keep this simple- how can we expect DB's to thrive for 5, 6, 7+ years in today's league? With all of the rules in favor of the offense, with offensive schemes and tactics as advanced as they are, with how freakish the WR's of today are, and with the emergence of TE's who are pass catching monsters, it seems unfair to expect any DB to have that type of lasting success going forward. I can name a ton of DB's who I grew up idolizing- Deion, Westbrook, Reed, Polamalu, a couple of guys named Woodson, etc. Does anyone else feel like we'll be seeing fewer and fewer truly great DB's going forward?

 

8 minutes ago, Helobious said:

No

And we are done here 

Ok, I can see an argument for him being better than Revis and Sherman, but not Deion, the Woodsons or guys like that.  Those guys are first ballot HOFs, Earl isn’t. 
 

  • Author
13 minutes ago, EZ$ said:

Ok, I can see an argument for him being better than Revis and Sherman, but not Deion, the Woodsons or guys like that.  Those guys are first ballot HOFs, Earl isn’t. 
 

i never compared him to any of them. I listed them as guys who i looked up to growing up. Earl, Sherman, and Revis are three of the more recent guys who've played at it near an all-pro level for 5+ years. 

Edited by Goo Punch

Darrell Green seemed like he played forever, and was pretty damn good most of those years so I'd put him near the top of the list. I hated the guy back when I gave a damn about the cowboys and pro football. 

15 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

i never compared him to any of them. I listed them as guys who i looked up to growing up. Earl, Sherman, and Revis are three of the more recent guys who've played at it near an all-pro level for 5+ years. 

I don't know if I fully understand the link between improved offensive weapons/ rules favoring offense and the affect on the longevity of the best DBs. Why would the length of time they're better than their peers decrease?

Edited by TommyGufano

8 minutes ago, TommyGufano said:

I don't know if I fully understand the link between improved offensive weapons/ rules favoring offense and the affect on the longevity of the best DBs. Why would the length of time they're better than their peers decrease?

This.  

Darrell Green seemed like he played forever, and was pretty damn good most of those years so I'd put him near the top of the list. I hated the guy back when I gave a damn about the cowboys and pro football. 

Dude stayed fast forever too.

Why would they be the "last" great DB's? That doesn't make any fucking sense. 

Love me some Earl but man this was ugly.

 

  • Author
38 minutes ago, TommyGufano said:

I don't know if I fully understand the link between improved offensive weapons/ rules favoring offense and the affect on the longevity of the best DBs. Why would the length of time they're better than their peers decrease?

it's tougher to play the position than its ever been. i mean is it even possible to have one guy shut down half the field anymore with today's schemes and athletes? i'm seriously asking, because i don't know that it is. take for example tre'davious white or minkah fitzpatrick, two of the current young studs of the defensive backfield. for me, and maybe i'm in the minority here, today's game presents more challenges to them than it did to, say, Troy Polamalu. to me that makes it harder to play at an all pro level year in/year out. and so i guess what i'm saying is not that we will no longer have great DB's, just that it is only becoming harder and harder to be great year after year, the way so many DBs have in the past. 

Edited by Goo Punch

2 hours ago, Jkwellborn said:

Rules are slanted to favor the offense.

No they aren’t. They’ve historically been severely slanted to favor the defense, some of that has been scaled back a tad, and defensive coaches are throwing shitfits about it. That “rules favor the offense” stuff is all hype.

2 hours ago, Helobious said:

No

I agree.

See Darryl Stingley Jr for why I agree. 

5 hours ago, TexEx15 said:

Love me some Earl but man this was ugly.

 

That's a game Earl is going to want to forget. Henry also executed the Tebow jump pass and burned Earl through the air as well.

 

Edited by Chad

4 hours ago, hpslugga said:

No they aren’t. They’ve historically been severely slanted to favor the defense, some of that has been scaled back a tad, and defensive coaches are throwing shitfits about it. That “rules favor the offense” stuff is all hype.

Stephon Gilmore

Jalen Ramsey

Xavien Howard

Slay

Peterson (bad year this year)

Byron Jones

Harris at DEN

Hayward

Bouye

tough, very good cornerbacks seem a dime a dozen these days, teams just play 3 to 4 WRs so they are bound to find a bad DB matchup in there somewhere

I'd put Pro Bowl CB as one of the toughest competitions/votes in the NFL imo.

  • Author

not talking about pro bowl DB's, talking about HOF level DBs. the entire premise is that it's much harder to sustain a pro bowl/all pro level of play for 5+ years as a DB than it used to be. nobody is saying there are no good DBs. 

Two of the Woodson's aren't even in the HOF.  It's just a harder position to judge because stats are such a driver of perception.

1 hour ago, JBJ said:

Two of the Woodson's aren't even in the HOF.  It's just a harder position to judge because stats are such a driver of perception.

A. How many Woodsons are there?

B. Rod is in and Charles isn't eligible until 2021. 

DB's will adapt to the rules being stacked against them, there will be more greats..just fewer and further between.

17 hours ago, JBJ said:

Two of the Woodson's aren't even in the HOF.  It's just a harder position to judge because stats are such a driver of perception.

Maybe he meant Wooderson

The players will adjust. It may take a decade or two, but they will adjust and there will be balance in how dominant the defenses are over a given offense, player, or scheme.

On 1/13/2020 at 9:31 PM, staboner said:

completely disagree. For about 3 to 4 years at his peak in Seattle one could argue he was their best player and maybe the best player in the league on that side of the ball. He was the guy that let all the others guys specialize in their own bit - sherman and chancellor. His range and brain were just otherworldly in this time frame. He is like 29 or 30 now and not even close to what he used to be. Thats young to slip as much as he has, but I always thought he was a small dude that bulked up bigtime to play in the NFL and that just can't last for long. 

no, Sherman locking down his side allowed Earl to roam around.

Scope Seattle's performance with Earl pre- and post injury in 2016. He stirred the drink. Seattle couldn't stop shit (non-Jeff Fisher subdivision) without Earl. Sherman is very good. Bobby Wagner is only player who deserves a discussion with ET for best Seattle defensive player during the teens.

4 hours ago, hookem48 said:

no, Sherman locking down his side allowed Earl to roam around.

no back at you

Useless comparing two parts that make each other look better.

Richard Sherman wouldn't be able to play as aggressive short and down the sideline if Earl wasn't locking down the seams.

Earl is not able to lock down both seams if he has to cheat to cover for a bad matchup.

5 hours ago, hookem48 said:

no, Sherman locking down his side allowed Earl to roam around.

Agreed. Sherman was without a doubt the best player in their secondary. That not a knock on earl, who was fantastic as well.

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