NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League.The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. What does that make the 5-technique? Excellent article, John T! So far, weve mentioned how the 0-technique lines up head-to-head with the center, and the 2-technique lines up head-to-head with the offensive guard. Ostensibly a 2-gapper, Raji manages to make a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage. as a nose tackle, mostly a backup or part-time player. This is because the nose tackle position is one of the most physically demanding positions in all of football. NY Jets: Selecting the greatest all-time defensive line - The Jet Press Taylor Lewan gets a lot of attention for his off-field attention-seeking antics. Like all 4-3 nose tackles, Pekoregularly operates in a shaded alignment over the center. The 34 was very popular in the 70's and 80's. PFF Rankings: The NFL's top 25 interior defensive linemen ahead of the Ted Washington's the best I've seen play. 6'5" and around 375 pounds, he was literally an immovable object in the trenches. By its nature, nose tackle is one of the most unheralded and selfless positions in the NFL. edit* Hampton was a beast don't know how I didn't think of him! The way he singlehandedly collapsed the pocket and allows fellow Tampa pass rushers to torture Patrick Mahomes all day night long. The San Francisco 49ers signed him in the 1991 NFL draft, where he was overall 25th. He used his size to his advantage and made the lives of the blockers impossible. This allows the safeties to stay deep and maintain the integrity of Chicago's preferred Tampa-2 coverage scheme. He was active, fast, and really stood out on film. There are players that play close to the ball and others that play further away. They have a similar role, but the defensive schemes are very different. Top 10 NFL Defensive Tackles of All Time Rankings If you can do that, then your coach will always have a spot for you on the defense. Rowe helped the Raiders to their first Super Bowl trophy (IMO) - I was at that Super Bowl. A NT will either be head on v a centre or on the strongside A gap, either way a NTs job is to absorb a double team and not allow either of the OL trying to move him to get downfield. Yep, he arrived when those guys were on their way out of town. Nose Tackles typically don't stuff the stat sheet so it can be hard to measure their greatness unless you're watching tape but I would say that any 3-4 team with a great NT had good numbers v the run, I find your lack of Casey Hampton disturbing. Willis was a dynamic6-2, 213-pound middle guard for the Cleveland Browns from 1946-53. One name that is well worth mentioning among the Top 10 Strong Safety All-Time list is the former Seattle Seahawks and Pro Football Hall of Famer strong safety Kenny Easley. The following browsers are supported: Chrome, Edge (v80 and later), Firefox and Safari. My name is Steven and I have a passion for sports and staying physically active. Not only is Art Shell at the top of this list, but he was also among the best tackles in NFL history, and there those who believe . Who is the best New York Jets defensive tackle ever? Much like you have the 2i-technique, which lines up on the inside of the offensive guard, you also have the 4i-technique, which lines up on the inside of the offensive tackle opposed to the outside of the tackle. Joe Nash is a glaring omission. He received a Hall of Fame induction from the New England Patriots soon after his retirement in 2017. Thomas played in 213 games, started 199 of them, totaled 864 tackles including 93.5 sacks and 95.0 run stuffs, totals that rival players like Warren Sapp and Bryant Young, two of the 1990s All-Decade selections. Bill Wills is one such example, he was undrafted in the 1946 draft! Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The 10 Most Famous NFL Players from Florida, The 10 Best Current NFL Players Without A Ring. At 6-1 330 (350?) They rank up there with the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, San Francisco Giants, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Red Sox, and all the other teams to win several championships since the turn of the century. Smears was an exceptional talent. Defensive tackles are mostly the silent killer of a team. In his first four years he was a top backup for Ted Washington forming an amazing 1-2 punch. It used to take three blockers to stop him. The most common requirement of a nose tackle is to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the rest of the defense. He'd done yeoman's work, playing the run, coming out of the game on likely passing downs, but never getting a sniff of Hawaii and the Pro Bowl. He is comfortable using his speed to shoot gaps or lining up directly over guards and centers and overpowering them. Moving former defensive end Isaac Sopoaga to nose tackle has made an already stout 49ers run defense even more formidable. From Culp to Jerry Ball, everyone featured in this article has played major roles in their teams success, which established them as the best defensive nose tackles of all time in the NFL. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Nonetheless, he was an inside, power player whose job it was to stop the inside running game and he did that well. He was All-Pro once and a Second-team All-Pro once and an All-AFC pick twice and voted to four Pro Bowls. B/R NFL 1000: Top 50 Defensive Tackles - Bleacher Report He recorded 137.5 sacks over his 14-year career and was. The 0-technique is generally played in the 3-4 defensive scheme, which is why its largely a nose tackle technique. Paul Soliai is one of the finest 2-gappers in the league. The ball was so dominant that the opposition had to make a change in their alignment to bring their best player in the middle to face the pressure Ball created. "Snacks", in our view is the top nose/shade tackle in the game today and if he continues his career arc he could move up this list quickly. He ended his career with just 20.5 sacks but the main reason he was on the field was to stop the run and that he did, evidenced by his 90 run stuffs in his career (five times he had 9.0 or more). Is Pedro Pascal Related To Burt Reynolds? Said legendary writer/talent evaluator Joel Buchsbaum about Carter, "has awesome ability, strength, quickness, and explosion but is not very durable". It frequently took 2 or 3 linemen to block him, freeing up teammates to double-cover or blitz. So he ended up playing for three-techniques likeJovan Haye and Tony Williams, though he got to play some three-technique himself for a few years in the early 2000s when Fred Robbins manned the nose. 1. Its popularity declined throughout the 90's, bottoming out in 2001 when only the Steelers were running a 34. He was an eight-time First-team All-League selection and was a Second-team selection one additional time and was part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame team All-1940s Team and the owner of five championship rings. Michael Carter Career Highlights: Super Bowl champion: 3 times (XIX, XXIII, XXIV) First-team All-Pro: 3 times (1986, 1987, 1988) Pro Bowl: 3 times (1985, 1987, 1988) He ended his career with 510 tackles and 35.5 sacks and 57.5 run stuffs. From 1980 through the first six games of 1990 he played in (and started) 149 consecutive games, remarkable given the duties of his position. He was a Second-team All-Pro once and a three-time Pro Bowler (all when playing as 1/2 of the "Williams Wall" in Minnesota. John Randle Awards: 7 Pro Bowler, 6 All-Pro, 1997 NFL sacks leader, Pro Football Hall of Famer, and NFL 1990s All-Decade Team Championships: None May 18, 2022 9:45 am ET. Also, played some DE. Take a look at all the action as the 2023 Combine gets underway in Indianapolis. With that said, Im happy to have you on the site and hope I can help you out in achieving your goals! The likes of Vince Wilfork, Jamal William, Haloti Ngata, Ted Williams are some of the best ever. He would also play left end on occasion, usually when Lyle Alzado was taking a series off or if he missed a game or two. This is different from defensive ends, which are usually taller (around 65) and slimmer (285 pounds) so they can keep up with offensive tackles. Pouha is blessed with tremendous strengthand possesses deceptive speed when working down the line. Super Bowl champion: 2 times (XXXIX, XLIX). + Indicates Hall of Famer. Of course, thats not the case with any odd-numbered technique. Other than Polamalu there wasnt a better player on those defenses. When done correctly, the nose tackle acts as a space-eater. He's likely best known for a gruesome broken leg in the Super Bowl versus the 49ers but he came back from that in 1989 and had a couple solid seasons after that. Raji's versatility is the foundation of Green Bay's defensive scheme. His professional football career began in 1977 when he was picked by the Philadelphia Eagles 1977. However, here are ten players who were not just great nose tackles but also great defensive backs of all time. He loves to watch web series, and movies and write on celebrity gossip or trendy movie news. He can sometimes be a little inconsistent against the run and doesn't always bring the same fiery determination to disrupting the ground game. 15 Greatest New England Patriots of All Time - Sportscasting Joel Steed will come . With a player like Raji over the center, Dom Capers can utilise every page of his zone blitz playbook. An excellent run defender, Soliai needs to refine his technique in order to make more plays behind the line of scrimmage. Take a look at the photographs that served as the artistic blueprint for Super Bowl LVII, and see how they were incorporated into the numerous event spaces throughout the state. Besides, he had been a part of the 49ers three super bowl winning teams and a three-time first-team all-pro and three-time pro bowler. Well.it's more that it goes through cycles. If youre interested in learning more about the nose tackle position in football, continue reading for a full breakdown of what a nose tackle does and what it takes to be a dominant nose tackle. Relying on awesome strength and excellent leverage, Garay is able to create a powerful forward push, few centers can deal with. This list of the top nose tackles in American football includes all the greats from both the NFL and college football. 2023 NFL Enterprises LLC. Nose tackle is an underappreciated and selfless position in American football. A nose tackle, also known as the nose guard or middle guard, is a player that aligns themselves in the middle of the defensive line. He played college football for the University. Some NFL players are just physical freaks in terms of taking a pounding and lasting and lasting. Joe Klecko (89%, 59 Votes) Kris Jenkins (8%, 5 Votes) Jason Ferguson (3%, 2 Votes) Sione Pouha (0%, 0 Votes) Abdul Salaam (0%, 0 Votes). We think he would have been a fine left 3-4 defensive end and inside rusher in nickel but the Raiders already had that guyHowie Long. He was drafted into the NFL in 2004 by the New England Patriots. Regular five-on-five basketball is a fun game on its own, but its always nice to have some variety in the types of games that can be played, especially with kids. Stephon Tuitt, Pittsburgh Steelers Tuitt is the second Steelers player to find his way into the top 12, coming off another strong showing in 2020. Sugar Bear Hamilton began his career as a defensive end in 1973 but when the Patriots moved to a 3-4 defensive full-time in 1974 he was the middle guard. Lets take a look at some of those specific nose tackles: Its unclear if well ever see any nose tackles in the future that live up to the names listed above, but theres no doubt that these players are some of the least-recognized superstars of their time. With that said, the nose tackle position is highly respected by their teammates and is most likely going to be the defensive coordinators favorite player when things are going well. The 3-4 had been around for years but no one committed to it on an every-down basis like the Patriots in 1974. And he deserved it due to what he meant to those Charger defenses. We've been a complete joke at NT since he left. He played a total of 179 and recorded 68.5 sacks and 14 forced fumbles. For the 3-technique, the defensive player is asked to line up on the outside shoulder of the offensive guard. There are always 22 football players on the field at once and they all have their own specialized roles. May 14, 2020. A couple of years ago, Jay Ratliff would have comfortably toppeda list of this kind. For many defenses the nose tackle's performance is the most critical element of the scheme. Patriots' All-Time Team: Defense - Sports Illustrated New England Career stats of Henry Thomas: 6. Jamal Williams career seemed to be heading into obscurity as a very good shade (nose) tackle in a 4-3 defense for the Chargers from 1998 to 2004. So I discount guys like Ngata who may have played in the middle of a 3 man line on occasions but were never 2 gap players. Some of these men are considered to be the best nose tackles to ever play the game, and if you're looking for a specific football player you can look for them by using the "search" function on this list. Concerns about his every down durability have persisted in recent seasons, but Ratliff is still the best pure athlete to play nose tackle in the NFL. Enjoy! Where the 3-4 defense has two gaps in-between the nose tackle and defensive ends, those two gaps are completely covered by two defensive tackles in the 5-2 scheme, which makes it hard to run the ball. 2022 NFL interior defender rankings and tiers - PFF They line up with a defensive end on both sides of them, but theres a pretty large gap between them since the offensive line is made up of five players. Taylor Lewan, Tennessee Titans. And in that role, he recorded 24 sacks in 1985-86. A Guide for Fans, NFL Practice Squad Salary Rules and Eligibility Explained, What Is a DB in Football? Despite being a 5-time pro bowler, he is still not in the hall of fame. Thomas was great at tackling and arguably the best among all nose tackles. And as was normal, Long would play the three-technique in passing situations. A tall nose, like Bob Baumhower, at 6-5 and began his career as an inside designated pass rusher. Along the way, Ill also answer general sports related questions. Wills played a key role in the defense and was all-pro once and a pro bowler. Gilbert Brown was a big piece in that loaded Packer defense. In the game of football, every player is given a specific position both on offense and defense that determines their role when on the field. A Financial Overview, What Is a Cycle in Baseball? This makes it hard for the running back to find a hole through either of the two B-gaps (in-between the guard and tackle). However, we are going to keep it short. He's pure run-stopper, he's one of the few players to actually go to a Pro Bowl in a season when he had zero sacks. These Are Unarguably The 10 Greatest Defensive Tackles Of All Time Would have put Maas and Gilbert Brown much higher, but really enjoyed this list. This list below has a variety of items in it, from Casey Hampton to Jim Burt. Wilfork played more than 100 games for the Patriots and is considered the best player in the nose tackle position for the Patriots. pounds, Wilfork was the anchor of the Patriots defensive line for more than a decade making First-team All-Pro once and second-team All-Pro four times and five Pro Bowls in his 13 seasons and earned himself two rings. They just don't. You can guess from his career highlights how much we could write about him. Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, 1968-1982 Voted to eight Pro Bowls; First Team All-Pro two times Two-time Super Bowl champion Enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Cleveland Browns, 1946-1967 Voted to nine Pro Bowls; First Team All-Pro four times Four-time NFL champion Enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Buffalo Bills 2004-2008; Philadelphia Eagles 2009-present One-time Super Bowl champion (LII) Voted to Pro Bowl nine times, First Team All-Pro twice Has started 166 of 176 career games Has two career receiving touchdowns, Dallas Cowboys 2011-present Voted to Pro Bowl five times, First Team All-Pro twice Voted No.