Ray Lewis or Luke Kuechly

[rippadonn]

Dan got like 25tackles in the Superbowl iirc.

[rippadonn]

Mike Singletary was a high IQ monster. He made you pay with consequences.

[Michael G]

The game has changed so much. L. Taylor was Phenomenal. He may be right up there with Ray when it game to imposing-Hardened QBs melted in front of him back (back when QBs were hit regularly and not protected from the violence of the game).  Belichick once said Taylor was the best player he had ever seen or been around and its not even close.

That said Mike S. was amazing also. He was more of the leader of the defense that turned MLB's into the guys wearing the MIKE later. Luke and Ray were both definitely great as well. In coverage Luke and Mike were far superior to the other guys but no one came off the edge like LT and Ray was just a constant thumper against the run and a real force when plays broke down.

Urlacher was pretty good too.

[CPantherKing]

Ray Lewis and Luke Kuechly are 2 LBs I had at #1 for the Panthers to draft. Always thought Lewis next to Mills with Salt and Pepper coming off the edge would have made for an amazing 1996 defense.

Lewis gets the nod for success and career. I'd take Kuechly over Lewis to build a 43 defense around. A 34 defense with both of them would have been one I'd really want to see.

[Basbear]

On-field= Ray

If you include off-field= Luke

Pass coverage only= Brian

Ray also went through a weird preacher faze. Ray was RIGHT next to luke in football IQ and watched just as much film. Loved football more than the other two. Much hard hitter and ended other players careers. Peyton said he had to change the throws they installed because Ray would IR the TE/WRs. Goat Bill spoke in the highest regard.  

No wrong answer tho. 

[B_Eazi]

speaking of Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke!!!!!!!!! picks up around 2:40 mark

 

[AU-panther]

Two different LBs asked to do different things in different defenses.  Both all-time greats.

If anything, Urlacher and Luke are probably more similar in what they were asked to do.

 

 

[Brooklyn 3.0]

Why can't they all just be "about equal"? Too many "but"s in the debate to really determine the best. I do know it's not a knock on Luke or the team to say he isn't the best though. Wish others could see it that way.

[KSpan]

33 minutes ago, AU-panther said:

Two different LBs asked to do different things in different defenses.  Both all-time greats.

If anything, Urlacher and Luke are probably more similar in what they were asked to do.

 

 

Exactly. Luke was great at sifting through trash but wasn't strong in taking on direct blocks so needed big shielding up front to be at his best (true for many LBs of course). Ray could take on linemen and shed with the best of them, enabling the DL to do some other things besides just occupy blockers. 

No right or wrong IMO, just a matter of what scheme is being run. I don't think Luke would have been as effective in a 3-4 and Ray's uniqueness fades a bit in a 4-3.

[Bama Panther]

On 5/10/2022 at 9:38 AM, Leeroy Jenkins Ph.D. said:

Hands down, Ray Lewis and sadly this isn't even a question.  My son, who is now 12 has recently started to get into football and we were discussing some of the all-time greats and we got to Ray Lewis.  This man was drafted onto a horrible Ravens expansion team and built their defense into one of the only defenses to ever outperform the old Steel Curtain of the 70s.  What makes that defense so legendary isn't the fact that they only allowed an NFL record 10 PPG to opposing teams, they did this with an anemic/horrible offense that went 5 games without scoring a TD themselves. 

Ray Lewis himself, through numerous injuries (including playing a season with 2 torn triceps) went to 10 pro-bowls with 2 NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards. Hold the NFL Record for combined tackles 2,059 and the NFL record for solo tackles (1,568), which is 200 more than the closest NFL player ever. To add a little more perspective, Luke finished his career with 690 solo tackles. 

And to argue against longevity, Lewis averaged 6.43 tackles per game while Luke averaged 5.85 tackles per game over their careers. 

If anyone honestly believes Luke was a better MLB than Lewis they need to take off their homer goggles. Yes, Luke was one of the greatest.  Lewis was the greatest. 

While I get your point about Lewis, he wasn't "drafted onto a horrible Ravens expansion team" in the traditional sense of an expansion team. He was simply drafted onto a Ravens team that was new in name and location but not in terms of building a new team from scratch, ala Carolina, Jacksonville, and Houston in the recent past. While the Browns were only 5-11 in 1995 before the move to Baltimore, they were 11-5 in 1994.