Ray Lewis or Luke Kuechly

[Panthro]

1- Lewis
2- Kuechly
3- Wagner

42 - Urlacher

[Zod]

I'll go with the one that never murdered a human 

[Leeroy Jenkins Ph.D.]

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. 

[thefuzz]

1 minute ago, 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. 

There are two different systems being argued as the same.

I value the ability to cover, rush the passer, tackle, and diagnose...the very things that Luke was great at...Ray is a thumper, and a very good one, but IMO Luke was the better football player, in his prime due to his ability to do everything on the football field.

That said, like all things football, different folks value different things.  I think Jerry Rice is the best player of all time, many will say Tom Brady or LT...everyone is different.

[Panthro]

19 minutes ago, Zod said:

I'll go with the one that never murdered a human 

Thats what broke my tie

[CanadianCat]

If Im a GM and drafting them for their career its Ray. But you cannot be disappointed with anyone on that list.

 

Man Luke 'should' still be playing.. this defense would be lights out. 

[t96]

11 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Very possible. The only argument against it would be length of career.

- 5x 1st team all pro

- 2x 2nd team all pro

- DROY

- DPOY

All in just 8 seasons. He's pretty much a lock for first ballot HoF.

 

Megatron was first ballot HoF with 3x 1st team all pro and 1x 2nd team all pro. Zero "POY" awards.

[DaveThePanther2008]

Ray was probably the most intimidating MLB.  He was just brutal.  

Too many great ones to argue over but Luke was special. 

Luke was a surgeon.  There were many good LB that could diagnose a play but I think it's hard to find anyone better than Luke.

I remember when he was #4 (I think) in the NFL Top 100 and half of the segment was players saying he knew what the play was and where it was going.   

I think my favorite was his back to back interceptions against Romo.  The first one he baited Romo and picked him off for a TD.  Than he baited him again as Romo ran the same play and thought he would get Luke to bite as he did in the previous play.  Luke hinted at it and turned the other direction and nabbed his second Int in as many plays.   

As far as HOF.  First Ballot no doubt and would not be surprised to see unanimously selected first ballot. 

[hepcat]

41 minutes ago, Zod said:

I'll go with the one that never murdered a human 

was just about to say i'll go with the guy who didn't mysterious lose a blood covered suit

[YourLastThought]

Nobody is better than Ray Lewis at middle linebacker or chopping heads off at the super bowl without getting caught. That guy is probably the best middle linebacker to ever do it among many greats as well as one of the most skilled super bowl murderers to ever chop a head off. Dude murdered running backs on the field and people outside stadiums off it. A true apex predator. Luke was damn good on the field though! He just had no skills chopping heads off outside of Superbowls and needed to play a little longer.

Edited May 10, 2022 by YourLastThought

[NorthTryon]

Ray was better than Luke and had more longevity as well. You all know that and want to play "what about" like some lames. There is no excuse to bring up off the field nonsense like Ray being the only famous person in an altercation and wanting to blame murders on him. You don't know anything about that man's life except what you saw on the field so keep the discussion there. 

[Call Me James]

Or Ray, but Luke was on pace. 

[rippadonn]

Watching Luke duel with Brady and Brees was a thing of beauty. They'd be checking into and out of plays all the way up to the snap.

Lewis was a beast but watching Luke be a great technician as well as a physical beast also was just magical.

Even if Luke didn't have it between the ears like he does he would have still been physically one of the best. Luke was amazing on tape. Watching him diagnos put everybody in position and just fire off.

I may be a homer but as far as best MLB I've seen with my own eyes...

1a. Mike Singletary (got his autograph:-), disclaimer,total fanboy)

1b. Luke 

2.  Ray Lewis

[rippadonn]

Honorable mention to Dan Morgan. If he had just 4-5 more years...whoa!