Greatest Defensive Linemen of All Time

A great D-End of this era in J. Peppers compared to Reggie. Peppers 100 sacks in 10 seasons. Reggie 198 sacks in 12 seasons. You do the math this time! No one will accomplish what Reggie did in 12 seasons, let alone a career.

It took Bruce Smith 4 extra years to finally catch Reggies sack record! What Reggie did in 12 years it took B. Smith 16years. When you take into consideration the O-linemans size and ability of past eras compared to Reggies era, and take into consideration Reggie got doubled on almost every play, and still achieved what he did, its not even close!!

An amazingly strong player who used to throw tackles around like rag dolls, but still not one-man the wrecking crew that was Alan Page.

Great but had the advantage of playing when they finally officially kept track of things like sacks.Onmy all time 4 man front he's in my starting rotating 5. Him, Page, Deacon, Mean Joe and Eller

@guest, decon played against 150 lb lineman too.

BEST

Reggie white had more sacks than games played for 10 years, nobody had that. when he played for philly he was triple teamed ever down and still killed qbs

nope, he is the best

The Best!

best ever, was the only person to have more sacks than games played for 10 years. Jimmy Johnson coach of the cowboys tailored his team accordingly . he said he was the best ever.

reggie white is sooooooooooo number 1#

Page was the quickest, fastest, smartest DT I've seen play. He was also very strong and was called offsides many times due to moving exactly when the ball was snapped because eh figured out snap counts all the time. The teams that beat the Vikings were closer to complete teams, and don't forget, the AFC teams, starting with the Chargers in '63, were using steroids. Not too long ago, then-active NFL O-linemen were asked to give the name of the D-lineman most difficult to block, and Page's name was at the top even though those young 'uns faced him in the twilight of his career. Better than Bruce, Mean Joe, Deacon, Lily, etc., etc.

I've been watching NFL football since 1966 - and I've seen a great many players - and Joe Greene and Alan Page were the best defensive tackles I have ever seen. They played the game differently - Greene was a strong, nasty, "anchor" type of a tackle, while Page was the opposite - pure speed, surprising strength and perfect technique. On the rare occasion Page was held up at the line - he was able to disengage from blockers with an incredible array of moves and spins I'd never seen before. It made him far more dangerous than your "normal" defensive tackle - as he was NEVER out of a play. From 1968 - 1975, Page was so quick off the ball that he was consistently in the opponents backfield disrupting blocking schemes before plays could develop - which made his linemates even better. Page had the speed to run down any QB - as well as a great many RB's. Those who knocked Page would claim that because Page played "light" (230lbs) he could be overpowered by larger linemen. Those who never saw him play but still "parrot" this claim today are unable to point to any specific example of this occuring but rather will simply say - "the Vikings line got pushed around in their Super Bowl losses" and mistakenly use Super Bowl XI as theit example - for they think since the Vikings lost and since Page went up against Hall of Famer's Art Shell and Gene Upshaw - Page was surely beaten. This shows how little these people know - as Page's stats for that Super Bowl reveal the truth - 12 Tackles, (2 for loss) and 1 Sack! FYI - his Super Bowl totals: 4 games played: 32 tackles (8 for loss), 3 sacks and 1 pass defended. Don't believe anyone who claims that Bob Lilly, Merlin Olsen or anyone else was a better DT than Alan Page ... and his NFL MVP award - the first NFL MVP award EVER given to a defender and the only one a D-lineman has EVER received - is all the proof you need.

After Deacon, he was the greatest I ever saw, and had the best series of downs I know of against the Lions one day in early 70's. He was so quick I saw him "intercept" laterals more than once.

To the second comment, the Vikings front four were well past their prime by the Oakland SuperBowl. The Vikings were, in my mind, the best defense and probably the best team in football from 69 to 71, and maybe again in 73 or 74, whichever year it was that they got robbed on the Hail Mary push off by Drew.

P.S. That front four has three guys on the top six here.

Your TEAM is what your record is. Go to pro football reference .com and search "greatest defense ever" and "greatest defensive line playing together" and see what you get to smoke in your pipe.

The greatest defencive line EVER- the very same line that got manhandled by Oakland in the Super Bowl.You are what your record says you are (in this case 0-4 in Super Bowls played).The Steelers of the 70s had the CHAMPIONSHIPS (4 in 6 years )to back up the STEEL CURTAIN NICKNAME

The Vikings of 1969, 1970 and 1971 had the greatest defensive run ever in terms of points allowed and it was primarily due to the greatest defensive line ever.

Best of all time, he ran a 4.5 40, and could beat any two lineman. He was the fastest down lineman, the strongest down lineman, and the best. Had he played in 16 game seasons, Jones would have 204 sacks! In 14 years! No one has come close to this.

Deacon Jones is the best. He dominated an era of football, even with Olsen stealing sacks and tackles. 1 deacon jones 2 Reggie white 3 joe green 4 Bruce smith 5 Bob lily 6 Merlin Olsen 7 Alan page 8 randy whie 9 Gino marchetti 10 Doug Atkins

Without a doubt the greatest defensive lineman ever, possibly the greatest defensive player period. They didn't keep the stats that make later players look so good or he'd own every record. Most of the time he was the fastest player on the field offense or defense.

When you consider he played alongside Page and Marshall with a not to be sneezed at gary Larsen, they were hands down the greatest Dline to ever play together and played a big part in the best 3 year run any defense has ever had

Actually, the best defensive end of all time. Yes, better than Deacon Jones. Just ask Dan Dierdorf and Bart Starr.

He should be number 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He is one of the best players of all time

should be number one

mean joe greene was a 2 time defensive player of the year a4time super bowl champion and the most dirtiest,nastiest,meanest player to ever play football.

Simply put the GREATEST collection of talent to ever step on an NFL field Super bowl wins aside that entire defence notched something like 60 pro bowl appearances between them (the 3 linebackers had 27 )

Anyone else notice that three of the guys mentioned on this list are Vikings who all played together? What a line!

Leeroy was THE BEST !!

Should be much higher on this list. Fourteen Pro Bowls and played next to Deacon Jones. Deacon Jones number 2 spot and his success could be partially attributed to Olsen playing next to him for many of Jones outstanding years. Jones and Olsen probably led the greatest defensive line NFL history which included David Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Roosevelt Grier, and Lamar Lundy.

Agree totally Best DE White, Bruce then Bruce Smith. When we get into the DE/LB types I would put Lawrence Taylor 3rd, Derrick Thomas 4th, Haley 5th. Justin Taylor 6th. Although none were true DE's they were great pass rushers which gets all the glory. Plus all played the run well too. Now add in more true DE's to fill out rest of top 20.

Move smith up 11 notches....behind Howdie long and over rated Michael strahan ....what a joke

#15 for alltime sack leader in history this list is wrong should be Reggie 1st the Bruce Smith then 4 time super bowl winner Charles Hayley then randle. And so on

Julius Peppers might be the greatest athlete I have ever seen. He is also one of the largest. I believe he is one of the five greatest athletes of all time if not number one. The only two D-line that might be better are Deacon Jones and Reggie White

Julius Peppers in 10 seasons so far... Peppers has 100 sacks, a 10 per year average and 100 behind all time leader Bruce Smith who had 200 for his career and averaged 10.53 per season. Peppers could pass this mark. Peppers has 8 interceptions, tied for second most all time by a defensive lineman, Ron McDole has the most INT's all time by a D-lineman with 12. Peppers could pass this mark. Peppers has 36 forced fumbles, only 11 behind all time leader Jason Taylor who has 47 FF. Peppers could pass this mark. Peppers has 57 passes defensed, Jason Taylor has the most all time by a defensive lineman with 94 passes defensed. Peppers could come close to or break this mark. Peppers has 12 blocked field goals which is second best in NFL history, Shaun Rogers holds the official blocked field goals record with 17. Peppers could break this mark.

NFL records and accomplishments through 10 seasons Most interception return yards by a defensive lineman in NFL history: 178 yds Most interception return yards in a single season by a defensive lineman in NFL history: 143 yds Longest interception return by a defensive lineman in NFL history: 97 yds Most interception return yards in a single game by a defensive lineman in NFL history: 97 yds Most combined interception and fumble return yards by a defensive lineman in a single season since NFL merger in 1970: 203 yds

Peppers is the second best defensive lineman in NFL history after Reggie White. Peppers does everything from getting sacks, stopping the run, getting interceptions, forcing fumbles, knocking down passes, and getting blocked field goals. He is an all around dominant force.

bears got a 11 wins wen they got him. 12 counting playoffs. yeah hes defintly underated.

cmon now how yall gonna forget about howie?

love him

No George Martin in the top 50? That makes this list a joke.

LOL.....Strahan is the best after Reggier....this list is LUDACRIS!

To not be named one of the top 100 NFL players of all-time, makes that list a travesty. Where ever J. Randle or Joe Greene ranked on the list, Sapp was just as good as either of them.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnston was a big deal in college football . He got hurt and the second string guy, unfortunately for the rock was warren sapp.

Ran a 4.68 40 yard dash at 330 pounds.

how does this guy get drafted in the 8th round??

the MANSTER as he was called. AWESOME

Gino should be higher.

Revolutionized the 3-4 DE spot and is the only player in NFL history to record two 20+ sack seasons. Could retire now and got to the hall of fame with his three defensive player of the year awards.

jury's out on Watt

As skilled a d-lineman as the league has known. All he needs is longevity to top this list.

he may strike the top five of all time by the end of his career

I agree Lily's top 5

Bob Lilly at number 20?Ya kidding?

this guy is the best of all time yes yes yes

He's better than Olsen

Fastest player on the list

was a middle Linebacker

Badnarik was a linebacker/ center. He was not a lineman.

will go down as top 5 DE ever

Hardly best ever

Fastest Defensive Player of the decade

4 Superbowls and only #24 what the honk

Doug was a great player and a greater man I am fortunate to know him rip big man

He played in the 1950's and 60's but no player ever dominated the position like he did...

He had the biggest head of any lineman had to have a custom made helmet..

The year he had 23 sacks in 1977 it was only a 14 game season and Brett farce didn't lay down for his last one!!!!

The NFL didn't start recognizing quarterback sacks as an official stat until 1982; however, the Cowboys have their own records, dating back before the 1982 season. According to the Cowboys' stats, Martin is unofficially credited with a total of 114 sacks,[1] leading the Cowboys in sacks seven times during a nine year period, with a high total of 23 sacks in 1977.[2] He ranks first on the team's all-time sack leaders list.[3]

2× First-team All-SEC (1999–2000) First-team All-America (2000) 3× Super Bowl champion (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) 6× Pro Bowl selection (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010) 3× First-team All-Pro (2003, 2004, 2005) Second-team All-Pro (2006) 5× All-AFC selection (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006) NFL 2000s All-Decade Team and his career is still going

Free bird?

He is awesome ps nebraska fan

nooooooooooo. bad attitude and cant handle linemen

this is the saddest pick i've ever seen

Second Saddest Pick I've ever seen

huh?