With Ray Lewis retiring this season, a great deal has been said about some of the all-time greats who have played defense in the NFL in history and of course, where does #52 land in the top. I wasn’t able to watch some of the old time greats, who all had great careers, but I missed out due to my birth date.

Sorry. So to be fair, I am going to take a look at who my top 10 defensive players that I have watched play the game over the last 25 or so years of my watching the game, and who, to me, made the biggest impression as a player who was out to make your team look as awful as humanly possible.

10-Champ Bailey, DB; played for 2 teams, career numbers of 799 tackles, 3 sacks, 52 interceptions, scoring 4 TDs, 171 passes defended, and 7 forced fumbles, an outstanding pass defender, with still quite a bit of gas in the tank.

9-Ronnie Lott, DB/S; played for 3 teams, career numbers of 1113 tackles, 8.5 sacks, 63 interceptions, 6th all time, scoring 5 TDs, and 16 forced fumbles, the hardest hitting S I have ever seen play the game, in this era, would be fined weekly.

8-Chris Doleman, DE/LB; played for 3 teams, career numbers of 914 tackles, 150.5 sacks, had 8 interceptions, scoring 2 TDs, and 44 forced fumbles, Quick, strong and long-limbed, he made a great number of good things happen on the teams he played for constantly.

7-Charles Woodson, DB/S; played for 2 teams, career numbers of 778 tackles, 17 sacks, 55 interceptions, 896 return yards, scoring 11 TDs, 135 passes defended, and 29 forced fumbles, Phenomenal defender, who can fundamentally do everything you can ask from a DB or a S, he hits, sacks, covers, and is extremely dangerous when taking the ball away from opponents.

6-Ray Lewis, LB; Baltimore Ravens, career numbers of 1573 tackles, remarkable, 41.5 sacks, an astonishing 31 interceptions, scoring 3 TDs, roamed the middle of the field for 81 passes defended, and 19 forced fumbles. 1st ballot HoF’er without doubt, amazing career, who did everything exceptionally.

5-Reggie White, DE/DT; played for 3 teams, career numbers of 1048 tackles, 198 sacks, 2nd all time, including 7 seasons with 14+ sacks, 3 interceptions, and 33 forced fumbles, Watching him play, you always knew you were going to see something that made you just say “Wow, did he really just do that?”

4-Deion Sanders, DB; played for 5 teams, career numbers of 492 tackles, 1 sack, 53 interceptions, 1331 interception return yards, 4th all time, scoring 9 TDs, and 10 forced fumbles, the original “shut down” corner, in the NFL. What he lacked in tackling, he made up for, by teams completely avoiding his side of the field, because of the panic he brought, with every interception, came that explosive return.

3-Rod Woodson, DB/S; played for 4 teams, career numbers of 1050 tackles, 13.5 sacks, 71 interceptions, who also had 1483 return yards, 2nd all time, scoring 12 TDs, tops in history, and 20 forced fumbles, Rod was DB brilliance, watch film of this guy if you haven’t been able to watch him play.

2-Bruce Smith, DE; played for 2 teams, career numbers of 1078 tackles, 200 sacks, the all-time NFL leader, 2 interceptions, and 43 forced fumbles, big # 78, was just always chasing your QB around, and I do mean, always.

1-Lawrence Taylor, LB; New York Giants, career numbers of 132.5 sacks, and picked off 9 interceptions, scoring 2 TDs, He was pure devastation in a Giants uniform, there was no team that didn’t fear him when they saw him guarding the field, stop the drivel, the best defensive player I have ever seen play the game, ends here.

Now mind you, several fantastic up and comer young defensive studs were intentionally left off the list, mainly because of age and seasoning, but all of these guys have potential to become some of the greatest to play their positions, we just need to see the full body of work, with the likes of Von Miller, JJ Watt, and Aldon Smith. The NFL has a great future ahead of it.

Written by TonyK of VegasTopDogs.com