When looking at the most popular players in the NFL, the first position that comes to mind is quarterback. Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen are the guys who are winning MVPs and getting all of the credit. After that is probably wide receiver, where QBs are targeting big plays and even bigger fantasy points. Past QBs and receivers, the existence of fantasy makes running backs next on the list. While the offensive positions are the most popular, the defensive positions might be the most important.
Teams without a great pass rusher and a shutdown cornerback are toast in the standings. We’re not saying they are QB important, but outside of that? Teams will have trouble even without great defensive tackles and ball-hawking linebackers. Teams can celebrate their best defensive player of all time for years. They tend to be a fan favorite, and more often than not, they bring a Super Bowl to their city. The best of the best can change a game on its head. Each team has at least one superstar player. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the only team without a defensive player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even they have had some greats.
Arizona Cardinals: Larry Wilson
One of the few names on the list that might not be a household name, Larry Wilson played 13 seasons, all with the Cardinals. He did play there when they were the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was clearly the best safety in football at the time. He finished his career with eight Pro Bowl selections and five first-team All-Pros.
Wilson is also one of the best draft picks of all time. Teams were worried about Wilson’s size at his position, so the Cardinals didn’t draft him until the seventh round by the then-Chicago Cardinals. He was close to being cut from his first training camp when his attempts at running back and cornerback went terribly, but head coach Frank Ivey moved him to safety.
That began a Hall of Fame career. He jumped right into the starting lineup, spending 11 of 12 games there his rookie year. He got his first two interceptions that season. Eventually, he had 52 interceptions in his career. His team implemented the safety blitz, and he added 21 sacks in his career and 12 fumble recoveries.
Unfortunately, Wilson never got to showcase his value in a playoff game. He lifted the Cardinals as high as they could go, similar to Buddha Baker on this era’s Cardinals team, but he still made it to the Hall of Fame based on his clear dominance on the field.
Atlanta Falcons: Deion Sanders
The Atlanta Falcons don’t have the greatest reputation for defensive stars. John Abraham is pretty much their only good pass rusher in history. Keith Brooking was a player who made a big impact years ago, but he didn’t quite reach superstar status. The one player who did was Deion Sanders.
Sanders is one of the best players in the history of the game. His pure athleticism is not something we ever expected from the cornerback position. It all started with the Atlanta Falcons. They chose him fifth overall in the 1989 NFL Draft after he smashed records at the NFL Combine.
In just five years' time, he had 24 interceptions (including a career-high seven in 1993) and scored three defensive touchdowns. He was a three-time Pro Bowler, and he was chosen as the All-Pro at the position. He even made second-team All-Pro in his third season in the league.
In his final season in Atlanta, he started to get real recognition. He was third in Defensive Player of the Year voting. He left the team in free agency and immediately won Defensive Player of the Year the next season. Atlanta made the playoffs once with Sanders, and he got an interception in the 1991 run.
Baltimore Ravens: Ray Lewis
There were a lot of great players to play in the relatively short history of the Baltimore Ravens, and a large majority of them are on the defensive side. However, there are two that stand out above the rest. Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are two of the very best of all time at their position, but we’ll give the nod to Lewis for his longevity.
Lewis played for 17 years and was at or near the top of the NFL stats pages for most of it. In those 17 years, he made the Pro Bowl 12 times. In one of the years that he didn’t make the Pro Bowl, he was fifth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, so that seems like an oversight. He was also first-team All-Pro seven times.
Lewis also tackled players more times than anyone in history. The most basic of statistics, Ray Lewis was the best of all time. He had 1,568 solo tackles. That’s insane! He totalled more than 100 solo tackles eight times in his career, including 156 in 1997.
We all know that Lewis was a part of that historic 2000 Ravens defense, but he has always been a playoff performer. He won Super Bowl MVP that season after leading the playoffs in tackles, both combined and solo, interceptions for touchdowns, passes deflected, and fumble recoveries. He finished his career with more solo tackles, combined tackles, and forced fumbles than any playoff performer in history. Add that to a second Super Bowl title, and he goes down as one of the best players ever.
Buffalo Bills: Bruce Smith
Sacks have quickly become the quintessential defensive statistic to show if a front-seven player had a good season. When it comes to the career, we see some impressive numbers, but there’s been one player in the history of the league who has had 200 sacks in his career. That’s Buffalo Bills legend Bruce Smith.
Smith wasn’t just a sack accumulator. He was a dominant force on the defensive line, being named first-team All-Pro eight times and winning the Defensive Player of the Year twice. He coincided his career with Reggie White, so getting those distinctions is even more impressive considering the competition. White and Smith basically swept the All-Pros during this era.
Smith was a main component of those Bills teams that dominated the AFC in the early 1990s. He helped his team make the Super Bowl four years in a row. He finished his playoff career with another 14.5 sacks.
If the Bills didn’t miss the kick to beat the Giants in Super Bowl XXV, Smith likely wins Super Bowl MVP. He was incredible in that game. He sacked Jeff Hostetler in the end zone, one of the few players to ever record a Super Bowl safety. He also tackled Ottis Anderson on a crucial fourth down, getting the ball back for Buffalo.
Carolina Panthers: Julius Peppers
The Carolina Panthers have a surprisingly hard decision to make. They are an expansion team from the 1990s, but unlike the Jacksonville Jaguars, who joined the league at the same time, they have a few guys who could make/have made the Hall of Fame. The conversation is between Julius Peppers and Luke Kuechly.
Because of his longevity, we are going with Peppers. It’s easy to claim a superstar based on just his prime, which Kuechly only played during. Peppers played 10 years with the Carolina Panthers. Peppers didn’t hit the heights that Kuechly found, but he was already in the upper tier of pass rushers.
During his Panthers career, he had a high of 14.5 sacks in 2008. He finished his 10 years with 97 sacks. That includes his last season, when he had just five sacks at 38 years old.
Before leaving for the Chicago Bears in the 2010 offseason, Peppers was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2000s. He was also named to the 2010s All-Decade team. He was one of the best pass rushers of this era, even returning to the Panthers in 2017 for one last great season with 11 sacks.
Chicago Bears: Dick Butkus
The Chicago Bears have eight Hall of Famers who have played defense primarily in their careers. In the early days, there were a bunch of players like Bronco Nagurski who played both fullback and defensive tackle (what a wild combination of positions), but in the Super Bowl era, the Bears have some of the best defensive players ever. It’s hard to pick between Mike Singletary, Brian Urlacher, Steve McMichael, and others, but we’re going with Dick Butkus here.
Butkus was one of the first players to really focus on turnovers as a metric of changing the game. He finished his career with 22 interceptions and 27 fumbles recovered, which were both records when he retired. However, that’s not what he’s known for. Actually, he’s probably more well-known for forcing fumbles.
That’s because he might be the hardest-hitting player in the history of the game. We’re not sure why, but Butkus’s hits looked more violent than everyone else's. It might be that it was taped on 1960s film, but we could feel those hits just watching them back.
Still to this day, the best linebacker in the NFL gets the Dick Butkus Award. He basically created the middle linebacker as we know it. He was the quarterback of the defense, and that’s what the position became in the 1980s and 90s. He also had a great rivalry with Ray Nitschke of the Packers, which helped bring interest into the league.
Cincinnati Bengals: Ken Riley
We’re not going to pretend there’s a laundry list of players to choose from with the Cincinnati Bengals. We’re looking at names like Carlos Dunlap, Geno Atkins, and Takeo Spikes. They would probably put Trey Hendrickson on the list today, but if he leaves after the season, he won’t get enough to beat Ken Riley.
Riley should be the poster boy for “underrated.” He wasn’t a popular player during his time in the league, mostly because he was playing in Cincinnati, but that’s why he was beloved within the city. He finished his career with 65 interceptions, which today is fifth all-time. He has more interceptions than Darrelle Revis, Ronnie Lott, Richard Sherman, Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, and so many other great ball hawks.
He’s also the only player in the top nine of career interception leaders who played for one franchise. Riley was deeply loyal to the Bengals, which was less rare then than it was now, but this wasn’t exactly a franchise that was known for taking care of its players. Still, Riley stayed.
And that was when it was clear he wasn’t getting the recognition he deserved. He didn’t make his first All-Pro squad until the last season of his career. It was a massive oversight. Then, it was even worse when he didn’t make the Pro Football Hall of Fame until three years after he passed away. He deserved better as the best defensive player to wear the Bengals stripes.
Cleveland Browns: Myles Garrett
When looking at the best defensive players in the history of the Cleveland Browns, the previous claim-holders were all in the early years of popular football. Len Ford and Bill Willis played before the Super Bowl era, but they were considered the best of the best. Clay Matthews Jr. was the best of the Super Bowl Era, but that has since changed.
There’s nobody else even close to as good as Myles Garrett. The former first-overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft has been dominant from Day 1. He was second-team All-Pro in his second season, and he’s since made first-team All-Pro four times. He’s expected to make it again in 2025, giving him five in total.
He might even win his second Defensive Player of the Year award, despite the Browns being generally bad in this era. Garrett has had at least 10 sacks in every year of his career besides his rookie campaign. He’s broken 16 sacks at the time of this writing, and he’s on pace to break the all-time record in 2025.
He is the best pass rusher of this generation, and it’s upsetting the Browns haven’t done more to build around him. The offense has been shut in place by the Deshaun Watson trade, and we don’t know the next time Garrett will be on a contender. He’s only played in three playoff games. He needs to be in a prime position to dominate on the biggest stage.
Dallas Cowboys: Bob Lilly
There are so many great players from every era that could be on this list for the Dallas Cowboys. Heck, they might have traded their most talented defensive player of all time when they send Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. DeMarcus Ware, Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones, and Randy White all deserve mention, but it feels like Bob Lilly has the honor locked down.
Lilly played for the Cowboys from 1961 to 1974, later becoming known as “Mr. Cowboy.” The defensive lineman made the Pro Bowl for 10 straight seasons (11 overall) and was a seven-time first-team All-Pro. The first draft pick in the history of the Dallas Cowboys turned out to be a good one.
When Tom Landry moved Lilly to defensive tackle in 1963, he became the main man in the “Doomsday Defense” that vaulted the Cowboys to new heights. They would get close in the playoffs, but they couldn’t win the NFC until 1970, heading to Super Bowl V. The Cowboys lost a heartbreaker to the Baltimore Colts, but they would be back soon, and that’s where Lilly would lock in his legacy.
During Super Bowl VI against the Miami Dolphins, the Cowboys defense dominated. The top play of the game, which was a Cowboys’ 24-3 win, was when Lilly sacked Bob Griese for a ridiculous 29-yard loss. Lilly was a game breaker in the middle of the line, and his dominance allowed everyone else around him to thrive.
Denver Broncos: Von Miller
There were so many great defensive players in those early years of the Denver Broncos. If you look at 3-10 of the best defensive players in the history of this franchise, most of them wore burnt orange, but none of them touch the top two players on this list. This comes down to Von Miller and Champ Bailey. Both were the very best at what they did, and they both played the two most important positions on the defensive side, but we give the slight edge to Miller because he brought a championship to Denver.
Miller has an interesting journey. He decided to skip the 2010 NFL Draft and return to Texas A&M. That decision turned him from a second-rounder to one of the best defensive prospects of the decade. He was considered a dominant, playmaking pass rusher. That turned out to be completely true in the NFL.
He won Defensive Rookie of the Year after recording 11.5 sacks in his first season. He followed it up with his initial first-team All-Pro selection, his first of three in his career. He made the Pro Bowl in all but one of his full seasons with the Broncos (he missed all of 2020, then was traded to the Rams in 2021). At the time of his trade in 2021, Miller had 110 sacks in 10 seasons.
However, it was his work in the playoffs that made him a Denver legend. He recorded five sacks in the 2015-16 playoffs, eventually winning Super Bowl MVP and helping Peyton Manning end his career with a championship despite barely having the strength to throw downfield.
Detroit Lions: Dick 'Night Train' Lane
One day, this could very well be Aidan Hutchinson’s award to have, but he still has a long way to go before he beats Dick “Night Train” Lane for the crown. It’s been a minute, but Night Train dominated the league from the secondary.
Lane was like something out of a movie when he was playing. Seriously, it looked like the Detroit Lions went to the future to get a certified interception machine and placed him in the secondary. He was a first-team All-Pro seven times and made the second-team three additional times. There was nobody like him in the league.
He still holds one of the league’s most untouchable records, intercepting 14 passes in a 12-game season, but that was before his time with the Lions. He was still a ball hawk when he got to the Motor City, taking down 5-6 interceptions each year and hitting people so hard they thought they were in Chicago.
Lane got a reputation around the league for taking chances. Some might point those out, but he had such incredible speed that he could make up for any mistakes he made. Also, more times than not, the gamble paid off. That includes his first-ever win with the Lions, where he intercepted a Johnny Unitas pass and took it 80 yards the other way for a touchdown. From then on, he remained a fan favorite in Detroit.
Green Bay Packers: Reggie White
Reggie White to the Green Bay Packers might be the most impactful transaction in the history of the league. He was named in an antitrust lawsuit against the league that opened the door for player-elected free agency. White was able to choose his next adventure, and he chose the once legendary Green Bay Packers, signing a four-year deal worth $17 million. At the time, only John Elway and Dan Marino made more.
The move was transitional in the direction of the Green Bay Packers. Long gone were the days when the Packers were synonymous with success in the league. Bart Starr was long gone, and they were taking a chance with this former Falcons draft pick, Brett Favre. White turned them from fringe contenders to Super Bowl champions.
White joined the Packers in 1993 at 32 years old, he put up 13 sacks. He added two more sacks in the playoffs, a place the Packers hadn’t been since 1982. It seems crazy now, but the '80s and early '90s Packers looked mediocre, and that’s being nice. White truly changed everything in Wisconsin.
White continued to be a superstar throughout his Packers career, making two more first-team All-Pros and winning the 1998 Defensive Player of the Year award after recording 16 sacks as a 38-year-old. However, his best performance with the Packers came in the Super Bowl. During Super Bowl XXXI, White had three sacks, including the sack that ended the game and brought the Lombardi Trophy to where its namesake used to coach.
Houston Texans: JJ Watt
There are only a few “guarantees” on this list. The Houston Texans have had a few really good defensive players in their short history, but there’s only one who has an argument for GOAT status. J.J. Watt is one of the best defensive ends in the history of the league, and he manned the Texans’ defensive line for 10 years.
Watt’s injury history probably takes him out of the conversation currently manned by Reggie White and Bruce Smith, but he probably had the best peak of any player at the position. It sounds insane when you look back, but his career from 2012 to 2015 was unlike anything we’ve seen in recent history.
During that four-year stretch, Watt had 69 sacks. He had more in those four years than Nick Bosa has had in his seven-year career. It’s more than Jadeveon Clowney has in his entire career. Watt won Defensive Player of the Year three times in those four years. Only Lawrence Taylor and Aaron Donald can claim that, and one of those guys isn’t on this list.
If back injuries didn’t slow Watt down right after his peak, he’d easily have the record for most sacks in a career. He was unblockable. He did have a resurgence in his career, sacking quarterbacks 16 times in 2018. A healthy Watt was the best player on the field at all times.
Indianapolis Colts: Dwight Freeney
There were a few really good players in the history of the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts defense. We want to give a shout-out to Bob Sanders, whose health hampered his career numbers but was a true game-changer in the secondary when healthy. Peyton Manning doesn’t get his first Super Bowl without him. He might not get any Colts Super Bowls without Dwight Freeney.
Freeney took no time at all to become a franchise legend. He forced nine fumbles in his rookie year. That obviously led all players that season. He came in second for DROY to Julius Peppers, setting the stage for one of the best defensive draft classes ever (other greats include Ed Reed, Albert Haynesworth, Roy Williams, and Lito Shepperd).
Freeney would only grow his legend from there. He would get his first of three first-team All-Pros when he led the league with 16 sacks in 2004. He made the Pro Bowl seven times in his 11 seasons in Indianapolis, and he was a member of the NFL’s All-Decade team.
We have to give some flowers to Robert Mathis, who was Freeney’s pass-rushing partner at the peak of the Colts' defense. These two combined to penetrate offensive lines. It helped remove double teams from Freeney’s side. Offenses always had to game plan for these two, or they’d be menaces in the backfield every play.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Marcus Stroud
The Jacksonville Jaguars are the one team on this list that has never had a Hall of Famer play on its defense. It just hasn’t worked out that way for this franchise. The Jags have had plenty of great offensive players, but the defensive side never got that superstar player. They’ve been close, with guys like Jalen Ramsey, John Henderson, and Rasheen Mathis all having great seasons, but the peaks were too short in Duval.
We’re choosing Marcus Stroud here. The choice is one of consistency, which is against the grain from others on the list, but it makes sense in this context. No other Jaguars defender did well for as long as Stroud, who played 100 games at defensive tackle in North Florida.
Stroud made three Pro Bowls in his career, but it was his effectiveness against the run that made him a star. He was gigantic, weighing around 300 lbs. during his career.
Stroud combined with Henderson to create the Brick Wall of Duval. It’s one of the best defensive tackle duos in NFL history. They could not be run on, as both were huge and had great ability to get into the backfield. They helped the Jaguars get back on the winning side of things, but unfortunately, when they left, the momentum didn’t last.
Kansas City Chiefs: Derrick Thomas
Derrick Thomas’s story is one of triumph and tragedy. He was insane on the defensive line. He made the Pro Bowl in each of his first nine seasons. In 1990, he recorded 20 sacks on the season. That was thanks in part to a record seven sack game against the Seattle Seahawks. That record still hasn’t been matched.
Thomas finished his career with 126.5 sacks in 11 seasons. At the time, it was the fourth-highest total for a linebacker ever. What might be most impressive is he got on a heater often. He had 27 multi-sack games in his career. On top of that, he had 45 forced fumbles.
He was one of the best pass rushers of the 1990s. He’s still in the top 20 for sacks all time, spending his entire career in Kansas City. He missed the best years of this franchise, but he helped them get back to at least being a playoff contender. After two decades of being a laughingstock, the Chiefs made the postseason every year from 1990 to 1995. This is after missing the postseason for more than 15 years.
Unfortunately, Thomas was killed in a car accident after the 1999 season. He was driving to the airport in the snow when he lost control of his vehicle. It was a great career cut short, leaving a lot of what ifs.
Las Vegas Raiders: Howie Long
When looking at the great Raiders players across their many cities (Los Angeles, Oakland, and now, Las Vegas), the majority of them are on the offense. Weirdly, the best of the best were offensive linemen, like Gene Upshaw, Jim Otto, and Art Shell. However, there were a few defensive stalwarts. Jack Tatum, Charles Woodson, and Willie Brown are definitely in the conversation, but Howie Long is slightly ahead of the pack here.
The Raiders as a franchise aren’t known for stars. Their biggest names were overshadowed by owner Al Davis. Davis was the star, and guys like Howie Long thrived under those conditions.
Known today for his work in broadcasting, Long was a specimen who eventually made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He helped the Raiders take home the Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl XVIII.
Los Angeles Chargers: Junior Seau
Junior Seau was underrated for so long that he became properly rated. Mostly, playing in San Diego for so long didn’t give him all of the attention, but he fit so well into the culture there.
Seau had the San Diego attitude off the field, making him fiercely likable by his peers, the media, and the fanbase. He might have been underrated as a player for parts of his career, but that wasn’t the case with those who knew the league the best. Seau won six straight first-team All-Pros, starting with his second season. He was named first-team All-Pro a total of eight times in his career.
Of his 20 NFL seasons, Seau played for the Chargers for 13 seasons. He lived and breathed football. On the field, Seau was an absolute force. He hit hard and loved the game harder. Calling him a leader by example is giving too much credit to leaders.
Seau finished his Chargers career with 1,478 tackles, 47 sacks, 15 interceptions, 11 forced fumbles and 16 fumble recoveries. He was all over the field and did exactly what his coach needed. We unfortunately lost Seau in 2012 to suicide, three years prior to his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Los Angeles Rams: Deacon Jones
We’ve done a lot of lists here at FanSided. We’ve compared thousands of players and given grades to everything from signings to trades to draft picks to statsheets. There has been no decision from this writer that was harder than Deacon Jones vs. Aaron Donald. These might be the two best defensive players ever. It’s honestly an argument, and they both spent their entire primes with the Rams.
Jones played before sacks were an official NFL statistic, but league historians have tried to go back and recount the sacks. The unofficial numbers say that Jones had 22 sacks in a season. Twice. He also had 21.5 sacks in 1967. That season, he finished second in MVP voting.
Donald was an insane player in his own right. While Jones had a ridiculous five-straight first-team All-Pros, Donald did it seven times in a row and eight times overall. The latter also won Defensive Player of the Year a record three times, but Jones didn’t have a chance since the award didn’t exist until 1971 (his final year with the Rams).
Jones was dominant because he learned how to utilize his speed better than anyone on the field. He straight-up beat so many offensive linemen of his time. And he never got hurt. He missed three games in his entire Rams tenure, and they all came in his final season there.
Miami Dolphins: Jason Taylor
The Miami Dolphins once had a great team, including the only undefeated team in the history of the league, but the greatest defensive player actually came during a time when they didn’t win championships. Jason Taylor was a destructive force on the defensive line.
Taylor came into the league after he was drafted in the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft, but he earned a starting role very quickly. He had five sacks his rookie year despite at one point breaking his forearm. He kept improving, putting up nine sacks in his sophomore campaign before officially breaking out in Year 3 when he had 14.5 sacks.
Taylor spent 13 years in Miami, accumulating 131 sacks during an impressive prime. He even had a league-high 18.5 sacks in 2002, acquiring one of his two first-team All-Pro selections in the process.
He also had a penchant for making big plays on the ball. No player in the history of the league has more fumble recoveries for touchdowns than Taylor, who had six. He also had three interceptions for touchdowns, showcasing how a defender can turn a team around in moments. He was essential in helping the Dolphins transition from the Dan Marino years, moving from an offensive juggernaut to a defensive-minded team.
Minnesota Vikings: Alan Page
When your best defense has possibly the most iconic name in the history of nicknames (the Purple People Eaters), you know there are going to be some absolutely epic performers on that side of the ball. Alan Page was a step above the rest, even so. The defensive tackle is one of the best all-time at the position, securing the one and only league MVP from the center of the defensive line.
Page played 12 seasons for the Vikings, and he made the Pro Bowl nine times. In 1971, he won the Defensive Player of the Year award as well as league MVP, becoming the first defensive player to secure this honor. That season, he recorded nine sacks, forced two safeties, and recovered three fumbles.
Despite being under 250 lbs for most of his career, Page was still impossible to tackle. He finished his career with 148 sacks and 23 fumble recoveries. Forced fumbles didn’t become a statistic until late in his career, so we don’t have an accurate number for his career there, but we assume it’s a lot.
Page even scored three touchdowns in his career, twice by fumble recovery and once thanks to an interception. He had a knack for the gigantic play, doing big things in big moments. This is still one of the best units, but it’s a shame they never got the Super Bowl ring they deserved.
New England Patriots: Ty Law
Ty Law was a quiet defensive leader of the New England Patriots' first dynasty. He wasn’t as popular as Tedy Bruschi or scoring touchdowns like Mike Vrabel. He wasn’t even as loud in his dominance as Richard Seymour or Willie McGinest, but Ty Law was running the show in the secondary for the Patriots, and that was recognized when he made the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Law first burst onto the scene in 1998, his fourth season in the league. He led the NFL with nine interceptions and was named to his first of two first-team All-Pros. He also finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting that season.
In 2001, Law played an important role in getting the Patriots their first Super Bowl victory. During the season, he was an absolute demon in the secondary, intercepting three passes and taking two back for a touchdown. His impact didn’t slow down in the playoffs. He probably could have won Super Bowl XXXVI MVP, as he recorded seven solo tackles and had an interception for touchdown on Kurt Warner as the Patriots upset the Rams.
Law played in three Super Bowls with the Patriots (including one pre-Tom Brady), and he was a big-play maker in those early dynasty years. There might not be a first dynasty if the Patriots don’t build off their first Super Bowl win. Law was catalyst in making that happen.
New Orleans Saints: Cameron Jordan
The New Orleans Saints don’t have the best history in the league. That’s probably an understatement. The Saints might have the worst history, but their Drew Brees-led Super Bowl was the culmination of a turnaround that felt decades in the making. Offensive players were starting to pop up for the team, including the likes of Joe Horn and Deuce McAllister, before others like Jimmy Graham and Marques Colston helped breed a valuable era for the Saints. However, finding great defensive players isn’t easy.
One stands out clearly above the rest. Cameron Jordan is currently playing in his 15th season (2025 season), and he’s the Saints' all-time leader in multiple categories. The franchise’s long-time captain has 126 sacks and 479 solo tackles in his career at the time of this writing. He’s 7.5 sacks away from jumping into the top 20 of all time in QB sacks.
Jordan had a few great seasons, including his All-Pro season in 2017 when he had 13 sacks, 28 QB pressures, and an interception for a touchdown. However, he’s more known as a consistent force on the Saints' defensive line. Even now at his advanced age and on a Saints team that hasn’t been very good, he’s still gaining the attention of opposing offensive lines.
Jordan is going to be one of those players who gets serious attention for the Hall of Fame because his full career numbers warrant it. His importance to the Saints in this era will add to that consideration.
New York Giants: Lawrence Taylor
We talk a lot about players who “might be” considered the best of all time on the defensive side of the ball or even at their position. It’s just like when people say Kobe Bryant and LeBron James “could be” considered the best of all time, but we know Michael Jordan exists. Lawrence Taylor is the Michael Jordan of defensive players.
The New York Giants knew they had one of the great game breakers on that side of the ball for his entire career. It was immediately obvious that Taylor was special. In his rookie season, he had 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and an interception. He earned Defensive Rookie of the Year and his first of six straight first-team All-Pros. He also won Defensive Player of the Year, the only rookie to ever get that honor.
Taylor won Defensive Player of the Year again in his second season, eventually winning the award a record three times. He probably would have won it more if it weren’t for voter fatigue. His best season came in 1986 when he recorded 20.5 sacks and won league MVP. Still, almost 40 years later, he’s the last defensive player to win the top regular-season award in the NFL.
In the playoffs, it was clear that the game plan was to stop Taylor at all costs. He still recorded 8.5 sacks in 15 games. Taylor helped the Giants waltz to the 1986-87 Super Bowl title, where the Giants’ closest postseason game was a 17-0 victory over Washington in the NFC Championship Game. Taylor intercepted Joe Montana and took it back for a touchdown. This caused the 49ers to bench Joe Montana. That’s the impact of Lawrence Taylor.
New York Jets: Darrelle Revis
There are legitimately 10 players for the New York Jets we could put on this list and make it right. The New York Sack Exchange was one of the best collections of players across a defensive line. John Abraham had his day as the Jets' star on the defensive side. This is going to come down to opinion, and in our opinion, we have to give this to Darrelle Revis.
Today, he isn’t given his due for just how dominant he was, but Revis Island was a thing in the 2000s. He dominated every receiver who came his way. He didn’t get a ton of interceptions because teams just didn’t target his side of the field. They knew even attempting Revis’s guy would almost always be a mistake.
And Revis, unlike many other great quarterbacks, would follow the other team’s best receiver. He didn’t play on the “right side” or the ‘left side,” he played on “Randy Moss’s side” or whoever the best receiver of that week was. That’s what made Revis so great. He shut down the other team’s best playmaker on a weekly basis.
It does hurt that Revis’s one championship was with the New England Patriots, but he did return to the Jets for a swan song near the end of his career. He still holds the record for most passes defensed when he tipped away 31 passes in 2009.
Philadelphia Eagles: Reggie White
The only player who even rivals Lawrence Taylor for “best of all time” is Philadelphia Eagles Reggie White. He was incredible on the Packers, but he was unstoppable on the Eagles. In his eight seasons in the City of Brotherly Love, White had 124 sacks. That’s an average of 15.5 sacks per season. Are we sure the crack in the Liberty Bell didn’t come because White just sacked a guy too hard into the Veterans Field dirt?
He was first-team All-Pro in six straight seasons with the Eagles. No Eagles player has ever done that. In 1987, White had possibly the best regular season by any player ever. The season was strike shortened, so it was only 12 games long, but White recorded 21 sacks. If that was a 17 game season, it would be 30 sacks. That would be considered the most untouchable record in the league.
What people don’t talk about enough with White is that he accumulated tackles like a middle linebacker from the defensive end position. Nobody was breaking 100 tackles from the line, but White had 133 in 1988. That’s on top of his 18 sacks. He also had 123 in 1989 and 100 in 1991.
White’s speed and power made him as feared as any player in the league. The fact that White and Taylor had a big part of their primes overlap is insane, and they were playing in the same division! There is still some consternation with Eagles fans about how things ended in Philly, but there’s no denying that White was the best defender in this team’s history.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Joe Greene
The Pittsburgh Steelers are known for grit and smash mouth football. From their inception, they were built on quality defense. Despite having two all-times at quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger and Terry Bradshaw, the defense is where the stars shown in the Steel City. Pittsburgh has 10 defensive players in the Hall of Fame, but “Mean” Joe Greene is the best.
What most people don’t talk about is how bad the Steelers were to start as a franchise. When Greene was drafted first overall, the Steelers had just one playoff appearance in its history. When Greene brought them to the playoffs in 1972, they didn’t miss the postseason for eight consecutive seasons.
Greene won four Super Bowls with the Steelers as the leader of the defense at the defensive tackle position. It was a star-studded roster, which included Mel Blount, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, and Donnie Shell. The talent on this roster was insane, and Greene stood out.
Greene won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 1972 and 1974. He was catalyst in beating the Minnesota Vikings, recovering a fumble and recording an interception in the Steelers’ first of six franchise Super Bowl wins. This might be the best dynasty ever, winning four championships in six seasons, and Greene was driving the bus.
San Francisco 49ers: Ronnie Lott
The San Francisco 49ers delivered championships thanks to the stars on offense; at least that’s the narrative we’re going with. Joe Montana, Steve Young, Roger Craig, and Jerry Rice brought dominance to the Bay Area. However, the defense played a bigger role than given credit for, and Ronnie Lott was key amongst the players in making this a feared defense around the league.
Lott might be the best safety in the history of the league. His best attribute was his ability to hit people into next week. Guys didn’t go down the middle when they knew Lott was coming down like a choo-choo train. He did just about everything right, including going up against run plays and pass plays with the same efficiency.
Lott was on the roster for four Super Bowl championships. He was an eight-time first-team All-Pro. He made both the 1980s and 1990s All-Decade Team. His trophy case is full, and it’s deserved. He got his flowers because nobody in the league could touch how good he was during this era.
During his career, Lott played every position in the secondary. He could play both cornerback positions and both safety positions. That allowed the 49ers to use him as the best possible multi-tool you’ve ever seen. It only added to his lure, where he left the game as one of the best to ever grace the gridiron.
Seattle Seahawks: Cortez Kennedy
There are four players who were stupid good for the Seattle Seahawks in their history. Two played recently and were on their Super Bowl team (Bobby Wagner and Richard Sherman). The other two won Defensive Player of the Year on pretty bad teams, showing they transcended what their teammates were doing. Heck, Cortez Kennedy won DPOY on a two-win team. Sherman might seem out of place here, but people called him overrated so much he is now underrated. Still, we have to make a decision, and as hard as it is to keep the all-time leading franchise tackler off the list in Wagner, we have to go with Kennedy here.
We talk about dominant a lot on here, but there’s a different in being dominant on a team where offenses have multiple top talents to pay attention to. Kennedy was the focal point to stop for offensive lines, and they still couldn’t stop him.
As a defensive tackle, he was still putting up big sack seasons. He won that Defensive Player of the Year award when he had 14 in 1992. Having that from an interior lineman is immensely valuable. It’s one thing for a pass rusher to do his job and crush a quarterback. A guy collapsing the offensive line from the middle impacts the rest of the offensive line.
Kennedy finally got the Seahawks back to the playoffs in 1999. It was the first time in more than a decade, but Kennedy needed 6.5 sacks and two interceptions to help them get there. He finished his career with 58 sacks,
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Warren Sapp
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are another franchise who won its championships based on defense. That 2002-03 Super Bowl championship defense was underrated in just how talented it is. Simeon Rice, John Lynch, Derrick Brooks, and Warren Sapp took MVP Rich Gannon and put him in a blender on the biggest stage possible.
Because of everything else he added to the defense, we’re going with Warren Sapp. One of the largest men you’ll ever see, Sapp was beyond just pure size. His surprising speed and dominant presence in the middle of the defensive line was a difference maker every snap.
It’s why Sapp won the 1999 Defensive Player of the Year. That season, he had 12.5 sacks. Insane. The next season, he was even better with 16.5 sacks. Sapp was a ridiculous player. We’re sorry our analysis isn’t better, but what he did is hard to put into words. He destroyed interior offensive lines.
Sapp was relentless. His motor seemed impossible for a man his size. He was as hard working as anyone in the league at that time, and centers and guards would be feeling their Sapp matchup for weeks.
Tennessee Titans: Jevon Kearse
There were plenty of good players for the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans, but Jevon Kearse is the pretty obvious pick here. The Freak was great off the jump, winning the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1999. That season, he had 14.5 sacks and six forced fumbles.
Kearse made the Pro Bowl in his first three seasons, recording at least 10 sacks in each. He was a first-team All-Pro in his rookie year.
Kearse earned the name “The Freak” based on his ability mixed with his wingspan. He could run a 4.4 40-yard dash, which gave him insane straight-line speed. His 86-inch wingspan made him impossibly hard to stop his swim and rip moves. He got himself some space and dominated offensive tackles.
Unfortunately, Kearse had issues with lower-body injuries towards the end of his first run with the Tennessee Titans. He left for the Philadelphia Eagles, and played well there for four years. He returned to Tennessee to end his career, but lower-body injuries slowed him down. Still, we’ll always remember the peak Freak.
Washington Commanders: Darrell Green
We will get to Darrell Green in a moment, but we want to spend a few moments talking about Sean Taylor. He was incredible during the brief renaissance of the safety position in the 2000s. He was the perfect mix of hard hitting and ball hawking. Quarterbacks were afraid of him because he could destroy their wide receiver, but he could also make an incredible leap for an interception. His game was one every coach would absolutely love. He passed away after a home invasion in 2007. He very likely would have been the name on this list.
Moving towards Green, he helped Washington bring two Super Bowl titles to the Nation’s capital. A track-and-field star in college, Green’s first time touching a football in the NFL, he brought a punt return back 61 yards for a touchdown in a preseason game. His speed made him the perfect player in the secondary. He could track down running backs and wide receivers making big plays across the field, and he could make up for anything that happened in front of him and behind him.
Green’s biggest play might have been his tipped pass in the 1987 NFC Championship Game. With less than a minute left in the game and Washington up by a touchdown, he tipped Minnesota’s pass on fourth-and-goal to force a turnover on downs.
Green’s incredible longevity should also be celebrated. He played his entire 20-year career in Washington, finishing with 54 interceptions and six interceptions for touchdowns. He was still contributing to this team until he was 42 years old. What an insane career for Darrell Green.