Greatest MLB 3B/Greatest NFL Defensive Players Ever

I see 2 NFL defenders not listed that were so dominant that the NFL had to change the rules ......

Dick Nightrain Lane and Mel Blount

I can name 5-6 better..imo... linebackers then Singletary

Sam Mills
Willie Lanier
Junior Seau
Derrik Thomas
Ted Hendricks

to name a few

I also do not see Bob Lilly

Can't forget about Randy (The Manster) White

he has been mentioned...

honestly...he had some great seasons...but he was the 3rd 4th 5th? best D lineman the Cowboys have had

Lilly
Ed Jones
Demarcus ware
Charles Haley....


White

So hard to rate older players like Sam Huff or Bubba Smith vs. current players. And you have corners like Darrell Green or Deion Sanders whose stats would never match up because people just didn't throw their way.

Excellent choices so far. I think we can all see that there were a lot more than 10 defensive greats in NFL history. As to some of the names mentioned, I can say that Thomas, Nitschke, and Lane would have definitely made my top 20. I'm a particularly huge Derrick Thomas fan.

As to some of the others mentioned, Bednark was obviously a great big linebacker of his earlier era. However, for the same reason I moved Nitschke (and even Butkus) down the list, I didn't include Bednark because he didn't go against the physical OL specimens or chase the speedy RBs and WRs that Lambert, Ham, Taylor, and Lewis did.

As to Mills, I loved him in both the USFL and NFL. He really was a similar small, wicked smart ILB to Singletary. I chose Singletary, however, for his manning those winning Chicago defenses and his extra mean intensity. As you can see, I have completely forgiven him for the farcically terrible job he did coaching my 49'ers...

I must admit I did not look at Beltre's career stats. No way I would have guessed he has been in the league 16 years with 395 HR's. Pretty impressive.

Didn't Beltre start out in US pro baseball at age 10 or something?

he has been mentioned...

honestly...he had some great seasons...but he was the 3rd 4th 5th? best D lineman the Cowboys have had

Lilly
Ed Jones
Demarcus ware
Charles Haley....


White

Ok, forgot about Lilly, but as for Haley, He wasn't there long enough to be considered one of the greatest Cowboy d-line man, he only played for them for 5 years, he was a Niner for 8 years, and while I believe he is a hall of famer for his entire body of work I do not believe he belongs in a list of greats for the Cowboys because he wasn't there long enough. ' Course I'm also biased and still believe if he's not traded the Niners have at least one more SB trophy and the Cowboys one less.


So I'd rank em

Lilly
White
Too Tall Jones
Ware

Haley not on the list

Haley was definitely a 49er who also played for the Cowboys and deserves HOF induction. Patrick Willis, though, has surpassed him as the greatest LB in 49er history, although he plays ILB. He's not as big, and probably not as smart, as Haley was. However, he's faster, more intimidating, and more versatile in pass/run coverage than Haley was.

As to the Cowboys, I'd go with Lilly as their' best DT ever, but Demarcus Ware as Dallas' best DE and DL ever. They were both dominant players, but Ware is more physically gifted and terrorizing...although Lilly was no kitten.

A DL who almost made my top ten over Deacon Jones, and is unfairly forgotten by most today, is Alan Page. He was the leader of the Vikings' Purple People Eaters' defense in the 70's, and was a ferocious pass rusher who was also strong against the run. I think people forget him because he was a quiet gentleman on and off the field--he's now a Superior Court Judge--and NFL fans mostly lionize Defensive badasses like Ray Lewis or Brian Urlacher.

Willis...another MLB that is superior to Singletary

greatest 3B by WAR

First of all, the all-time leader in career WAR for guys who have played over 1000 games at 3B is A-Rod - he has 1189 games at 3rd and 1256 at SS, and 116 WAR.

Ignoring him, we have:

Schmidt - 106.5
Mathews - 96.4
Boggs - 91.1
Brett - 88.4
Chipper - 85
B Robby - 78.3
Beltre - 77.8 (I suspect he has passed Brooks since I don't think 2014 is included in this list.)
Molitor - 75.4 (He had nearly twice as many G at 3B as at any other position.)
Santo - 70.4
Rolen - 70

That's the top 10. Honorable mention to:

Nettles - 68
Buddy Bell - 66.1
Frank (Home Run) Baker - 62.8
Ken Boyer - 62.8

Matt Williams clocked in at 46.4. Not on the radar for the top 10.