The Greatest Falcons DL of All Time

by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 12:06 AM EDT

No vote this time, just me telling you what to think. Why? Only two readers (and the mighty Dave) made any noms. My fellow English majoring pal zooker had some sagely advice:

why don’t we dispense with the nominations and go with Orange3B’s and gritzblitz’s…sounds about right to me

So that's what I did. I looked up their nominations' stats and, based on sack numbers alone, came up with my own list; my logic stems from my belief that a good DL makes the opposing quarterback fear for his life on every down. If you guys don't like it, let me know in the poll and your comments. Maybe you can convince me to have a vote after all. As for Claude Humphrey's sack numbers, I pulled them from the Hall of Fame website. Turns out Humphrey was a finalist once again on the ballot this year and if he isn't put in next year, I may just have to drive to Canton and knock some heads.

Pos	Number	Player	Career Sacks
DE	97	Patrick Kerney	58
DT	98	Travis Hall	42
DT	75	Rod Coleman	30
DE	87	Claude Humphrey	122
		Total Sks	252

Poll

Agree with the DL I picked?

Yup! :-D

148 votes

Nope! :-(

48 votes

Who cares? Let's start debating linebacker candidates!

28 votes

224 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 22 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

what about

Chuck Smith? Was he not on the team long enough?

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jul 30, 2009 8:01 AM EDT reply actions

Kerney won out on ATL sacks.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 8:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Hmm

Okay then. was going off my memory which inst very good these days.

Life is a garden. Dig it!

by Hardcore Falcon on Jul 30, 2009 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Chuch Smith >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Patrick Kerney

I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.

Elayne Boosler

by NaGaNole on Jul 30, 2009 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Chuck*

I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I only lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.

Elayne Boosler

by NaGaNole on Jul 30, 2009 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Actually,

I see Kerney with 58.0 and Chuck Smith with 58.5 – do you have different sack numbers? (I still say Kerney was better, though)…

by orang3b on Jul 30, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions

ATL sacks. Kerney has 58. Smith has 40-something with the birds.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Well it is 58.5 for Mr. Smith. My addled brain attributed 10 to his CAR year.

But still, Kerney is the man.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

If we including DEs than why not John Abraham?

by Jon Cushman on Jul 30, 2009 8:03 AM EDT reply actions

John Abraham hasn't been on the team long enough.

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by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 8:20 AM EDT up reply actions

The irony of this list is that we haven’t really had many HOF players. And that many of Atlanta’s all time best in the future will come from the current roster.

So what’s the min time? 4 years? The Andre Rison rule?

by Jon Cushman on Jul 30, 2009 8:37 AM EDT reply actions

Four years is the default, longer for positions with lots of attrition.

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by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions

SHORTER* for positions with lots of attrition

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by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 9:05 AM EDT up reply actions

i feel so darn special!!!

by gritzblitz on Jul 30, 2009 10:10 AM EDT reply actions

Thoughts

One problem using Sacks as the determining factor is that they weren’t an official stat until 1982, so the numbers for guys before that may not be reliable.

DE: Humphrey is about as big a no-brainer as the Falcons have, so no problem there. The other spot is debatable to me, and it comes down to three – John Zook, Patrick Kerney, and Chuck Smith. To me, Smith is clearly low man on the totem pole (he never went to a single Pro Bowl), so I’ll throw him out. If you trust Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value (AV) system (I’m not sure I do yet), John Zook had 59 AV (in 7 seasons) to Kerney’s 55 AV (in 8 seasons). The one thing Kerney has on him is 2 Pro Bowl appearances (1 for Zook), plus 1 First Team All-Pro (to zero). I’d like to hear what some of the fans that were around in the early 70’s had to say about Zook, but by the numbers, it looks like it’s at least close enough for a vote.

One other player worth mentioning: Rick Bryan – he doesn’t seem like anything too special (never went to a Pro Bowl), but he stuck around for 9 years in ATL. He also had two years listed primarily as a DT, so 1) that could hurt his sack totals, as he only had 29.0 and 2) if we were really putting a team together, he would be a valuable back-up that could help out in two spots…

DT: There looks to be only 3 serious candidates here – Rod Coleman, Travis Hall, and Tony Casillas. I think this position is worth a vote, too. Hall was never great (no Pro Bowls), but he was good in ATL for a long time (10 years). Coleman was only here for 4 years, but he has great sack numbers, and (to my knowledge) he is the only Falcon DT to ever go to a Pro Bowl. Casillas was more of a Nose Tackle type, so he has only 8.0 sacks, but P-F-R has him at 32 AV in his 5 years (right on par with Coleman’s 27 AV in 4 years). It’s close enough for me that I don’t know which 2 of the 3 I’d pick if you do decide to put it up for a vote.

by orang3b on Jul 30, 2009 10:45 AM EDT reply actions

DT is very debatable but is also one of the team's weakest spots in the long term.

I preferred Hall’s numbers. I really don’t use the AV system currently. I just don’t think it adds up just right. Give it another year or so and it may be a better valuation system.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 11:26 AM EDT up reply actions

I would agree with everything

Except Kerney. As much as I love the guy, I think Chuck Smith was the better end. It’s close enough that I don’t think it would shatter the world if we kept it as is, though.

by Dave Choate on Jul 30, 2009 11:37 AM EDT reply actions

I'm leaning towards a vote between the two, since they are almost neck and neck

in most categories. I still have a sort of grr spot for Kerney since he abandoned the team right before the bottom fell out…which is hilarious now that I think back on it.

Imagine if Kerney was still a Falcon. he’d be kinda where he wanted to be back in 2007: on a team primed for the big stage. Are the Seahawks gonna make it anywhere near the SB in the next few years? I’m not so sure.

You have opinions. Share them.

by Adam Schultz on Jul 30, 2009 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions