bill and tom's excellent adventure
(the only draft that matters)
((to us))
(((part eight)))


day eight: linebacker #2


as we reach the second week of the "only draft that matters to us", our teams will start to feel very bill-ish and very tom-ish, respectively. no better place to start with that than quarterback, and my and chris' philosophical differences will become more and more transparent as we move forward, i am sure.

today, we both take our second linebacker.

in my 3-4, scheme, i want explosion off both ends, because the goal will be to get after system montana on EVERY play, not just passing downs. i don't know that i can think of a better word than "explosive" when my memory serves up pictures to me of the guy that will serve as a bookend to lawrence taylor, the late, great derrick thomas.

widely considered one of the best pass rushers of all-time, thomas' first step is one of legend. if taylor signaled to teams that an athletic left-tackle would be fundamental to the future of the national football league, thomas tested the new world order. there was no secret that dt was coming off the edge and he was coming fast. on the most prolific single day of his career, thomas sacked seattle quarterback dave krieg seven times!

over the course of his hall of fame career, dt, was selected to 9 first or second all-pro teams, as many pro bowls and was named to the 90's all decade team.

chris: With my second linebacker, I am taking the great Jack Ham from the Pittsburgh Steelers. He fits perfectly into my 4-3 scheme and will be my weak side outside linebacker. Often revered as one of the best outside linebackers to play the game, he was a ferocious hitter with great speed, quickness and smarts. Chuck Noll said he was the fastest guy he had ever seen for the first 10 yards. And that was on a team with Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. Many of the players on that Steelers dynasty defense have said that Jack Ham was the leader of that unit, including Jack Lambert and Joe Greene. Joe Paterno who gave the induction speech for Ham at Canton in 1988 said, he was the best player he ever coached! The best linebacker to ever come out of linebacker U is pretty good, but the best player that Joe Pa has ever coached.....that's a guy I want on my team.

8 pro bowls

8 all pro's

all 70's team

75 Anniversary team

HOF - 1988

it's almost too easy to come back at this pick with a "really??? TWO white linebackers???", but i'll admit that your case is a good one.

i've watched too many nfl films documentaries about ham's steelers teams to not know he was a good and tough player. I don't know that speed, per se, ever jumped off the screen when I saw him play, but he was always in the mix at the end of the plays I have in my head right now. all that i really hope for you is that paterno was more aware of his surroundings and his players when ham played for him than he is now. At this point, I would be terribly surprised if jeopa could name ten players on his current squad.

i like where we are getting in the draft, getting to second guys at respective positions. this one's a good example of where we aren't really drafting dt vs. ham, because we are drafting for two different schemes.

i'm glad i got dt. my guess is that you're happy with your pick.