Zach Thomas vs. Brian Urlacher

[Justasportsfan]

Zach has been solid his entire career.Out of all the players the fins have had through the years, I've respected Zach the most. He however has never been as dominant as Urlacher even in his prime. Urlacher can single handedly take over a game on his own without any help. Stats mean nothing in this case. It doesn't paint an entire picutre. While Zach may have better stats, it's also due to the fact that offenses stay away from Urlacher while teams don't have problems running at Zach because of his lack of size.

 

[DoggPhin]

Looking at the stats, one big difference between these guys over the past 5 years in Zach's favor is Assists - whereas Urlacher has more QB sacks. They both make a boatload of plays. This tells me Zach Thomas is more of a pure LB who makes his entire team better - always swarming to the ball and gang tackling. That's what NFL Team Defense is all about. Urlacher is out there looking to make individual plays and he gets alot of press for that.

 

[jbond]

Zach has been solid his entire career.Out of all the players the fins have had through the years, I've respected Zach the most. He however has never been as dominant as Urlacher even in his prime. Urlacher can single handedly take over a game on his own without any help. Stats mean nothing in this case. It doesn't paint an entire picutre. While Zach may have better stats, it's also due to the fact that offenses stay away from Urlacher while teams don't have problems running at Zach because of his lack of size.

come on justa....teams have no problems running at Zach? How many times does Zach whiff on blocks, get run over, dragged around like a doll? Not very often. Zach stops them dead in their tracks most of the time. Even then, we've had one of the best run defenses time and time again over the decade Zach was playing, with Timbo and Chester up front and Zach plugging the holes. There was a reason for that and Zach was a LARGE part of that reason. Everyone used Zach's size against him and said he'd never make it in the NFL....he proved them all wrong and became a multi-probowl LB....then they said he couldn't play in a 3-4 because of his size....proved them all wrong again. I'm tired of hearing people continually bring up his size as a negative when he has proven over a decade in the NFL that his size is more then adequte for being an execptionally talented LB and he's been a part of some of the most consistently talented defense in the league during that time. If we didn't have so many pro bowlers on Defense over the last decade I bet people would give Zach more props. It's always easier to find the single shining light amongst the darkness.

 

[jbond]

Looking at the stats, one big difference between these guys over the past 5 years in Zach's favor is Assists - whereas Urlacher has more QB sacks. They both make a boatload of plays. This tells me Zach Thomas is more of a pure LB who makes his entire team better - always swarming to the ball and gang tackling. That's what NFL Team Defense is all about. Urlacher is out there looking to make individual plays and he gets alot of press for that.

Our defense also didn't call for as many blitzes historically....until Saban got here. One of the reasons a lot of the vets like the changeup and it allows them to make more plays as a whole, hence our sack total last year almost beat the franchise record.

 

[NawlinsBucFan]

I was told not to do this because even everyone on this website would surely think Urlacher was the better player!!:eek:

Is that a joke? Because every thread like this sure seems to be.

"Who would you rather have? *insert_Fins_player_here* or *insert_league_leader_here*?"

Then sit back and watch as 15 pages of DolFans proclaim why the fins player is better. So why not state once and for all, all the players that DolFans believe are the best?


According To Fin Fans:
Ronnie Brown > LT
Chris Chambers > Marvin Harrison
Zack Thomas > Ray Lewis
Channing Crowder > brian Urlacher
Marty Booker > Chad Johnson
Wes Welker > Steve Smith
Jason Taylor > Michael Strahan, Simeon Rice, Julius Peppers, et al.
Ricky Williams > Shaun Alexander
Rex Hadnot > Jeff Saturday
Leno James > Steve Hutchinson
Yeremiah Bell > Troy Polomalu

Did I forget any? :rolleyes2

 

[NawlinsBucFan]

Oh yeah.....

Randy McMichael > Antonio Gates, Alge Crumpler, Tony Gonzales.

 

[Stitches]

Is that a joke? Because every thread like this sure seems to be.

"Who would you rather have? *insert_Fins_player_here* or *insert_league_leader_here*?"

Then sit back and watch as 15 pages of DolFans proclaim why the fins player is better. So why not state once and for all, all the players that DolFans believe are the best?


According To Fin Fans:
Ronnie Brown > LT
Chris Chambers > Marvin Harrison
Zack Thomas > Ray Lewis
Channing Crowder > brian Urlacher
Marty Booker > Chad Johnson
Wes Welker > Steve Smith
Jason Taylor > Michael Strahan, Simeon Rice, Julius Peppers, et al.
Ricky Williams > Shaun Alexander
Rex Hadnot > Jeff Saturday
Leno James > Steve Hutchinson
Yeremiah Bell > Troy Polomalu

Did I forget any? :rolleyes2

Only ones I'd say even worth discussing are Ray Lewis compare to Zach, and Jason Taylor vs those DEs you listed. It's not even close with the others. I would be fine comparing LTs first 2 seasons to Ronnie 1st two seasons, but I wouldn't say Ronnie is a better player by any means. Had Ricky not retired abruptly, him being better than Shaun Alexander might warrant discussion, but not at this point anymore.

 

[thecoordinator]

what a bunch of homers...

 

[Bandit]

:sidelol: I don't use smilies often, but there's no better way to describe this thread. This is the LB version of "Who's the better QB, Brady or Culpepper?"

Yeah, right.

Zach is old and slow and on the wrong side of his career.

Urlacher is young and fast and in his prime.

Who would you rather have? Yeah, I'll take the old, slow guy who's well past his prime over the young, fast guy every day including Sunday. "No homerism"! Uh-hun! :sidelol:

 

[Bandit]

Is that a joke? Because every thread like this sure seems to be.

"Who would you rather have? *insert_Fins_player_here* or *insert_league_leader_here*?"

Then sit back and watch as 15 pages of DolFans proclaim why the fins player is better. So why not state once and for all, all the players that DolFans believe are the best?


According To Fin Fans:
Ronnie Brown > LT
Chris Chambers > Marvin Harrison
Zack Thomas > Ray Lewis
Channing Crowder > brian Urlacher
Marty Booker > Chad Johnson
Wes Welker > Steve Smith
Jason Taylor > Michael Strahan, Simeon Rice, Julius Peppers, et al.
Ricky Williams > Shaun Alexander
Rex Hadnot > Jeff Saturday
Leno James > Steve Hutchinson
Yeremiah Bell > Troy Polomalu

Did I forget any? :rolleyes2

Yeah, you forgot the big one: Culpepper > Brady. That thing went on for more than a 1000 posts before Cpep actually played!

 

[Stitches]

:sidelol: I don't use smilies often, but there's no better way to describe this thread. This is the LB version of "Who's the better QB, Brady or Culpepper?"

Yeah, right.

Zach is old and slow and on the wrong side of his career.

Urlacher is young and fast and in his prime.

Who would you rather have? Yeah, I'll take the old, slow guy who's well past his prime over the young, fast guy every day including Sunday. "No homerism"! Uh-hun! :sidelol:

For the record I think Brady is a better QB, but Culpepper has better physical attributes.

 

[NawlinsBucFan]

Yeah, you forgot the big one: Culpepper > Brady. That thing went on for more than a 1000 posts before Cpep actually played!

Geez, how could I forget THAT one! :shakeno:

 

[Dtronic]

It's two different questions. ZT has been the better overall player thruoughout their respective careers, but I would rather have the younger Urlacher now and going forward.

Yep.

 

[Roman529]

I don't think you can compare the two....it is like comparing apples and oranges...they play in different systems. You could put Uralcher on the Phins, and he would not get anymore tackles than Zach,,,,but you can't just look at the stats. Yes, Urlacher had a big game against the Cardinals, but who hasn't had a big game against the Cardinals???? The Tampa homers who think we feel all of our players (insert name ___) are better than other all-pros are total hypocrites....I always laugh at how they say Caddy is better Ronnie Brown, when he clearly isnt. Most fans are going to feel the guys they watch every week are the best.....doesn't always make it so.

 

[CChambers7284]

zach is small, slow and not alot of talent compared to urlacher but year in year out we see this guy play his heart out and makes more plays for us than any MLB on anyteam.