All time defensive line

#27
#27
OneManGang said:
John Henderson, Doug Atkins, Lee Otis Burton, Reggie White.

Bonus: Jimmy Noonan at NG.

For you whippersnappers, I once saw Lee Otis Burton chase down a tailback who was running in the open field. He contracted some serious illness and never played his Jr and Sr years. Absolutely the best I've ever seen and I was around during the Reggie years.

Majors had put out a call one year for deep snappers and I was seriously considering it. Then I saw Noonan put FIVE opposing centers out during ONE game. I stuck with History.
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Lee Otis was as athletic as any defensive lineman we have ever had. I was a shame that his illness took his football future away from him. He was big strong and very fast. He could run down the fastest running backs that played during his day. Another Georgia player who was outstanding. I remember he would show up at some of the Big Orange Club meetings in Atlanta. If he had stayed healthy, he would have been a three time All American.
 
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#31
#31
HuntlandVolinColo said:
Reggie White, John Henderson, Albert Haynesworth, Derek Barnett

2nd Team: Will Overstreet, Shaun Ellis, Doug Atkins, Little (DE/LB)

You could throw Malik Jackson in if you include his NFL success but he wasn't a standout at UT.
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How you guys continue to forget that Bob Suffridge is the greatest lineman to have ever played at Tennessee? If you don’t know anything just look him up in any football history book. He was a 3 time All American at Tennessee and all pro in what is now the NFL.
 
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#33
#33
VOLINVONORE said:
How you guys continue to forget that Bob Suffridge is the greatest lineman to have ever played at Tennessee? If you don’t know anything just look him up in any football history book. He was a 3 time All American at Tennessee and all pro in what is now the NFL.
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Im sorry no one is putting a 190 lb lineman in as one of the greatest now. He was great for his era.
 
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#34
#34
Any list without Dick Huffman on it should be disqualified immediately.

Huffman
Atkins
White

The first 3 were no brainers, the 4th spot is just unbelievably difficult to choose though. Could go to any of these ...

Suffridge
Barnett
Ellis
Henderson
Kelly
Mims
Smith
Haynesworth
Hobby
and probably a couple more
 
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#36
#36
k-town_king said:
Im sorry no one is putting a 190 lb lineman in as one of the greatest now. He was great for his era.
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It doesn’t say greatest now. Your approach would be like saying Babe Ruth should not be included in a list of the best ever baseball players.
 
#37
#37
There is one other deserving candidate that has floated under the radar screen, due in part to the period during which he played and the comparatively weak Tennessee teams that he played on. Nevertheless, the facts indicate that Steve DeLong had a sterling career at Tennessee. “As a sophomore, DeLong earned the first of three SEC Coaches Best Defensive Lineman Awards. His junior year at Tennessee, he received All-SEC and All-America honors.

The 1964 season was DeLong's best. He repeated as All-SEC and All-America his senior year as captain of the team and his work in the trenches led to winning the Outland Trophy as the nation's most outstanding interior lineman. DeLong also was named SEC Lineman of the Year by the Atlanta Touchdown Club and the Nation's Outstanding Lineman by the Columbus Touchdown Club, Birmingham Touchdown Club and Look magazine. Along the way, he finished eighth on the Heisman ballot. The lineman went on to be named MVP of the Senior Bowl.

His feats were even more magnified considering Tennessee's 5-5 record in 1963 and 4-5-1 mark in 1964, Doug Dickey's first year as coach of the Volunteers. In three years on the varsity level, DeLong played under three head coaches -- Bowden Wyatt, Jim McDonald and Dickey” (Steve DeLong - University of Tennessee Athletics ).
 
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#39
#39
JOEY'S ALL VOL !!! said:
List wasn't tied to right now modern era, it was best ever.
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When compared to 6'7 300lb guys who may be even faster he isn't one of the best. He was great against other small, slow players.

He is one of the greatest, not one of the best though.

I guess it comes down to best vs greatest and which one you want to use for the list.
 
#40
#40
OneManGang said:
John Henderson, Doug Atkins, Lee Otis Burton, Reggie White.

Bonus: Jimmy Noonan at NG.

For you whippersnappers, I once saw Lee Otis Burton chase down a tailback who was running in the open field. He contracted some serious illness and never played his Jr and Sr years. Absolutely the best I've ever seen and I was around during the Reggie years.

Majors had put out a call one year for deep snappers and I was seriously considering it. Then I saw Noonan put FIVE opposing centers out during ONE game. I stuck with History.
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"Get those hands up, Lee Otis!"
Not knocking him, just fond memories of Majors at his best. 🙂
 
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#41
#41
As mentioned everyone is forgetting Ken Delong and as far as suffridge you gotta compare the era they played in”if Suffridge had played in the era and work out and done the training they do today he would be a beast!!!!
Reggie White
Doug Atkins
Steve Delong
Bob Suffridge
Next up
Big John Henderson
 
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#42
#42
Atkins, Haynesworth, Henderson and White.

Barnett could play linebacker with Wilson and Kiner.

Secondary would consist of Berry, Grant, Priest and Chris White.

That is my all time Tennessee defense.

Thoughts?
 
#43
#43
Ken was Steve DeLong’s younger brother. A “two-time, All-SEC selection” in his own right, Ken played tight end from 1967-69.

If we were talking about great linebackers at Tennessee, we cannot omit Steve’s son, Keith, from discussion. “Despite the Vols finishing 5-6 in 1988, DeLong earned All-America status [as a senior] and was a finalist for the Butkus Award given annually to the nation's best collegiate linebacker. Against Alabama, he earned SEC Player of the Week, collecting 19 tackles, four assists, a pass deflection and an interception in what was [then] dubbed the second-best, single-game performance in Tennessee history. [In 1987-88, Keith led the Vols in tackles, recording] 159 as a senior and 125 as a junior.” See Football.

Coach Dickey had this to say about Steve DeLong: “He was a great player on a very average team. To have won that award (Outland) was an unusual accomplishment, but he was truly deserving of it. It was the first national award won by a Tennessee player." Incidentally, “Steve and Keith are the only father-son All-America combination in Tennessee history, and both were selected by fan vote to the school's "100 Years All-Time Team" in 1991” (Steve DeLong dies at 67).

Like the Majors and Colquitt families, the DeLong lineage had great genetics for Big Orange football.
 
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#45
#45
Biopsyman said:
Which was a horrible mistake... why move an All american DE to LB .. stupid
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As I recall he was considered by some to be a little small for a DE in the NFL and was thought to have more of a future at linebacker at the next level, so they moved him. I never agreed with it myself, but they never did bother to ask me.
 
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#46
#46
Ethan Hooper said:
We may have produced more great defensive linemen than any other position throughout the years. It's hard to pick four, but who would make up your line. I've got Atkins and Barnett at end and White and Henderson at tackle.
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You got it correct. The 4 best we have ever had and two of those were the best NFL has ever had
 
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#48
#48
I remember going to a game as a kid and watching Haynesworth and Henderson play together. On that day, much to my surprise, I recall commenting to my dad that the other DT looked like he was better than Henderson. This was the year Henderson was on the watchlist I think. Vs Arkansas or Memphis. I can't remember. Not saying that Haynesworth was better, but man what a wealth of riches. If Albert Haynesworth is considered your second best DL...
 
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#49
#49
Remember Pearl Cohn playing Henderson some at tight end? That was the first time I saw him play, was where Pearl Cohn would call these “run to the end zone and be a foot taller than everyone in the secondary” plays and basically no one could cover him. He was absurd in high school.
 
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#50
#50
sport3500 said:
Atkins, Haynesworth, Henderson and White.

Barnett could play linebacker with Wilson and Kiner.

Secondary would consist of Berry, Grant, Priest and Chris White.

That is my all time Tennessee defense.

Thoughts?
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Roland James was better than all four of your dbs. Terry McDaniel was better than three of them. Bobby Majors and Eddie Brown better than two of them. Chris White not really an all time great. Had one special year with interceptions. That's about it for him.
 
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