best Rams all time: guards, ILBs

Got this from a good list of the top 140 ILBs in NFL history. This is both 4/3 MLBs and 3/4 ILBs. There are 9 Rams on the list. I included Wagner from his one year with the Rams. In fact a repeat theme with Rams ILBs is how they brought some in like Wagner and Conlan for short stints, but also let a lot of their own guys go, like Fletcher and Reynolds.

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from: https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/2018/12/top-mlbilber-of-all-time.html

13. Bobby Wagner

A very good athlete, with speed and a sure tackle. He will likely be a First-team All-Pro in 2018, his fourth selection in seven seasons (and five Pro Bowls in seven seasons). He was a key player in the Seahawk’s “Legion of Boom” although the secondary got most of the glory.

Wagner has 968 tackles, 42.5 are stuffs, 16.5 sacks, 4 defensive touchdowns, 16.5 sacks, and 9 picks. In time he will move up this list if he stays are his current level of play.

24. Les Richter

Richter was First-team All-Pro in 1955 and 1956 and Second-team All-Pro from 1957-60 and went to eight Pro Bowls in nine years. However, it seems some of his Pro Bowls may have been because he was a versatile player, one who could kick and snap. And since the Pro Bowl is a flesh-and-blood game, not on paper, coaches made sure they had guys who could fill all positions.

He did pick off 16 passes and recovered 12 fumbles but many don’t think he was quite as good as the elite MLBers of his era even though he was voted to the Hall of Fame. However, it should be noted that he played both ways, sometimes he’d play the first half of a game at center than the second half as a middle linebacker. Chuck Bednarik is more celebrated for that, but Richter did it, too.

Troup on Richter: “One of the few overrated Hall of Famers ever. I have studied a ton of Ram film and he sure had some strengths: 1) he played consistently hard all the time even on some poor Ram defenses. 2) outstanding open-field tackler, due to superb speed for a big man, and with that speed—rock-solid on pass defense. His drawbacks: for a big man did not fill the hole quick enough (lacked instincts) and was not near the hitter that others were. He was very poor on scrape, and at times “piled on” even more than Huff did. At the very end of his career, he was moved to center almost exclusively, and he actually played well there—maybe should have been his position all along.”

28. London Fletcher

Fletcher will be an interesting case when he becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame. He was never voted to a Pro Bowl, though he was an 11-time alternate and since so many players get hurt or beg out of the game, Fletcher played in four Pro Bowls as a replacement. Twice he was a Second-team All-Pro (2011-12) and he did get some minor honors in his career. Here are a couple of examples—in 1999 Peter King chose Fletcher as his All-Pro MLBer and in 2006 ESPN’s named him to their All-Pro team.

Fletcher played 16 seasons and totaled 2,031 tackles, 80 of which were stuffs. He had 39 sacks and 23 interceptions to go with 20 forced fumbles and 12 recoveries. He scored two safeties and 2 defensive touchdowns.

So, his stats or ‘numbers’ seem to meet Hall of Fame standards as does his Super Bowl ring, but he does lack the type of honors that most Hall of Famer LBer have on their ‘resume’.

32. Jack Reynolds

Hacksaw was a two-down linebacker, for the most part, and was a good one. Hall of Fame executive Ron Wolf named him as one of the best 10 MLBers ever in a Sporting News article in the late-1990s. Reynolds solidified a 49er defense that won two Super Bowl rings in 1981 and 1984, but he made his bones as the Rams MLBer for most of the 1970s where he was a Pro Bowler in 1975 and 1980 (and All-NFC in 1979) along with his Second-team All-NFC selection with the 49ers in 1981.

Reynolds was like a computer on the field for the Rams defense that was first in the NFL from 1970-80 in allowing the fewest rushing yards, fewest total yards, fewest points allowed and sacked the quarterback the most times.

He totaled 1,191 tackles and recovered 14 fumbles. As someone who was not on the field much on third down, he had just 6 picks and 4½ sacks in his career, but his forte was run-stopping and at that, he was among the best.

48. Jim Collins

A neck injury slowed and eventually ended Collins’ career but from 1983-85 he was more than solid, he was an excellent three-down linebacker. Good in coverage, could dog fairly well, and was good hitter and great instincts, a poor man’s Randy Gradishar in the 3-4.

51. Shane Conlan

Smart, tough leader of the early 1990s Bills defenses. However, more of a two-down linebacker than one who’d do really well in coverage.

91. Fred Strickland

Played for several teams, most of them as a traditional middle linebacker who had a good combination of size and speed. With the Rams, from 1988-92 he was a “joker” type defensive player. He was a moving piece in Fritz Shurmur’s defenses playing inside linebacker in base defense and nose tackle in the Eagle defense and defensive tackle in nickel. Later, in 1991, with Jeff Fisher’s defense, he’d play some base defensive end, some outside linebacker—a poor man’s Karl Mecklenburg.

99. Carl Ekern

Ekern began his career with the Rams in specialty roles, short yardage and some nickel defenses. Became the starter in 1981 and fought through some injuries. As a replacement for Jack Reynolds he was good, but never to the level of Reynolds, even though he had more height and speed—similar to what happened with Scott Studwell and Jeff Sieman in Minnesota. Sometimes the more talented player in terms of size or speed is not the better player.

106. James Laurinaitis

Laurinaitis was an okay tackler, not great, but was another of the “computer on the field”-type MLBers. He played on some sorry teams but was always on the field, even in dime, he was the lone linebacker. He knew the defenses inside and out and he had to play under two styles with the Rams. He was better in coverage than most, which is why he could be on the field in dime, he could dog okay, but in some ways was like Urlacher and didn’t get off blocks well, even though he had good size and strength.