My top 10 pass rushers of all time

I know we're barely three days into the NBA Playoffs, but all the talk about this weekend's NFL Draft forced me to visit Youtube to scratch my football itch. Considering that I'm a defensive lineman myself and the game has increasingly become more about pressuring the quarterback, I put together my own list of who I think are the top 10 pass rushers of all time.

1) Lawrence Taylor- 132.5 sacks (had 9.5 in 1981, but the league didn't count sacks as a stat until 1982)

- "LT" was an unforgiving combination of strength, athleticism and relentless aggression the league had not yet seen. Taylor changed the way offensive football was played and now every team that runs the 3-4 defense wants to find the second coming of him to put at outside linebacker. Simply put, he is arguably the best defensive player of all time and is undoubtedly the most disruptive defender in NFL history.

"We had to try in some way have a special game plan just for Lawrence Taylor. Now you didn't do that very often in this league but I think he's the one person that we learned the lesson the hard way. We lost ball games"

- Joe Gibbs, former Redskins Head Coach

*Now the list gets interesting. The rest of these guys can probably be put into any order, but this is the way I see it.

2) Derrick Thomas- 126.5 sacks

- "DT", along with Taylor, probably had the best first step of all time coming off the edge. He had an NFL record seven sacks in a game against the Seahawks in 1990 and would have bested that in a game against the Raiders a few years later had defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham not called off the dogs early in the 4th qtr. Probably the first guy I saw turn that little shoulder dip to run underneath offensive tackles or what is now known as "riding the rail" into a science.

3) Reggie White- 198 sacks

- "The Minister of defense" used freakish upper body strength to throw around opposing lineman as if they were grocery bags at your local Wal-Mart. White once tossed Cowboys behemoth/human bulldozer Larry Allen to the side with one arm during one of those memorable games between the Cowboys and Packers in the mid 90's. White was every bit of 310, yet he was more athletic than people give him credit for. Raised all kinds of hell for offenses while he was a member of those devastating Eagles defensive units coordinated by defensive wizard Buddy Ryan. Probably the most complete defensive end of all time.

"Reggie was a man among boys. Reggie White was more like a dump truck with turbo chargers on it! There was nothing you could do to stop what he was doing. "

- Philadelphia Eagles DE Hugh Douglass

4) Bruce Smith- 200 sacks

- Played most of his career as a 3-4 defensive end. (Not the most optimum position for an elite pass rusher) One of the cornerstones of those Buffalo teams in the early 90's that went to four consecutive Super Bowls.

5) Kevin Greene- 160 sacks

- The guy doesn't get the respect he deserves. Epitomizes what it means to "play with your hair on fire". A guy with not necessarily blessed with all the physical tools, but he had a non stop motor and a high football IQ.

6) Michael Strahan- 141.5 sacks

- Right next to Reggie White as arguably the most complete defensive end of all time. Holds the record for most sacks in a season (22.5 in 2001) and just like Bruce Smith, he continued to produced as at a high level in his later years. Strahan played most of, if not all of his career at the left defensive end position where he usually had to deal with tight ends chip blocking him before he even got to the offensive tackles.

7) Warren Sapp- 96.5 sacks

-Just like teams that run the 3-4 defense look for clones of Lawrence Taylor, teams that run the famed "Tampa 2" defense are looking for the next Sapp to play the "3 technique" defensive tackle. Sapp was probably the most disruptive defensive tackle of his time and single handedly changed the requirements teams look for when drafting pass rushing defensive tackles.

8) Charles Haley- 100.5 sacks

- He should be in the Hall of Fame. Say what you want about his unstable mindset, the guy was a winner (the only player with 5 Super Bowl Rings) and could flat out rush the quarterback. He's probably the only guy to physically threaten Jerry Jones and get what he wanted immediately. (A new contract for Emmitt Smith who was holding out at the beginning of the '93 season for the eventual champion Dallas Cowboys) During his time with the 49ers he threatened to kick Steve Young's ass after a loss.

9) John Randle- 137.5 sacks

-One of my personal favorites. He would get mentioned more if it wasn't for Sapp and the fact that he played on Minnesota teams that mostly never lived up to their potential. Another one of those "undersized" defensive tackles who used his cat like quickness and non stop motor to routinely abuse lineman who had him by several inches and multiple pounds. Had 15.5 sacks in 1997 playing defensive tackle! Hard to find a more entertaining player with a microphone on him.

10) Pat Swilling- 107.5 sacks

- It's a shame the Saints could never win a playoff game while Swilling was coupling his speed with the astro turf in the Superdome to terrorize opposing quarterbacks. One of the linchpins of the "Dome Patrol", Swilling piled up 17 sacks in 1991 on his way to being named defensive player of the year.

***I know somebody out there is screaming the name Deacon Jones. By all accounts, Jones would be the all time sack leader if the league kept the stat when he played. (An estimated 226.5) Jones coined the term "sack" and forced the NFL to ban his famous move, the "head slap". I've watched him destory countless offensive lineman with the head slap and plant numerous quarterbacks like they were spring roses on multiple highlight reels. The only reason he's not on the list is because I didn't see him play with my own eyes. Jones, "The Secretary of Defense", is unquestionably one of the best defensive ends of all time.