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Jim Lynch was incredible on the 1966 National Championship team... but would never have beaten out Manti or Jaylon in the modern era. Hell... there was no middle linebacker position before the 1950's, when teams played 5 or even 6 defensive linemen.
....it remains to be seen if he can repeat and improve on last year’s great performance, but I think that he will as long as he can stay healthy.
None of the other guys mentioned in these lists below can hold a candle to Jaylon Smith or JOK physically. I know that playing LB is more than raw physical gifts, but those gifts do give an advantage as Jaylon already proved (by the way, who is the only LB on people”s lists in this thread who has been named All Pro in the NFL?
Jaylon Smith......AFTER a career ending knee injury with nerve damage). Nick Buonacotti was the only other pro bowler, but nobody listed him though maybe they should have.
Shame on anyone who claims Smith is t the best LB ND has ever had. The other LB’s listed would all acknowledge it as well.
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Buoniconti played both ways. He was the starting guard with Norb Roy. They were also the captains and starting LB's.
Those four were absolutely amazing over multiple years.
I would have put Michael Stonebreaker in that list, but he wasn't physically the same player he was in 1988, after he shredded his knee (causing him to miss the 1989 season) in that drunken car accident. He ended up with blurred and / or double vision, significantly slower speed, and lost a bit on his reaction time.
Nevertheless, he was still an incredible player for us in 1990, demonstrating the epitome of football smarts, regularly putting himself in the right place at the right time, even with all of the physical limitations.
I still think about how 1989 would have turned out, had Stonebreaker and George "Boo" Williams been able to play for that squad. That would easily have been one the most powerful front seven units in all of college football of all time. I pretty sure, that Craig Erickson wouldn't have had all of that time to heave that completed long bomb to Randall Hill on 3rd and 44 that broke our backs that year.
and is among that group too. Crable made the hardest hit I ever saw on Charles White in 1979 who to his credit hopped right up. Kinnon Tatum's hit was one of my favorite of all time also.
I also think Ned Bolcar was tremendously underrated and was the surest open field tackler.
How the hell could I forget about Bob Golic? He was awesome.
My list is admittedly not including players who played before I watched.
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I don't remember the game, but if you were there, you remember it, too.
Not as good as Smith, Crable, Teo, Golic, or Lynch. Larkin was not an alltime great either.
Bolcar was a good linebacker, but he was a step slow as well.
No offense, but I disagree with your entire list.
earlier. Bolcar did have an interception return for a touchdown against Miami in 1989.
That wasn't Bolcar. Pete Bercich dropped that INT in 93
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was unstoppable at times and that was with a shitty position coach in a shitty system. Under Clark Lea, I truly believe he’d have won the Heisman.
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the auto accident, Michael Stonebreaker....he was still good after the accident but I wouldn't say 1988 good, he was great then..
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