So you think you know Chiefs pass rushers?
As you undoubtedly know, sacks became an official NFL statistic in 1982. Before that year, we have nothing but legend and mystery.
However, Pro football reference now says that they went back to 1960 and did research to build sack stats back to that year for the NFL. So if you trust those numbers, we now ostensibly have sack statistics for the entire Chiefs' history. The data is behind a paywall, but fortunately so am I. So let's test your knowledge. I'll post questions periodically and let's see how Chiefsplanet answers them. Note: all data refers to players' careers with the Chiefs only. If someone comes from another team or goes to another team, their stats on those teams don't count. It's the Chiefs, the whole Chiefs, and nothing but the Chiefs. Question #1 is easy. List the top ten Chiefs in terms of career sacks. |
If only Ubeja was still alive.
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DT #1
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#1 - Derrick Thomas 126.5 #2 - #3 - #4 - #5 - #6 - #7 - #8 - #9 - #10 - |
Tamba Hali # 2
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Thomas
Houston Mike Bell Art Still Buck Buchanan Bill Maas Neil SmithBobby Bell Tamba Hali |
Daniel Sorenson #2
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#2 - Tamba Hali - 89.5 #3 - Neil Smith - 85.5 #4 - Justin Houston - 78.5 #5 - Art Still - 74 #6 - Buck Buchanan - 70.5 #7 - #8 - Mike Bell - 52 #9 - #10 - Bobby Bell and Bill Maas are tied for 13th. |
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I would guess Jared Allen is 9th or 10th?
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Was Elvis Grbac the reason we couldn’t hold onto Neil Smith?
Blergh. |
Also, Wallace Gilberry and Frank Clark have the same amount of KC sacks. Although, to be fair, good ol' Wallace played 4 season for the Chiefs.
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Aaron Brown looks tasty for that number 9 slot.
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Jerry Mays 7
Eric Hicks 10 |
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#1 - Derrick Thomas - 126.5 #2 - Tamba Hali - 89.5 #3 - Neil Smith - 85.5 #4 - Justin Houston - 78.5 #5 - Art Still - 74 #6 - Buck Buchanan - 70.5 #7 - Jerry Mays - 65.5 #8 - Mike Bell - 52 #9 - Aaron Brown - 51 #10 - Eric Hicks - 44.5 |
https://i.ibb.co/7WqgSnF/Picture3.png
I'm not sure if this will plot well, but here goes. I plotted sacks per season by the players last year in the league. This method of plotting emphasizes outlier performances compared to peers during the era. My takeaway is that Deacon Jones was by far the best pass rusher ever, and it's not close. |
Apparently we know out Chiefs pass rushers
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I was going to say Eric Hicks and feel cool that I knew the difficult one, but then I realized I'd be saying "Eric Hicks" to feel cool, and I decided to go do something else like mow the lawn or eat a cookie
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And I'll correct MagicHef's unfortunate error by saying that it looks like Reggie White and Derrick Thomas are close to Deacon Jones, and Aaron Donald is above him. |
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https://i.ibb.co/RgVCrZF/PR.png |
Does Eric Hicks still suck?
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Free agent pass-rusher Alex Okafor is signing back with the #Chiefs, source said. He gets a 1-year deal and will return to KC, his home for the last two seasons
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Is Eric "Bootleg" Hicks on the list?
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Buck was a beast, damn.
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Okay, here's your next question. 46 Chiefs recorded 10 or more sacks in their Chiefs career. Of those, name the top 10 in terms of sacks per game played.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. |
R-Kal Truluck
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Vonnie Holiday
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Dan Williams
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....off the top of my head
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Junior Siavii
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I'll add the usual suspects: DT, Buck Buchanan, Aaron Brown, Jerry Mays. |
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Dan Williams - 0.56 7. 8. 9. 10. |
Derrick Thomas is first, when you had e his career total his per game number is like .76
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1. 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. 4. 5. 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. 8. 9. 10. |
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Thomas played from 89-99, and during those years, the top passing attempts leader in the NFL averaged 601 attempts (over 16 games). But in Buchanan's days, the top passing attempts leader averaged 464 (I'm factoring in the two games the teams played less, as it was actually 406 over 14 games). So can someone break down how these players compare in sacks per opportunity to see who was the most dominating sack monster in Chiefs history? I'd guess DT still wins out, but Buchanan has got to be further up there. |
Justin Houston has to be up there in sacks/game.
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I was initially thinking that the old-timers might have more sacks per game due to the pass-blocking rules in place in those years. It was much harder to pass protect. But you're right in that there was a lot less passing in general, which may more than compensate. |
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1. Justin Houston - .77 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. 4. 5. 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. 8. 9. 10. |
Houston had a 20 sack season and missed a bunch of games following, all the missed games actually help his number.
Jared Allen is probably on there. |
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1. Justin Houston - .77 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. Jared Allen - .70 4. 5. 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. 8. 9. 10. |
Tamba and Jared Allen
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Culp would probably be in the top 10, Tamba would be another good guess. I would think Smith would be up there as well. Buck was pretty beat up the last couple of years of his time and I don't remember him being much of a force.
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1. Justin Houston - .77 sacks per game 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. Jared Allen - .70 4. 5. Neil Smith - .62 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. 8. 9. Tamba Hali - .51 10. |
Art Still (duh!!).
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Mike Bell
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I followed him a lot as a kid because he was a Jersey guy |
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1. Justin Houston - .77 sacks per game 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. Jared Allen - .70 4. 5. Neil Smith - .62 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. Art Still - .54 8. 9. Tamba Hali - .51 10. |
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Chris Jones?
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1. Justin Houston - .77 sacks per game 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. Jared Allen - .70 4. 5. Neil Smith - .62 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. Art Still - .54 8. Chris Jones - .53 9. Tamba Hali - .51 10. |
Our remaining guys played roughly 50 years apart if you need a hint.
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The older name maybe someone like Buck Buchanan or something? I know very little of Chiefs prior to the 90s. |
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1. Justin Houston - .77 sacks per game 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. Jared Allen - .70 4. 5. Neil Smith - .62 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. Art Still - .54 8. Chris Jones - .53 9. Tamba Hali - .51 10. Frank Clark - .48 |
The vast majority of these guys played on generally winning teams where they probably had a lot of obvious pass rush opportunities late in the game. Then think about Art Still, who had ten years with the Chiefs and only two seasons above .500 (at 9-7 and 10-6). I really think the guy would be a Hall of Famer if he had played on better teams.
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This is actually super cool info. I’ve always wanted to know the sack totals prior to 82.
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I'm going to say Aaron Brown, only because I can't think of who else it might be from that era.
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1. Justin Houston - .77 sacks per game 2. Derrick Thomas - .75 3. Jared Allen - .70 4. Aaron Brown - .65 5. Neil Smith - .62 6. Dan Williams - .56 7. Art Still - .54 8. Chris Jones - .53 9. Tamba Hali - .51 10. Frank Clark - .48 |
Interesting. I have literally never heard the name Aaron Brown before today.
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Remarkably, Aaron Brown was like the 7th or 8th best player on that defense.
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Let's look at the evolution of Chiefs pass rush records now. I'll go through each year, list the top five sack guys on the team, and note the all-time record holder.
We'll start with 1960. Man, these early teams are a mystery to me. I've barely heard of Smokey Stover and don't know the other guys at all. Season Sack Leaders Mel Branch 10 Paul Rochester 8 Paul Miller 7.5 Ray Collins 6 Smokey Stover 3.5 All-time leaders as of this year. (The same, obviously.) |
Vonnie Holliday is such an under rated name.
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1961's leading sackers.
Smokey Stover 5.5 Paul Rochester 4.5 E.J. Holub 3.5 Mel Branch 3.5 Jerry Mays 3 Sherrill Headrick 3 All-time leaderboard as of 1961 Mel Branch 13.5 Paul Rochester 12.5 Paul Miller 10 Smokey Stover 9 Ray Collins 6 |
1962's sack leaders
Mel Branch 5.5 E.J. Holub 4.5 Jerry Mays 4.5 Paul Rochester 2.5 Sherrill Headrick 2.5 All-time leaderboard as of 1962 Mel Branch 19 Paul Rochester 15 Smokey Stover 10.5 Paul Miller 10 E.J. Holub 8 Mel Branch and Paul Rochester continue cementing their legacy, but EJ Holub and Jerry Mays are consistently producing. |
No R-Kal Trulock???
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The conflagration of Mel Blount (DB Steelers) with Cliff Branch (WR Raiders) into Chiefs pass rusher extraordinaire Mel Branch is triggering early onset Alzheimers. I feel like I am remembering things I don't actually remember.
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