Most Indispensable (Minus Quarterbacks)

[RiverDog]

After 7 pages and 242 posts in the RW contract thread, I thought it might be nice to discuss something else. Adam Schein has rated the most important players in the league, not counting quarterbacks. Beast ranked 9th on offense, Earl 8th on D.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000 ... ve-players

I wouldn't argue to include them on the list, but one player/position that I think is worth mentioning is that our place kicker is pretty indispensable, at least late in the season. Remember a couple years back when Hauschka got hurt?

Be sure to play the video of Beast's 2014 highlights. It really gets you excited for the regular season.

[NorthHawk]

It's apparent he doesn't watch much outside of the East Coast games.
Le'Veon Bell more important to his team than Lynch?
I can see Charles in KC, because they probably had one of the worst set of WRs in the league, but Pittsburgh has some receivers on Offense that Ben can target.

On Defense, he doesn't understand that Thomas is what makes our Secondary so good. His range allows the 2 CBs to play the coverages they do, and he's become one of the best tacklers on the team in run support. He's probably the closest thing to a Polamalu that we will see for a long while.

[Oly]

On Defense, he doesn't understand that Thomas is what makes our Secondary so good. His range allows the 2 CBs to play the coverages they do, and he's become one of the best tacklers on the team in run support. He's probably the closest thing to a Polamalu that we will see for a long while.

This is one area where I give writers a pass. I think most Hawk fans would peg ETIII as the second-most important player on the team after Wilson, and some might even reverse that order. But I don't really fault anyone for finding it hard where to give credit to the secondary. ETIII makes Kam and Sherm able to do their thing by keeping center field locked down. Kam makes ETIII and Sherm able to do their thing because he has run support and crossing routes locked down. And neither safety has to worry about the left side of the field because of Sherm. I think most writers undervalue each one individually because it is genuinely hard to pick out which one is the most important. The individual praise ends up getting diluted.

But I don't care, and I don't think they do much either. As long as any list of the best defenses of all time includes the Hawks, and this secondary is in the conversation for the GOAT, I think they'd be happy to split the accolades.

[NorthHawk]

I hear you about the defensive players not being concerned about individual views of who is most important, but really, 8th?
Let's hope it adds another chip on each players shoulder.

[RiverDog]

It's apparent he doesn't watch much outside of the East Coast games.
Le'Veon Bell more important to his team than Lynch?
I can see Charles in KC, because they probably had one of the worst set of WRs in the league, but Pittsburgh has some receivers on Offense that Ben can target.

On Defense, he doesn't understand that Thomas is what makes our Secondary so good. His range allows the 2 CBs to play the coverages they do, and he's become one of the best tacklers on the team in run support. He's probably the closest thing to a Polamalu that we will see for a long while.

It's pretty hard to figure out this rating as it has as much to do with the team they play for as it does the individual's worth. Earl obviously makes our team better, but since we have such a good overall team, can we afford to be without him more than a team like Houston can afford to be without J.J. Watt? Probably so.