Who is the best linebacker in Redskins history?

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June 28, 2018

by Steve Thomas

Since we are right in the heart of the NFL’s dead zone right now, we thought it would be a good time to let you, our loyal readers, have some input into an historical Redskins debate: who is the best linebacker in team history?  We originally intended to make this a poll about just interior linebackers, meaning 4-3 middle linebackers and 3-4 inside linebackers, but we realized that we’d be leaving out some heavy-hitting team luminaries by limiting this effort in that fashion.  So we’re going to go with “best linebackers”.  Let’s get started and then get you voting.

As it turns out, we had to have a healthy debate amongst The Hog Sty staff to even arrive at the list of candidates.  Thanks to #Twitterlimitations, the poll can’t have more than four options at a time.  In the end, we decided that the four most worthy candidates are, in alphabetical order, Monte Coleman, London Fletcher, Chris Hanburger, and Sam Huff[1].  Before you vote, here’s a little preview of each player:

Monte Coleman

Monte Coleman, who stands 6’2” and played at 240 pounds, played 16 seasons for the Redskins from 1979 to 1994, including 215 games.  He is officially credited with 999 total tackles, 43.5 sacks, and 17 interceptions, including 3 for touchdowns.  Coleman was not a consistent starter for the Redskins, but is one of the most prolific defenders in team history and was a critical component of all three of the Redskins Super Bowl champship teams.  Coleman is a team legend who is a member of the Redskins Ring of Fame and was named as one of the 70 Greatest Redskins.

London Fletcher

London Fletcher, 5’10” and 242 pounds, was a 1998 undrafted free agent out of John Carroll University.  He came to the Redskins from the Buffalo Bills in 2007, and stayed with the team until he retired in 2013.  In those 7 seasons, Fletcher played and started all 112 games, making 615 tackles and 340 assisted tackles, plus 11.5 sacks and 12 interceptions.  He led the NFL in tackles for the bulk of his Redskins career, and had the distinction of being the only prominent middle linebacker in team history who had to make the transition from middle linebacker to 3-4 inside linebacker.  Fletcher did so successfully, was a team captain during his entire tenure in Washington, and was selected to 4 Pro Bowls.  Fletcher, along with the late Sean Taylor, is undisputably the most important Redskins defensive player of his era.

Chris Hanburger

Chris Hanburger, 6’2” and 218 pounds, played 14 seasons for the Redskins from 1965 through 1987, playing in 187 games and starting 177.  Neither tackles nor sacks were kept as statistic in his era, but he is officially credited with 19 interceptions and 2 touchdowns.  Hanburger was the defensive signal caller for most of his career, including the 1972 Super Bowl year, was a five-time First Team All Pro selection (1969, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976) and a 9 time Pro Bowl selection.  He is a member of the Redskins Ring of Fame, was named as one of the 70 Greatest Redskins, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011.

Sam Huff

Sam Huff, 6’1” and 230 pounds, played 13 NFL seasons from 1956 – 1969, including 5 seasons with the Redskins in 1994-1967 and 1969.  As is the case with Hanburger, Huff played before the NFL kept official tackle and sack statistics, but is credited with 12 interceptions for the Redskins, including 1 touchdown.  He was a two-time All Pro for the New York Giants, and was selected to 5 Pro Bowls, including one during his Redskins tenure in 1964.   Huff was selected to the NFL’s 1950s All Decade Team and the Redskins Ring of Fame, and was inducted into the Pro Football All of Fame in 1982.

Well, folks, those are the candidates.  Please vote in the poll on Twitter:

We’d love to hear from you on this poll! Please tell us what you think, and give us your choice for the best linebackers in Redskins history.

 

 

 

[1] Honorable mention goes to Neal Olkewicz, Ryan Kerrigan, and Wilbur Marshall.  If we could have included more options on the Twitter poll, they’d have been next.