The tables below show the single-season leaders by various defensive players in 3-4 and 4-3 schemes from 1982 to 2011.
Let’s start with a look at the most sacks by a 3-4 defensive end:
Year | Team | Name | Pos | Sacks |
---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | BUF | Bruce Smith | 3-4 DE | 19 |
1983 | SFO | Fred Dean | 3-4 DE | 17.5 |
1984 | PHI | Greg Brown | 3-4 DE | 16 |
1983 | MIA | Doug Betters | 3-4 DE | 16 |
1983 | SEA | Jacob Green | 3-4 DE | 16 |
1992 | NOR | Wayne Martin | 3-4 DE | 15.5 |
1986 | RAI | Sean Jones | 3-4 DE | 15.5 |
1985 | NYG | Leonard Marshall | 3-4 DE | 15.5 |
1993 | KAN | Neil Smith | 3-4 DE | 15 |
1986 | SDG | Lee Williams | 3-4 DE | 15 |
1986 | BUF | Bruce Smith | 3-4 DE | 15 |
1984 | KAN | Art Still | 3-4 DE | 14.5 |
1984 | SEA | Jeff Bryant | 3-4 DE | 14.5 |
1983 | GNB | Ezra Johnson | 3-4 DE | 14.5 |
1997 | BUF | Bruce Smith | 3-4 DE | 14 |
1993 | BUF | Bruce Smith | 3-4 DE | 14 |
1992 | BUF | Bruce Smith | 3-4 DE | 14 |
1989 | SDG | Lee Williams | 3-4 DE | 14 |
1984 | MIA | Doug Betters | 3-4 DE | 14 |
1984 | CLE | Reggie Camp | 3-4 DE | 14 |
1983 | PIT | Keith Willis | 3-4 DE | 14 |
As you can imagine, 3-4 defensive linemen don’t rack up many sacks. Bill Pickel, a nose tackle for the Raiders in the ’80s, recorded 12.5 sacks in both ’84 and ’85, making him the only 3-4 tackle to record more than 12 sacks in a season. Karl Mecklenburg, with 13 sacks for the Broncos in ’85, remains the only inside linebacker in a 3-4 with more than a dozen sacks.
Of course, 3-4 outside linebackers get all the glory in that scheme. San Francisco’s Aldon Smith has 19.5 sacks so far in 2012 with two games remaining, but here were the leaders prior to 2012:
Year | Team | Name | Pos | Sacks |
---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | NYG | Lawrence Taylor | 3-4 OLB | 20.5 |
2008 | DAL | DeMarcus Ware | 3-4 OLB | 20 |
1990 | KAN | Derrick Thomas | 3-4 OLB | 20 |
2011 | DAL | DeMarcus Ware | 3-4 OLB | 19.5 |
1989 | GNB | Tim Harris | 3-4 OLB | 19.5 |
1984 | NWE | Andre Tippett | 3-4 OLB | 18.5 |
2008 | MIA | Joey Porter | 3-4 OLB | 17.5 |
1995 | BUF | Bryce Paup | 3-4 OLB | 17.5 |
2009 | DEN | Elvis Dumervil | 3-4 OLB | 17 |
2006 | SDG | Shawne Merriman | 3-4 OLB | 17 |
1992 | SFO | Tim Harris | 3-4 OLB | 17 |
1991 | NOR | Pat Swilling | 3-4 OLB | 17 |
1989 | NOR | Pat Swilling | 3-4 OLB | 16.5 |
1989 | RAM | Kevin Greene | 3-4 OLB | 16.5 |
1988 | RAM | Kevin Greene | 3-4 OLB | 16.5 |
1985 | NWE | Andre Tippett | 3-4 OLB | 16.5 |
2008 | PIT | James Harrison | 3-4 OLB | 16 |
1992 | DEN | Simon Fletcher | 3-4 OLB | 16 |
1990 | SFO | Charles Haley | 3-4 OLB | 16 |
2010 | DAL | DeMarcus Ware | 3-4 OLB | 15.5 |
1988 | NYG | Lawrence Taylor | 3-4 OLB | 15.5 |
1998 | CAR | Kevin Greene | 3-4 OLB | 15 |
1989 | NYG | Lawrence Taylor | 3-4 OLB | 15 |
1984 | PIT | Mike Merriweather | 3-4 OLB | 15 |
What about 4-3 defensive ends?
Year | Team | Name | Pos | Sacks |
---|---|---|---|---|
2001 | NYG | Michael Strahan | 4-3 DE | 22.5 |
2011 | MIN | Jared Allen | 4-3 DE | 22 |
1984 | NYJ | Mark Gastineau | 4-3 DE | 22 |
1989 | MIN | Chris Doleman | 4-3 DE | 21 |
1987 | PHI | Reggie White | 4-3 DE | 21 |
1992 | PHI | Clyde Simmons | 4-3 DE | 19 |
1983 | NYJ | Mark Gastineau | 4-3 DE | 19 |
2003 | NYG | Michael Strahan | 4-3 DE | 18.5 |
2002 | MIA | Jason Taylor | 4-3 DE | 18.5 |
1986 | WAS | Dexter Manley | 4-3 DE | 18.5 |
2011 | PHI | Jason Babin | 4-3 DE | 18 |
1988 | PHI | Reggie White | 4-3 DE | 18 |
1984 | CHI | Richard Dent | 4-3 DE | 17.5 |
1999 | STL | Kevin Carter | 4-3 DE | 17 |
1992 | SDG | Leslie O'Neal | 4-3 DE | 17 |
1985 | CHI | Richard Dent | 4-3 DE | 17 |
2011 | NYG | Jason Pierre-Paul | 4-3 DE | 16.5 |
2008 | ATL | John Abraham | 4-3 DE | 16.5 |
2000 | MIA | Trace Armstrong | 4-3 DE | 16.5 |
1999 | ARI | Simeon Rice | 4-3 DE | 16.5 |
1998 | SEA | Michael Sinclair | 4-3 DE | 16.5 |
2005 | OAK | Derrick Burgess | 4-3 DE | 16 |
2004 | IND | Dwight Freeney | 4-3 DE | 16 |
1998 | GNB | Reggie White | 4-3 DE | 16 |
1983 | STL | Curtis Greer | 4-3 DE | 16 |
And 4-3 defensive tackles:
Year | Team | Name | Pos | Sacks |
---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | MIN | Keith Millard | 4-3 DT | 18 |
1986 | PHI | Reggie White | 4-3 DT | 18 |
2000 | NOR | La'Roi Glover | 4-3 DT | 17 |
2000 | TAM | Warren Sapp | 4-3 DT | 16.5 |
1997 | MIN | John Randle | 4-3 DT | 15.5 |
1997 | SFO | Dana Stubblefield | 4-3 DT | 15 |
1992 | SEA | Cortez Kennedy | 4-3 DT | 14 |
4-3 outside linebackers rarely rack up huge sack numbers. In fact, Denver’s Von Miller, who has 16 sacks this year, is already the record holder in the official sack era. Derrick Thomas (14.5 sacks in 1992, 13 in 1996) in Kansas City, Washington’s Ken Harvey (13.5 in ’94) and Cleveland’s Jamir Miller (13 in ’01) are the only other 4-3 outside linebackers with more than twelve sacks in a season since 1982. (Of course, Thomas also had a 20-sack season a 3-4 outside linebacker.) Charlie Clemons, with 13.5 sacks in 2001, is the record holder among 4-3 middle linebackers.