I just have something to add to your Ratliff vs. Haynesworth comparison: Ratliff is a 3-4 NT, while Haynesworth is a 4-3 DT. So, aside from being safe to assume that Ratliff delt with more double-teams, by design, Ratliff was granted fewer opportunities to make plays. As a 3-4 lineman, your primary responsibility is to hold your lane and be a blocker eater so that the LB’s can make plays in the gaps left between and on the outside of each defensive lineman. Therefore, the stats Ratliff did put up were the result of plays were he was actually able to get a good jump on the snap, penetrate the OL, and make a play on the ball. Otherwise, he did his primary job.

Conversely, Haynesworth’s primary job as a 4-3 DT is to always make plays on the ball. Consider that for a moment: Ratliff made almost as many plays as Haynesworth did in a far more difficult position, given far more difficult conditions with the posibility of double team coming from either guard and center, at a size 2 inches less and 18 pounds lighter than Haynesworth.

That’s the trouble with these so-called experts. When considering these list, they look at stats and overall contracts, and never stop to consider the differences in the actual players and, more importantly, what these players are being asked to do in their given positions.