Hightower versus other Patriots great inside linebackers (Bruschi, Mayo)

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

How do you think Dont'a Hightower compares with Jerod Mayo or Tedy Bruschi? I am just curious if people who really understand the position and follow the game closely on the all-22s or re-watch games and assignments have an opinion. My understanding is that all three would shift to other positions at times but would best be considered the middle linebacker since they make the playcalls and are responsible for a lot of the defensive assignments. How about some categories:

Hightower vs. Mayo vs. Bruschi

Intelligence
Tackling
Coverage
Pass Rushing/Speed
Playmaking/Forcing Turnovers

 

[Heisenberg]

Such a tough call. All so different. Bruschi had a knack for making the big play unlike any of the others and was still reliable to back it up. Mayo was a tackling machine and seemed like a big time leader. Hightower can rush the passer and hit like a truck, and also seems very in control of the defense.

I'll take Hightower for most talented and id say he would be my #1 if i had to pick only one, but he has a long way to go to live up to Bruschi's career and legacy. Mayo, while still a stud, is just behind the other two.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I put High in a different positional category than Bru and Mayo so I'm taking my ball and going home.

 

[NashuaPats]

Bruschi was the key to a defense that won 3 Super Bowls. Mayo never reached Bruschi's level of success and Hightower has a long way to go.

 

[patsinthesnow]

We'll see if Roberts can join the discussion with Bruschi and Mayo one day as his game is way more similar to those two.

Regardless:

Hightower
Bruschi
Mayo

 

[nabwong]

Such a tough call. All so different. Bruschi had a knack for making the big play unlike any of the others and was still reliable to back it up. Mayo was a tackling machine and seemed like a big time leader. Hightower can rush the passer and hit like a truck, and also seems very in control of the defense.

I'll take Hightower for most talented and id say he would be my #1 if i had to pick only one, but he has a long way to go to live up to Bruschi's career and legacy. Mayo, while still a stud, is just behind the other two.

Hightowered stopped Lynch 2 yards from the end zone in the superbowl. That was the 2nd biggest defensive play in that game.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

How quickly we forget. Bruschi was dynamite before his body broke down and he lost a step or three. I'll take a prime Bruschi over High or Mayo. I love all three players. Mayo was very solid here, and he was definitely the soul of this defense through some very lean years. Who knows how good he could have been if he had been surrounded by better players? Hightower still has room to grow. He's physically gifted, incredibly strong, and brings a lot of toughness and grit to the team. He could end up having the best career of all of them, but we won't know for another several years.

 

[PF_SU]

He could end up having the best career of all of them, but we won't know for another several years.

I hope the team and him can work out something. Personally, I'd have no problem making him the second-highest paid LB in the NFL after Kuechly, even with Hightower missing a couple of games every year due to his style of play. He's the complete package. Good run defender, very good pass rusher, has improved a lot the last few years in his coverage ability and is the play-caller of the defense.

 

[BobDigital]

Bruschi was the best play making LB in the BB era hands down and he had a great sense of rising to the moment and was an emotional leader.

Hightower is the superior grinder and has a more consistent impact on a play by play basis but rarely makes that one big play.

Hightower is the better overall player but it is really close. If you count McGinest as a LB he is the best one though but he was a Hybrid.

 

[PF_SU]

Bruschi was the best play making LB in the BB era hands down and he had a great sense of rising to the moment and was an emotional leader.

Hightower is the superior grinder and has a more consistent impact on a play by play basis but rarely makes that one big play.

Hightower is the better overall player but it is really close. If you count McGinest as a LB he is the best one though but he was a Hybrid.

I think it's a bit early to evaluate Hightower. He's only been here for 4.5 years. Bruschi spent his entire 13-year career in New England, so obviously more opportunities to make big plays. Hightower has the stop on Lynch in the Super Bowl on his record, saved a walk-in TD there. Let's hope he'll stay here and makes more big plays in the future.

 

[pazrul72]

How quickly we forget. Bruschi was dynamite before his body broke down and he lost a step or three. I'll take a prime Bruschi over High or Mayo. I love all three players. Mayo was very solid here, and he was definitely the soul of this defense through some very lean years. Who knows how good he could have been if he had been surrounded by better players? Hightower still has room to grow. He's physically gifted, incredibly strong, and brings a lot of toughness and grit to the team. He could end up having the best career of all of them, but we won't know for another several years.

I think you are forgetting how long it took Bru to get where he ended up. He played ST and DE and OLB before finally settling down the middle. Great player no doubt and extremely deserving of the pats HOF but he was only one of the best LB's in the league for a couple of years. That heart attack is so gut wrenching because it came at a time when he was finally playing at an elite level and being compared to the ray Lewis's etc of the league and I think 2-3 more years of THAT Bru could have won another SB and been in consideration for the NFL HOF.

I think Hightower to Bru comparisons are a lot like Welker to Brown comparisons. The first is far more athletic with superior consistent production...while the second had the knack for making THE play in a game that comes down to 2 or 3 of those. So who do you take? Head says the more consistent production but gotta admit the heart says it's more fun to root for scrappy guys who have miles and miles of heart. Throwing mayo in isn't fair because he was never asked to be the dynamic playmaker I think he could have been. He was the guy who cleaned up everyone else's mess game after game after game and raked up an impressive number of tackles.

So I would rank them
High
Bru
Mayo

 

[doesntmatter1]

All 3 are different. For me Mayo is definitely last for me. Mayo is a tackling machine but there were parts of his game I didn't like. Mayo imo had no feel for zone coverage and was an average blitzer. Hightower is the most versatile and consistent. Solid in all areas. Bruschi had great instincts, especially in zone coverage.

Hightower-de skills put him above Bru
Bru
Mayo

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

Bruschi all the way - nothing to do with who was the most athletically gifted though. Durability, playmaker, vocal leader, undisputed team representative.

 

[mosslost]

The Defense in 03 and 04 just the rosters ridiculous.
Warren, Washington, Seymour, Hamilton, Wilfork, McGinnest, Bruschi, Vrable, Johnson, Pheffier, Law, Harrison, Gay, Samuels off the top of my head...

 

[Midship]

Bruschi > High > Mayo. All Great backers, all different players. As much as I love Hightower, he still has a long way to go before he eclipses Bruschi.

 

[deroc5050]

That heart attack is so gut wrenching because it came at a time when he was finally playing at an elite level and being compared to the ray Lewis's etc of the league and I think 2-3 more years of THAT Bru could have won another SB and been in consideration for the NFL HOF.

Heart attack? Are you talking about the stroke he had? Yeah he wasn't the same after that, I am surprised he got back on the field its pretty amazing.

 

[VrabelJr]

Hightowered stopped Lynch 2 yards from the end zone in the superbowl. That was the 2nd biggest defensive play in that game.

With one arm, that he used to bench press Russell Okung off of him with right before he made the tackle.

 

[obgod3]

Bruschi...although Hightower is getting close but he isn't there yet...Bru seemed to have less injuries other than the stoke, he also had many key plays in key times as other have said. Hightower can get there but not there yet. Mayo was awesome but I think comes in a distant third.

 

[IllegalContact]

I wonder how Hightower would look in the 2003 3-4

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

Bruschi is my boy. It's melted in my brain. Most of my jerseys are his. IDK, when I think Pats, I think Bruschi. My handle on another board is IceColdBruschi. It would be here too, but it was already taken. Bruschi, Faulk, , Ty, Troy.... off the top of My head. In my era.


EDIT: Without BB or TB, they (we), couldn't have done it.