San Francisco 49ers: Ranking the Top Defensive Linemen in Franchise History
Justin Smith's retirement, along with the NFL offseason doldrums, has gotten me thinking more about the San Francisco 49ers' history. At some positions, such as quarterback and the offensive line, the 49ers have been blessed with an above-average collection of talent. At others, such as linebacker and the secondary, the 49ers have had relative voids throughout their history.
The 49ers defensive line, historically, has been about average. It's had its fair share of talent, but not so much as to be an absolutely impenetrable list. Arik Armstead or Tank Carrdaine do not need to put up Hall of Fame careers to be eventually listed among the top 10 49ers defensive linemen of all time; a solid NFL career can crack the bottom of this list.
Justin Smith had more than a solid NFL career. Smith is going to go down in 49ers lore as one of the best linemen they’ve been fortunate enough to have suit up for them. There’s no doubt Smith is on the list of one of the best linemen in 49ers history—but where on the list does he fall?
This is a ranking of the top 10 defensive linemen in San Francisco 49ers history. It’s entirely subjective, especially considering the dearth of stats before the sack was made official in 1982. It’s best suited for starting debate and talking about the glory days of the franchise, though I think the choice for No. 1 is fairly unimpeachable.
Two caveats to the list before we start. We’re only looking at how good a player was in a 49ers uniform. That means Justin Smith’s years in Cincinnati or Dana Stubblefield’s Washington career do not count for the purposes of this list.
It’s a ranking of the players who played the best in San Francisco, not great players who happened to wear a 49ers jersey for a year or two—otherwise, players such as Richard Dent and Chris Doleman, who exceled in the NFC Central, would be crowding out lesser 49ers players.
Secondly, we’re looking at people who primarily played defensive line. This excludes Charles Haley, even though Haley is listed as a defensive lineman on the 49ers’ Hall of Fame page.
While Haley played some snaps for the 49ers on the line of scrimmage, and was primarily a defensive end in Dallas, he was really more of an outside linebacker in San Francisco. If you count him as a defensive lineman, he jumps into the top three of this list, but as is, he’s excluded.
Without further ado…
10. Cedrick Hardman (1970-1979)
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Two-time Pro Bowler
Unofficially, Hardman is the 49ers’ career leader in sacks with 112.5, according to the 49ers’ web site. While that’s an unofficial total, there’s no denying Hardman’s ferocity in the pass rush. Though he was undersized even for his era, at only 255 pounds, Hardman’s speed and reaction time made him a nightmare for opposing offensive linemen to deal with.
The 1971 season saw him record 18 sacks, the 49ers’ unofficial team record until Aldon Smith came along. Some sources, including Oakland Tribune sportswriter Dave Hewhouse’s, had him with over 20, which is getting into NFL record territory. You can’t pin down precise numbers from that era, but Hardman and Tommy Hart (who we’ll get to shortly) led the “Gold Rush” line that just demolished quarterbacks.
Hardman would rank higher if injuries hadn’t sapped quite a few of his seasons with the 49ers. An offseason knee injury after the 1971 season, coupled with a desire to return as quickly as possible and the lesser quality medical care of the 1970s, sapped his effectiveness for two full seasons. A broken fibula in 1976 also slowed him down. He played for some bad teams, and was essentially useless against the run.
But as a pass-rusher, there’s an argument to be made that Hardman is the best in 49ers history. Hardman is quoted in The Super 70s, by Tom Danyluk and Paul Zimmerman, as saying, “I chased and caught quarterbacks—plain and simple, end of story. That was my business. That’s what I feel I was put on this earth to do.”
With his blazing speed and relentless determination, Hardman’s placed his name in the 49ers’ record books.
9. Ed Henke (1951-1952, 1956-1960)
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One-time Pro Bowler
It’s difficult to rank players from the 1950s on a position-by-position basis, because plenty of players still played both ways. Ed Henke was one of them, playing both defensive end and offensive guard in a career that saw him play in three major leagues—the NFL, the AAFC and the WIFU, a predecessor to the Canadian Football League.
Henke’s role on those early 49ers teams came in an era when teams were transitioning from five-man defensive lines to four-man lines. Lean, strong and with a relentless motor, Henke was named to Sporting News’ All-NFL team in 1957 and was a second-team All-NFL player in 1952, according to Pro Football Reference.
With Leo Nomellini taking up a ton of attention on the other side of the line, Henke exploited favorable matchups and helped propel the 49ers to their first NFL playoff appearances.
A viscous tackler and relentless pass-rusher, Henke did whatever was asked of him. He moved around the defense to fill in at linebacker during injuries and was respected enough to be made a coach for the St. Louis Cardinals midseason after suffering a career-ending injury. Had the 49ers been better in the 1950s, Henke would be a much more familiar name.
8. Tommy Hart (1968-1977)
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One-time Pro Bowler
One-time All-Pro
While teammate Cedrick Hardman holds most of the unofficial 49ers sack records, Tommy Hart was nearly as good as a pass-rusher. Hart also regularly recorded double-digit sacks, averaging 15 a season in San Francisco, according to some sources, per Don Pierson of the Chicago Tribune.
His 1976 season, in particular, is one for the record books. Hart and the Gold Rush defensive line recorded a team-record 61 sacks that season in only 14 games. Hart alone was responsible for 18 of them, according to teammate Cedrick Hardman in an interview with Tom Danyluk. His six sacks against the Los Angeles Rams in a Monday Night Football showdown that season is tied for the team's single game-record, albeit unofficially.
Hart was also less of a liability against the run than Hardman. He averaged 76 solo tackles a season for the team, and most teams ran away from him and toward Hardman during their time together. Add in the fact that Hart is only just behind Hardman in sack totals and you have the reason why I placed Hart higher.
Hart twice won the Len Eschmont award, the most prestigious annual honor the 49ers have. Quieter than the outspoken Hardman, Hart let his play on the field do the talking. With Hart and Hardman, not to mention teammates Jimmy Webb and Cleveland Elam, it’s surprising the ‘70s 49ers defense isn’t remembered more fondly.
In the ‘70s, the 49ers put up 381 sacks, fifth-most in the league, according to research done by John Turney. It might be the single-greatest defensive line in 49ers history, and both ends should be remembered as two of the best.
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7. Dana Stubblefield (1993-1997, 2001-2002)
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Three-time Pro Bowler
One-time All-Pro
NFL Defensive Player of the Year (1997)
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (1993)
One-time Super Bowl champion
The first three names on this list I know thanks to highlights and stories. Stubblefield is the first I had a chance to see with my own eyes, so perhaps I’m overvaluing him a bit. Still, there was a stretch there when Stubblefield was as good as anyone in the game.
Stubblefield’s first stint with the 49ers has to rank up there with any five-year stretch in team history, as he hit the ground running. The first-round pick made an immediate impact. Paired with Bryant Young on the inside of the line, they fed off one another—one of them would be double-teamed, leaving the other free to create havoc.
This partnership led to Stubblefield’s 15 sacks and Defensive Player of the Year nod in 1997. Simply unstoppable that year, Stubblefield was equally great against the run. Had he kept up the performance he had as a young player in his first stint with the 49ers, I believe he’d be a borderline Hall of Fame candidate.
Stubblefield averaged eight sacks and 40 solo tackles a season during that stretch, while also being extraordinarily difficult to run against. The 49ers defense ranked second, first, fifth and second in rushing yards allowed from 1994 through 1997, dropping to 10th the year after he left. A lot of that can be attributed to Stubblefield’s play.
Stubblefield went on to become a huge free-agent bust in Washington after his DPOY season, and the BALCO steroid scandal tars his career as well. For five years, however, Stubblefield was amazing.
6. Charlie Krueger (1959-1973)
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Two-time Pro Bowler
With 15 years as a starter for the team, Charlie Krueger’s longevity is certainly not in question. Only six 49ers have appeared in more games than Kreuger did. He’s one of only 12 49ers to have their number retired, with his No. 70 leaving circulation in 1974. He was part of the initial 49ers Hall of Fame class.
Kreuger’s peaks were not quite as high as some of the players earlier on this list. He never was a first-team All-Pro, though he was given second-team nods on three separate occasions. He never led the league in sacks, official or otherwise, and he toiled for some fairly unimpressive 49ers squads for the vast portion of his career.
What he did, however, was provide steady, passionate high-level play for 15 seasons. That’s almost unheard of. Only Jerry Rice was effective for a longer period of time than Kreuger was. He was respected enough that Tom Landry once said that “no one is able to gain running at Charlie Krueger.”
The 1964 Len Eschmont Award winner, Kreuger was a run-stopping force when moved to defensive tackle, anchoring the position for more than a decade, playing through pain with maximum intensity. He played through too much pain, if anything—Kreuger won a court case against the 49ers in the ‘80s, receiving compensation for the injuries that team doctors kept him in the dark about.
The fact that Kreuger was able to perform at a high level into his late 30s despite missing ligaments in his knee is nothing short of amazing. His number was deservedly retired a year after he left the game.
5. Michael Carter (1984-1992)
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Three-time Pro Bowler
One-time All-Pro
Three-time Super Bowl champion
Michael Carter already knew success before he joined the 49ers. He was the silver medal winner in the shot put in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Winning an Olympic medal and a Super Bowl ring in the same season remains one of the greater single-year sports achievements in history.
Anchoring the defense at the relatively unglamorous position of nose tackle, teams simply didn’t run up the middle against Carter. While he never put up gaudy numbers—only 22.5 career sacks—that’s not the job of nose tackles. Their job is to clog up running lanes and absorb offensive linemen, allowing linebackers behind them free reign. No nose tackle in 49ers history has done a better job of that than Carter.
Don’t think that Carter was just a big man in the middle, though. Carter was extraordinarily quick off the ball for a nose tackle, thanks to his track and field days, and he could bulldoze through the line when required.
Only once in Carter’s years with the team was the defense not in the top five in terms of yards allowed, and they were always in the top five in terms of points. This was a dominant defense, and it all started in the middle.
Carter doesn’t get as much recognition as he deserves, as he played an unglamorous position on a defense with players such as Ronnie Lott and Charles Haley on teams that were overshadowed by offense. There’s an argument to be made that Carter is the most underrated 49er of all time. He's simply the single-greatest nose tackle the franchise has ever had.
4. Fred Dean (1981-1985)
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Two-time Pro Bowler
One-time All-Pro
Two-time Super Bowl champion
Hall of Famer
Fred Dean is difficult to rank. He only played four full seasons and part of one more for the franchise, started only five games and was entirely a one-dimensional player, solely focusing on the pass rush. He played much more frequently and for a longer period of time with the San Diego Chargers and is a member of their Hall of Fame.
But oh, what a single dimension it was. Dean was used simply as a pass-rusher in his time in San Francisco, and he was an absolutely deadly one. Despite only playing 11 games for the 49ers in 1981, he was named the UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year, racking up 12 sacks.
Two years later, he scored an official total of 17.5, including a then-NFL record of six in one game. He was the pass-rushing threat for the 49ers in the early Bill Walsh era. As much as anything else, it was Dean who got the 49ers over the top and won them their first Super Bowl.
With his quickness and technique, Dean was the first real pass-rush specialist in NFL history. Sure, there were players who excelled at rushing the passer first and foremost, but they were still asked to play every down and muddle through run defense. Someone of Dean’s talent playing only 30 percent of the snaps or so was unheard of.
He was the first “elephant” pass-rusher—a player who can line up anywhere on the defensive front to find mismatches. He paved the way for Charles Haley and Chris Doleman and so forth, and you can see the position today in Pete Carroll’s "Leo" position in Seattle.
I can’t in good conscience rank Dean higher because his career with the 49ers were so short, and he didn’t play as much in those games as the three men ahead of him. Without him, however, the 49ers’ fate in the 1980s would have been remarkably different.
3. Bryant Young (1994-2007)
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Four-time Pro Bowler
One-time All Pro
One-time Super Bowl Champion
NFL 1990’s All-Decade Team (second team)
1999 Comeback Player of the Year
The decision between Nos. 2 and 3 was agonizing.
Bryant Young is a 49ers legend, and no defensive lineman has suited up for more games for the franchise than he has. He’s third all time on the team’s sack list behind Tommy Hart and Cedrick Hardman. He’s an eight-time Len Eschmont Award winner; no one else has won it more than twice. His 89.5 career sacks is fourth all time among defensive tackles.
He came back after a horrific broken leg, which required a metal rod to be placed in the leg, and earned the Comeback Player of the Year award in 1999. He excelled at both defensive tackle and defensive end and was a true team leader.
He had success when the team was great, winning a Super Bowl with the ’94 squad, and he had success when the team was bad. The 2004 squad might be the least-talented in 49ers history, and Young was the only legend still on the roster at that point—Terrell Owens, Jeff Garcia, Derrick Deese and Garrison Hearst had all left, and Frank Gore wouldn’t be drafted until the next season.
Young performed at a high level throughout, only once dropping below three sacks in a season and never really succumbing to age or attrition.
An icon on the field, Young was beloved by teammates and fans alike. He might well be the best 49er in the free-agency era to have spent his entire career on one team. His No. 97 has not been officially retired, but it hasn’t been worn again in the regular season. He’s a legend at the position, and I nearly placed him one rung higher.
2. Justin Smith (2008-2014)
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Five-time Pro Bowler
One-time All-Pro
Do you value longevity or peak career value? That’s the question when you try to squeeze room between Justin Smith and Bryant Young. Does Smith’s seven years in San Francisco outshine Young’s 14?
Smith made the Pro Bowl more often than Young did and much more often when you consider it rate-wise. Then again, all of Smith’s defenses were great; he never had to play on teams as bad as Young did late in his career. That helps boost you in the eyes of the voters for these sorts of things.
Smith’s 2011 season is one of the all-time great's best seasons and better than any single year Young had. Young played in nearly twice as many games as Smith did, providing high-quality play the entire time.
If you’re making an all-time 49ers defensive line, you’re including both Smith and Young, so there’s no need to make the distinction between them, but in a ranking, you have to make those tough calls. I give the edge to Smith by the tiniest of margins.
The last time a 49ers defense took the field without Young or Smith was 1993. It’s going to be an odd feeling to see the line without one of those stalwarts on it.
1. Leo Nomellini (1950-1963)
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10-time Pro Bowler
Six-time All-Pro
Hall of Famer
Member of the 1950s All-Decade Team
Member of the 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
With all due respect to Smith and Young, they were only arguably the best or among the best at their position during their careers. Leo Nomellini not only was indisputedly the best defensive lineman of the 1950s, he was named the best defensive tackle of all time in 1969 as part of the All-Time Team selected to honor the NFL’s 50th anniversary.
Nomellini earned All-Pro nods on both offense, where he played offensive tackle, and defense, playing all 60 minutes. The very first draft NFL draft pick for the 49ers, Nomellini was a physical marvel for his day and age. No one in the league at the time was stronger or more durable—he played every single game during his career.
Nomellini was named either a Pro Bowler or All-Pro in all but one season from 1950 through 1961, and frankly, the reason he wasn’t picked in 1955 might simply have been because people were tired of voting for him.
Imagine what he could have done if he had grown up playing football! Nomellini didn’t take up the sport until 1942, when he was in the Marines. His rookie season was at age 26; that’s a good four or five years of his prime that he missed out on.
All due respect to Smith and Young, but Nomellini was the 49ers’ first superstar. He is one of the best to ever play the position.
Bryan Knowles is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the San Francisco 49ers. Follow him @BryKno on Twitter.
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