Pat Swilling in the HOF?
Swilling was a product of Rickey Jackson being on the opposite side. The year after he was traded, the Saints converted Renaldo Turnbull from DE ot OLB and he had thirteen sacks. I think Peter King said it best when he said that if there was no LT, and Rickey had played in a larger market, he would have been as popular as LT was. The HOF is for the top 1% of the top 1%. Swilling fizzled in Detroit, where he was exposed as being just average, and had one decent season in Oakland. Sure, he was good for the Saints, but he'll never even be considered for Canton.
Which proves nothing, other than the fact that the Saints brought their outside linebackers in most passing situations.
The statements that Swilling drew a lot of single blockers because Jackson drew constant double teams is a completely and utterly false.
If anything, Swilling drew more doubleteams than Jackson did. Furthermore, Jackson played on the strongside, so he frequently saw tight end help on his side. Especially in running situations. In passing situations, I'd be willing to argue that Swilling received more attention that Jackson.
I have literally dozens of games on tape from the Dome Patrol era. Most of what has been said about Swilling on this thread is just completely false. I daresay that in his prime, there was almost no player in the NFL that was as feared as an edge rusher, as Pat Swilling. It wasn't just a case of scheme. He was often subject to not only double teams, but triple teams. And he made a lot of great plays against the run. A lot.
As great a player as Jackson was, around 1992 or so, his play dropped off dramatically. He reinvented himself, getting bigger and relying less on speed. As great as Jackson was, he had some down years and
And I actually do think Mills may have a shot at the HOF. I'm not sure it's great, but he was a tremendous playmaker for two different teams. Couple with the fact that he was so undersized, might make him a vote getter.