5 greatest Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebackers of all time

Jason Gildon

Gildon played during an odd time for Pittsburgh as they were rebuilding and contenders during his Steelers career. He joined as the days of Blitzburgh was at its heights and slowly faded away. He did become the best player to ever play at his position for a while in franchise history. He led as the team’s all-time sack leader for years before James Harrison took that mantle. Gildon was absolutely dominant at his position after a slow start in the league. He sat behind some of the greatest pass rushers the game had ever seen like Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene before he finally got his shot. He would become a top three pass-rusher for this storied franchise and be so good that he couldn’t be denied the honor of being a number higher than his mentor, Lloyd.

The amazing thing for Gildon is he started only one more game than Lloyd and was able to tally up even better numbers. He had a ten year Steelers career, starting 126 games that allowed his to total two interceptions, 15 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries, three touchdowns, 507 total tackles, 58 tackles for loss, 77 sacks, three Pro Bowls, and All-Pro selection.

Gildon and Lloyd are very close in this ranking but it was hard to dismiss the big gap in sack totals in their respective careers for the black and yellow.