I started paying attention to WSU football in 1968 and didn't get serious about it until 1970, so I don't include anyone prior to that. Some of these guys played more than one position during their careers. Some played for one year, some for several. Some were the bell cow on teams that were not blessed with a lot of other great D players, others were part of groups that made everyone look good. And my numbers 3-7 are so close that you could reorder those 5 guys in almost any order you chose. That said, here is my LB top 11 (I could come up with 11 worth mentioning), in order:
1.) Fields
small drop to
2.) Blakeney
smaller drop to
3.) Darling
4.) Childs
5.) Forde
6.) Bush
7.) McLanahan
small drop to
8.) Smith
And then 3 guys who for me are pretty much a coin toss; different eras but similar contributions:
9.) Derting
10.) Gary Larsen
11.) Scott Pelluer
I would suggest that any of the group noted above could contend for a starting position today.
