*Julian O'Sullivan vs Quenton Bode

[JuOSu]

First of all, let me be one of the first people to congratulate @terriblehippo to becoming the new career tackle leader in the league history with his player Quenton Bode. I was fortunate enough to be the General manager that drafted hippo to the New Orleans Second Line and I have been invested in his career probably as much as he was haha. I always rooted for Bode and wanted him to success, most of all because I felt like in some ways he represented a similar type of player that I once was. My first player, Julian O'Sullivan was also a linebacker like Bode and played most of his career with the New Orleans Second Line, where Bode has spent his entire career so far. Like Bode, I also played Middle Linebacker for most of my career, though notably not all of it, as I also played Outside Linebacker and at times even in the secondary which definitely leads to my career stats being a bit more diverse than Bode's are, who I believe has played every single year at middle linebacker.

Nonetheless, for me the comparison to him was very easy and due to drafting him at times very sentimental. I am extremely happy that he broke the record today and with that, I wanted to do a little comparison between his career and mine. Hippo and I have talked several times about his prospect to one day joining O'Sullivan in the hall of fame, which I really hope he will be able to do. I think these comparisons are very interesting, especially due to me playing different positions at times, as you will see below in my stats. Another reason why I compared him and I is that when I retired I lead the league in tackles in the league, so he indirectly broke a record I once held. Currently, I am now 5th all time in tackles.

First off, here are the seasons that Julian O'Sullivan had:

First Season 14 Games, 97 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 7 Sacks, 3 Interceptions, 10 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 1 Touchdowns
Second Season 14 Games, 93 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumbles recovered, 12 Sacks, 2 Interceptions, 7 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Third Season 14 Games, 92 Tackles, 0 Tackles for Loss, 0 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 14 Sacks, 3 Interceptions, 9 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Fourth Season 14 Games, 93 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 0 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 11 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 6 Passes defended, 2 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Fifth Season 14 Games, 119 Tackles, 1 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 6 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 14 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Sixth Season 14 Games, 92 Tackles, 10 Tackles for Loss, 0 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 8 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 8 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Seventh Season 14 Games, 102 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 0 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 1 Sacks, 2 Interceptions, 5 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Eight Season 14 Games, 106 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 3 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 6 Sacks, 0 Interceptions, 16 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Ninth Season 14 Games, 122 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 2 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 6 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Tenth Season 14 Games, 128 Tackles, 1 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 1 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 8 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Eleventh Season 14 Games, 88 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumbles recovered, 11 Sacks, 2 Interceptions, 31 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 1 Touchdowns

And here are Bode's seasons (so far):

Games Tackles Tackles for Loss Forced Fumbles Fumbles recovered Sacks Interceptions Passes defended Safety Touchdowns
First Season 14 Games, 108 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 3 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 2 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Second Season 13 Games, 108 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumbles recovered, 2 Sacks, 0 Interceptions, 3 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Third Season 13 Games, 125 Tackles, 0 Tackles for Loss, 2 Forced Fumbles, 2 Fumbles recovered, 1 Sacks, 0 Interceptions, 3 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Fourth Season 13 Games, 112 Tackles, 4 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 1 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 3 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Fifth Season 13 Games, 96 Tackles, 1 Tackles for Loss, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumbles recovered, 5 Sacks, 2 Interceptions, 7 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Sixth Season 13 Games, 115 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 2 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumbles recovered, 1 Sacks, 1 Interceptions, 3 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Seventh Season 13 Games, 115 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 3 Sacks, 0 Interceptions, 3 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Eight Season 13 Games, 118 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 3 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumbles recovered, 2 Sacks, 0 Interceptions, 3 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Ninth Season 16 Games, 154 Tackles, 0 Tackles for Loss, 1 Forced Fumbles, 2 Fumbles recovered, 2 Sacks, 2 Interceptions, 5 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Tenth Season 16 Games, 128 Tackles, 1 Tackles for Loss, 0 Forced Fumbles, 1 Fumbles recovered, 1 Sacks, 0 Interceptions, 6 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns
Eleventh Season 11 Games, 104 Tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss, 2 Forced Fumbles, 0 Fumbles recovered, 2 Sacks, 0 Interceptions, 4 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns

And here are our career stats to make it easier to see the comparison:

Julian O'Sullivan: 154 Games, 1132 Tackles, 32 Tackles for Loss, 9 Forced Fumbles, 2 Fumbles recovered, 79 Sacks, 17 Interceptions, 120 Passes defended, 2 Safety, 2 Touchdowns

Quenton Bode: 148 Games, 1283 Tackles, 20 Tackles for Loss, 16 Forced Fumbles, 9 Fumbles Recovered, 23 Sacks, 7 Interceptions, 42 Passes defended, 0 Safety, 0 Touchdowns

As we see, Bode has six games less than me, yet already beat my tackles record by like 150. This is another sign that he spent more time than me at middle linebacker, but at the same time, you can also look at the seasons above and he was just simply said... better than me. I only had three seasons over 110 tackles, while Bode already has seven and will get another one this season. I averaged 102 tackles per season, while Bode is averaging 117 tackles per season. Clearly this is a huge advantage for Bode in terms of career comparisons. It may not seem like much, but he is absolutely killing me in this category.

When it comes to tackles for loss, I have 32 and Bode has 20. This advantage mainly comes from the sixth season, where I must have played a different position and racked up 10 tackles for loss in that one season only. Still, I guess I have a slight advantage here.

In terms of fumbles, Bode has been HUGE in terms of turnovers. He forced 7 more and recovered 7 more fumbles. Definitely a big advantage for Bode where I just cannot keep up.

Sacks are one of my big advantages as O'Sullivan. Bode is not a huge sack guy as the Middle Linebacker and I clearly played other positions quite a bit. My 79 sacks are more than three times that of Bode's 23. I had more than 10 sacks four times while Bode never had more than 5 sacks in a season. Big plus for O'Sullivan.

In the passing game, I also have another advantage. Like I said, I also played out of position in the secondary so I got a lot of stats that way. 10 more interceptions makes up most of the way compared to the fumble disadvantage in terms of turnovers. Passes defended is another category where Bode does not compare, as he played middle linebacker the whole time. My advantage mainly comes from three season where I played out of position, especially my last season where I racked up a career and league-high 31 passes defended in a season.

I had two career touchdowns, funnily enough one came in my first season and one in my last. Also I had two safeties, both oddly in the same season.

All in all, we have both had extremely good careers. Bode is the more quintessential middle linebacker while my career was a bit more versatile. My other stats other than tackles definitely stand out a bit at times and helped my Hall of Fame case, but that was just a lucky coincidence of playing out of position. I think Bode should not be overlooked because he only ever played MLB, if anything it is a huge advantage for him and shows what an amazing career he has had. He will still get more stats from the rest of this year and then potentially another season if he ends up continuing? I am not sure what his plan is to be honest. That being said, I think the tackle record alone will absolutely give Bode a case for the Hall of Fame. He has had an amazing career and his dominance with tackles every season really gives him a fantastic case.

What do you think? Let me know below whether you think Bode is a Hall of Famer and give your thoughts! Would love to hear from you.

Again, congrats to Quenton Bode for the record!

[AdamS]

I personally think this is a benchmark vote. If you look at Bode's career surrounded by his peers who played mixed length schedules, and those who came before him and what they accomplished, and you think to yourself, this player is not a Hall of Famer, then you have achieved a benchmark. As someone who should not have a Hall of Fame vote.

[mithrandir]

Go Hippo! Doot doot!

[Thor]

I wonder if he would vote for himself

[Baron1898]

Bode is a Hall of Famer for sure

[Duilio05]

I personally think this is a benchmark vote. If you look at Bode's career surrounded by his peers who played mixed length schedules, and those who came before him and what they accomplished, and you think to yourself, this player is not a Hall of Famer, then you have achieved a benchmark. As someone who should not have a Hall of Fame vote.

I've actually been tallying up the accolades of every Hall of Fame player to get a feel of what the league has expected Hall of Fame players should achieve (look for a media coming in a week ish). I say "the league" because those who vote for Hall of Fame have changed almost every season. This i don't have tallied yet, but I suspect Spec and Dwyer probably have made the most Hall of Fame votes given how long they were commish/GM, but most others probably only averaged 3-4 ballots voted on.

Based on what I've seen so far, I'd say Bode is a lock for Hall of Fame and would be a complete shame if he didn't get it.

[slothfacekilla]

Bode certainly has my vote, it has been a pleasure to share a team with hippo for so long!

[Frick_Nasty]

Bode 1000 percent HOF