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Taylor vs Woodson

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GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
TaylorWinner
88.1

Taylor wins: Dominance, Peak, Honours

Woodson
85.6

Woodson wins: Longevity, Statistics

Candidates
Locked to American Football

Shareable URL · /compare/lawrence-taylor-vs-rod-woodson

Time range

Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.

Category radar

Verdict

Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Lawrence Taylor
88.1

Taylor leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. The only defensive player since 1971 to win MVP outright.

1. Lawrence Taylor
88.1
2. Rod Woodson
85.6

Category breakdown

Season form · Touchdowns per season

Career timeline · Touchdowns per season

Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.

GOAT pace tracker

Career stage · GOAT pace

Through season 5 · Touchdowns per season
1. 🇺🇸 Lawrence Taylor5 seasons played · career day 1,82550.5 touchdowns
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Rod Woodson5 seasons played · career day 1,82516 touchdowns
-68.3% vs Taylor at the same stage
Ghost race · career day30100365100018253650
🇺🇸 Taylor009.51750.5113.5
🇺🇸 Woodson00151632

Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 seasons are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.

MetricTaylorRetiredWoodsonRetired
MVP awards1
Defensive Player of the Year31
Super Bowl titles21
Career sacks132.5
Pro Bowls1011
All-Pro selections8
Interceptions71
Interception return touchdowns12
All-Pro First Teams6
Dominance w25%9082
Peak w20%9486
Longevity w20%8090
Honours w20%8882
Statistics w15%8890

Fan vote — data vs the people

GOAT Rank · the data
Taylor88.1
Woodson85.6
The people
Taylor
Woodson

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Make your case for Taylor vs Woodson. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.

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