Deacon was head and shoulders above the other defensive ends when he played just like Jim Brown was. They stood out and were great historic players.
There have been other great ones since like Jerry Rice and LT that were head and shoulders above the competition and all time greats.
While I am sure there are more AD seems to be carving out a space where he stands above the others. Does he stand above LIlly, Olsen, Page, Green, White etc? I think you can make a very strong case that he is one of a kind at that position just like Jim Brown, Deacon Jones, Jerry Rice and Lawrence Taylor. AD is that good that he deserves to be discussed in that company.