Barry Sanders did have an anchor in the line in Lomas Brown, so they weren't without players. However, you obviously have to give the edge to E.Smith's Dallas lines over the lines Sanders had. There were games I watched that no one from the other team was even around to touch him at the LOS, let alone actually tackle him.
I'd take Payton over E.Smith or B.Sanders. What if Payton had E.Smith's Dallas lines with no Def players in the area he was coming across the line and was hitting the secondary all day without a LB hanging onto him. The other teams secondary would quit or run out of players who weren't injured. E.Smith had a great career in Dallas, but 1 year... I still take Sweetness.
Emmett could put the jock strap on to be in the conversation.... but there'd be a lot of extra room once he had it on.