"During the years 1956 to 1958 Rollins was widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz"
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/ar...ny_rollins.htm
"No saxophonist in jazz has had as pervasive an influence as Michael Brecker, since the death of John Coltrane in 1967"
Latest Global News & Views - Times and Sunday Times UK | Times Online
IMO, just because Young came first doesn't automatically make him the best saxophone player in the world.
Also, his playing style was too swing-oriented for my tastes, it almost made his improv. solos a little monotonous/conservative in comparison to Charlie Parker.
If you compare Parker to Young, their playing styles were very similar, though Parker's solos were much more sporadic while composing in a bebop style, in many recordings you can tell Bird had a little more creative backing/flow of ideas.
I think Lester Young opened the door to tenor saxophonists to truly experiment with their sound, style, and improvisation, like Coltrane, Rollins, and Brecker.
After the door was opened, the latter (like Bird) had a new foundation, on top of the constant evolution of jazz at the time, to construct masterpieces (with the help of their abilities of course) that Young wasn't able to perform at the peak of his career.
In no way am I saying that Lester Young wasn't one of the best saxophonists of all time, he was basically the pioneer of jazz improvisation on tenor saxophone, I'm just saying that some of the other saxophonists mentioned that came after him had a little more room to experiment and hone their abilities.