Believe it or not, we're already halfway through the decade. At the end of each decade an All-Decade team is created by a panel of NFL experts, so I figured I'd create a team for the first half of this decade.
QB- Peyton Manning
RB- Ladainian Tomlinson
RB- Shaun Alexander
Manning's 2 MVP awards, 5 consecutive 4,000 yard seasons, single season record for touchdown passes and passer rating, and great leadership make him hands down the QB of the decade so far in my book. No absolute lock for the RB position, but LT's 3 great seasons and Alexander's extreme consistency get them on the team.
T- Jonathan Ogden
G- Will Shields
C- Kevin Mawae
G- Alan Faneca
T- Orlando Pace
TE- Tony Gonzalez
Lots of solid left tackles, but Ogden has dominated at both protecting the QB and creating gaps for the run game like no other. Gonzalez has perhaps been more head and shoulders above players at the tight end position than any other player at their position in football.
WR- Randy Moss
WR- Terrell Owens
This decade has shown some new trends in football, and perhaps the largest is the emergence of the wide reciever as one of the most publicized positions in the league. Superstars like Moss, Owens, Harrison and Holt have helped to make it the 2nd most popular position to pay attention to, passing even the RB position.
DE- Michael Strahan
DT- La'Roi Glover
DT- Richard Seymour
DE- Jason Taylor
It should be noted that it is quite likely that Kevin Williams will be creeping up on the DT position. His only being in the NFL for 2 seasons so far was the reason I left him out.
OLB- Derrick Brooks
MLB- Ray Lewis
OLB- Julian Peterson
Lewis and Brooks were absolute locks here. They've consistently dominated and showed the extreme versatility that is demanded of linebackers in modern football. They combine for a total of 3 defensive player of the year awards and were each the captain of a Super Bowl-winning defense. Peterson's versatility at pretty much any defensive position and 2 first team All-Pro selections give him enough to edge out other outside linebackers.
CB- Champ Bailey
S- Brian Dawkins
S- Ed Reed
CB- Ty Law
Cornerbacks have become devalued now with the reinforcement of the 5 yard contact rule in the NFL, but Bailey and Law still stand above everyone else at the corner position. Dawkins has consistently been at or near the top among safeties the entire decade, and Reed has emerged with his amazing intuition for where the ball is going to be on every play.
K- Adam Vinatieri
P- Shane Lechler
KR/PR- Dante Hall
Five most dominant players of the decade at their position:
1. Ray Lewis, MLB
2. Jonathan Ogden, T
3. Tony Gonzalez, TE
4. Derrick Brooks, OLB
5. Randy Moss, WR
Honorable mentions (great players who just missed being selected simply because there were slightly better options):
1. Marvin Harrison, WR
2. Walter Jones, T
3. Tom Brady, QB
4. Larry Allen, G
5. Dwight Freeney, DE
6. Kris Jenkins, DT
Originally posted by natas@Feb 18th '05 @ 1:16 pm did you use stats to build this list, me thinks you did.. hyporcite.
Other than maybe quarterback to an extent (just because Manning's numbers can't be ignored....primarily the number 2, for the amount of MVPs he has), nope. I didn't even reference any statistics for any position in making the list.
QB- Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper
RB- LaDanian Tomlinson, Edgerrin James, Sean Alexander, Priest Holmes
WR- Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Tory Holt, Marvin Harrison
TE- Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Jason Witten
T- Jonathon Ogden, Walter Jones, Orlando Pace
G- Alan Faneca, Will Shields, Marco Rivera
C- Matt Birk, Casey Wiegeman, Hank Fraley
DE- Dwight Freeney, Jason Taylor, Simeon Rice, Michael Strahan
DT- Kris Jenkins, Richard Seymour, Kevin Williams, Shawn Rogers
OLB- Derrick Brooks, Julian Peterson, LaVar Arrington, Joey Porter
MLB- Ray Lewis, Donnie Edwards, Zach Thomas, Teddy Bruschi (get well soon)
CB- Patrick Surtain, Ty Law, Troy Vincent, Champ Bailey
FS- Brian Dawkins, Roy Williams
SS- Ed Reed, Rodney Harrison
K- Adam Vienetari, David Akers
P- Shane Lechler
Originally posted by Whitewash@Feb 18th '05 @ 12:19 pm Other than maybe quarterback to an extent (just because Manning's numbers can't be ignored....primarily the number 2, for the amount of MVPs he has), nope. I didn't even reference any statistics for any position in making the list.
But thanks for asking.
so there's a double standard then, when making an obvious list of big named players (such as this thread), you can obviously gauge there performance much better than a player who has been in the league only 1 year, i.e. rookie... so tell me wise one, how do you gauge a rookie's performance?
Originally posted by natas@Feb 18th '05 @ 1:28 pm so there's a double standard then, when making an obvious list of big named players (such as this thread), you can obviously gauge there performance much better than a player who has been in the league only 1 year, i.e. rookie... so tell me wise one, how do you gauge a rookie's performance?
Some positions (pretty much any besides QB, RB and WR) just have to be measured by watching them and comparing, along with following the opinions of scouts and other NFL experts.
How do you measure offensive lineman? Dig up a source that tries to keep track of "pancake" statistics?
By the way Al, you included a lot of guys who only had one or two seasons as a dominant player at their position. Gates stands out as a guy that CERTAINLY shouldn't be on an all-decade team.
Originally posted by Whitewash@Feb 18th '05 @ 12:31 pm How do you measure offensive lineman? Dig up a source that tries to keep track of "pancake" statistics?
absulely not. You know a dominant player when you see one play, week-in, week-out for years i.e. all decade team.
so in your other thread, comparing Nathan Vasher vs Chris Gamble is me "blindly folowing statistics", yet their years were very comparible?
Priest sould be on there over Alexander IMO. Priest tore it up this year before getting hurt. Had he played the whole season he would of had a 3 year run like nobody in the history of the NFL.
All-Decade team for first half of 00's
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