ESPN's All Quarter Century Team (1 Viewer)

[Anarchy99]

ESPN posted their team of the past 25 years today. Some interesting choices.

QB: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes (Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees on the practice squad)
RB: Priest Holmes, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry (LaDainian Tomlinson on the practice squad)
FB: Kyle Juszczyk
WR: Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, Justin Jefferson (Antonio Brown and Andre Johnson on the practice squad)
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Tony Gonzalez (Antonio Gates on the practice squad)
LT: Joe Thomas, Trent Williams Walter Jones on practice squad. Jordan Mailata as International Player.)
LG: Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson
C: Jason Kelce
RG: Zack Martin, Marshal Yanda (Jahri Evans on the practice squad)
RT: Lane Johnson, Willie Anderson

EDGE: Demarcus Ware, Jared Allen, Myles Garrett, Julius Peppers (T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan on the practice squad)
DT: Aaron Donald, Calais Campbell, Chris Jones (Kevin Williams and Cameron Heyward on the practice squad)
NT: Vince Wilfork
DEF FLEX: J.J. Watt
LB: Ray Lewis, Bobby Wagner, Brian Urlacher, Lavonte David, Luke Kuechly (Derrick Brooks on the practice squad)
CB: Darrelle Revis, Champ Bailey, Rhonde Barber, Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson (Jalen Ramsey on the practice squad)
S: Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Brian Dawkins, Earl Thomas (Charles Woodson on the practice squad)

PK: Justin Tucker
P: Shane Lechler
Returner: Devin Hester (Cordarrelle Patterson on the practice squad)
ST: Matthew Slater
LS: Morgan Cox

HC: Bill Belichick
OC: Kyle Shanahan
DC: Wade Phillips
ST: Dave Toub

 

[Chaka]

I know these lists are designed to generate conversation so, I'll start.

Priest Holmes doesn't even come close to belonging on this list. He had three peak years with an offensive line that had two HoFers, a 6x pro bowler/2x all pro as well as another first rounder and a center who missed one game over the final ten seasons of his career. He is the definition of right place, right time.

LT2 was simply better and he was better for much, much longer. In his nine seasons with the Chargers their offensive line had a combined zero HoFers, zero All Pros and 8 pro bowls (not sure how many were alternates).

 

[TheWinz]

I know these lists are designed to generate conversation so, I'll start.

Priest Holmes doesn't even come close to belonging on this list. He had three peak years with an offensive line that had two HoFers, a 6x pro bowler/2x all pro as well as another first rounder and a center who missed one game over the final ten seasons of his career. He is the definition of right place, right time.

LT2 was simply better and he was better for much, much longer. In his nine seasons with the Chargers their offensive line had a combined 8 pro bowls.

Agreed, and it's not even close. LT2 was a RB1 in 8 straight years. Priest's studly career amounted to 3.5 seasons. I would put ADP above Holmes as well.

 

[DonFue]

ESPN posted their team of the past 25 years today. Some interesting choices.

QB: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes (Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees on the practice squad)
RB: Priest Holmes, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry (LaDainian Tomlinson on the practice squad)
FB: Kyle Juszczyk
WR: Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, Justin Jefferson (Antonio Brown and Andre Johnson on the practice squad)
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Tony Gonzalez
LT: Joe Thomas, Trent Williams
LG: Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson
C: Jason Kelce
RG: Zack Martin, Marshal Yanda (Jahri Evans on the practice squad)
RT: Lane Johnson, Willie Anderson

EDGE: Demarcus Ware, Jared Allen, Myles Garrett, Julius Peppers (T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan on the practice squad)
DT: Aaron Donald, Calais Campbell, Chris Jones (Kevin Williams and Cameron Heyward on the practice squad)
NT: Vince Wilfork
DEF FLEX: T.J. Watt
LB: Ray Lewis, Bobby Wagner, Brian Urlacher, Lavonte David, Luke Kuechly (Derrick Brooks on the practice squad)
CB: Darrelle Revis, Champ Bailey, Rhonde Barber, Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson (Jalen Ramsey on the practice squad)
S: Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Brian Dawkins, Earl Thomas (Charles Woodson on the practice squad)

PK: Justin Tucker
P: Shane Lechler
Returner: Devin Hester (Cordarrelle Patterson on the practice squad)
ST: Matthew Slater
LS: Morgan Cox

HC: Bill Belichick
OC: Kyle Shanahan
DC: Wade Phillips
ST: Dave Toub

Rodgers over Manning
Tomlinson over Holmes
JaMarr Chase over Jefferson
Jefferson over Johnson
Woodson over Thomas

They absolutely nailed the coaches!

 

[Ghost Rider]

Tomlinson was better than all three RBs they picked ahead of him. That is some really strange stuff there. And Adrian Peterson should have been probably the 2nd RB picked behind LT2.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Tomlinson was better than all three RBs they picked ahead of him. That is some really strange stuff there. And Adrian Peterson should have been probably the 2nd RB picked behind LT2.

I don't know if he's better than Henry, but I'd have no issue with LT/Peterson being #1 & #2.

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Deep position for sure but I can’t believe Larry Fitzgerald isn’t on this team.

 

[Hankmoody]

I struggled hard to get past Mahomes over Brees. This is a 25 year sample, yes?

I stopped dead when LT wasn't the first RB listed. That's a joke. Hard stop.

 

[Ilov80s]

I struggled hard to get past Mahomes over Brees. This is a 25 year sample, yes?

I stopped dead when LT wasn't the first RB listed. That's a joke. Hard stop.

I agree with Mahomes just because of the playoff success. Mahomes doesn't have the cumulative passing numbers but Brees won 9 playoff games in his career. Mahomes has won 17.

LT obviously should be on the team. I would put Peterson ahead of Priest Holmes. Heck, Shaun Alexander is probably neck and neck with Priest. I would even consider CMC.

Woodson being left to the practice squad is a miss. It almost feels like a knock for playing two positions. He won a DPOTY award. Polamalu and Ed Reed are the only other DBs to have won that award on this team.

I also think Walter Jones should be there over Trent Williams. He's got more 1st and 2nd team AP appearances in the 2000s.

 

[Ilov80s]

ESPN posted their team of the past 25 years today. Some interesting choices.

QB: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Patrick Mahomes (Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees on the practice squad)
RB: Priest Holmes, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry (LaDainian Tomlinson on the practice squad)
FB: Kyle Juszczyk
WR: Randy Moss, Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, Justin Jefferson (Antonio Brown and Andre Johnson on the practice squad)
TE: Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Tony Gonzalez
LT: Joe Thomas, Trent Williams
LG: Alan Faneca, Steve Hutchinson
C: Jason Kelce
RG: Zack Martin, Marshal Yanda (Jahri Evans on the practice squad)
RT: Lane Johnson, Willie Anderson

EDGE: Demarcus Ware, Jared Allen, Myles Garrett, Julius Peppers (T.J. Watt and Michael Strahan on the practice squad)
DT: Aaron Donald, Calais Campbell, Chris Jones (Kevin Williams and Cameron Heyward on the practice squad)
NT: Vince Wilfork
DEF FLEX: T.J. Watt
LB: Ray Lewis, Bobby Wagner, Brian Urlacher, Lavonte David, Luke Kuechly (Derrick Brooks on the practice squad)
CB: Darrelle Revis, Champ Bailey, Rhonde Barber, Richard Sherman, Patrick Peterson (Jalen Ramsey on the practice squad)
S: Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Brian Dawkins, Earl Thomas (Charles Woodson on the practice squad)

PK: Justin Tucker
P: Shane Lechler
Returner: Devin Hester (Cordarrelle Patterson on the practice squad)
ST: Matthew Slater
LS: Morgan Cox

HC: Bill Belichick
OC: Kyle Shanahan
DC: Wade Phillips
ST: Dave Toub

I assume one of those is JJ

 

[Anarchy99]

I assume one of those is JJ

JJ is the flex one.

 

[tjford]

These quarter century teams make for exceptionally good players getting marginalized because of when they started their career.

For example, I think that Jonathan Ogden belongs on that LT list but I assume that he doesn't make it because his career spanned from 1996-2007.

 

[Ilov80s]

These quarter century teams make for exceptionally good players getting marginalized because of when they started their career.

For example, I think that Jonathan Ogden belongs on that LT list but I assume that he doesn't make it because his career spanned from 1996-2007.

Similar thing for Faulk

 

[Anarchy99]

Since they didn't fully explain the how's and why's of making the team, it's hard to figure out what they were thinking.

RB: I rode Holmes to many a fantasy title, but to suggest he was the best RB of the last 25 years seems a bit odd. He had 3.5 great years but not much else. I don't think he deserves a spot at all. Would bump up LT to the main team and find a spot for ADP there as well. If they insist on adding CMC, slot him on the PS.
WR: Not sure how Fitzgerald was an afterthought. I would probably have taken one of Wayne or Holt over Julio and AB.
T: Ogden certainly played well enough, but apparently his career straddling the 90s/00s left him off.
DT: I'd put Williams on the regular roster. Campbell was much more of an edge guy than a DT . . . I'd probably leave him off entirely. Even though he wasn't Mr. Congeniality, Ndamunkong Suh deserves some consideration. Jason Taylor, Richard Seymour, and Dwight Freeney also merited consideration at DT or Edge. I probably would have left off Wilfork.
Edge & LB: These spots get a bit fuzzy. Ware was more of a LB than a DE (if that matters any). Junior Seau, Khalil Mack, Von Miller, and Patrick Willis could easily have earned a spot.

 

[Chaka]

These quarter century teams make for exceptionally good players getting marginalized because of when they started their career.

For example, I think that Jonathan Ogden belongs on that LT list but I assume that he doesn't make it because his career spanned from 1996-2007.

Yet, Justin Jefferson (5 seasons) & Priest Holmes (3 seasons) made the list with much shorter resumes this quarter century.

 

[BroncoFreak_2K3]

They're not known as BSPN for nothing...lol

 

[pinkstapler]

Agree with most of the changes already noted by other posters, especially at RB. LT2 and AP feel like an incredibly easy 1/2.

So I'll just add I think it's kind of wild that (as far as I'm concerned) 6 of the top safeties of the SB era (say the past 60 years) all played at the same time. Reed, Polamalu, Woodson, Dawkins, Harrison, Sharper. In fact, aside from Ronnie Lott at #1, I'd say they make up #2-7 in whatever order you'd like to argue. (edit, I'm sure an old head will tell me I'm forgetting someone from the 60s I never saw play; and that's fair).

 

[Ghost Rider]

Deep position for sure but I can’t believe Larry Fitzgerald isn’t on this team.

Crazy as it sounds, it feels like Fitz's legend for being a great player has exceeded what he actually was. Not saying he wasn't a great player, but three All-Pro finishes ever (one 1st team, two 2nd team) doesn't exactly jump off the page. His play in that 2008 postseason run was pretty ridiculous (has any other WR ever that awesome of a postseason?), but it always seemed like he was always in that 2nd tier of "best WRs in football," never really the best. A HOFer no doubt, but I am good with everyone they took ahead of him, and I would have taken Tyreek Hill ahead of him as well.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Deep position for sure but I can’t believe Larry Fitzgerald isn’t on this team.

Crazy as it sounds, it feels like Fitz's legend for being a great player has exceeded what he actually was. Not saying he wasn't a great player, but three All-Pro finishes ever (one 1st team, two 2nd team) doesn't exactly jump off the page. His play in that 2008 postseason run was pretty ridiculous (has any other WR ever that awesome of a postseason?), but it always seemed like he was always in that 2nd tier of "best WRs in football," never really the best. A HOFer no doubt, but I am good with everyone they took ahead of him, and I would have taken Tyreek Hill ahead of him as well.

Ill take him as my 3rd or 4th WR of all time. He is the second leader all time in receptions and rec yards. over 100 TDs and 17 years of service and he only missed 11 games.

Rice
Moss
Fitz or TO for me. I lean Fitz due to having better hands and a better locker-room guy.

Honorable mention to Megatron and Andre Johnson who I think is criminally underrated.

 

[travdogg]

Pretty meh list in general, especially on the OL and on defense.

Von Miller sticks out to me as the biggest omission to me. He'd be my #1 EDGE pretty easily, and a top-3 overall defensive player period. Dude had zero holes in his game, and other than MAYBE Ray Lewis had more to do with his team winning a Super Bowl than any defender on the list.

 

[travdogg]

Agree with most of the changes already noted by other posters, especially at RB. LT2 and AP feel like an incredibly easy 1/2.

So I'll just add I think it's kind of wild that (as far as I'm concerned) 6 of the top safeties of the SB era (say the past 60 years) all played at the same time. Reed, Polamalu, Woodson, Dawkins, Harrison, Sharper. In fact, aside from Ronnie Lott at #1, I'd say they make up #2-7 in whatever order you'd like to argue. (edit, I'm sure an old head will tell me I'm forgetting someone from the 60s I never saw play; and that's fair).

I'd say Sharper and Harrison wouldn't even be close to the top-7 Safeties of all-time. I don't think you have to go as far back as the 60's/70's to find better guys (though guys like Paul Krause, Johnny Robinson, and Ken Houston all fit the bill) even in the 90s I think guys like LeRoy Butler, Steve Atwater, and John Lynch were better than them. Even among the last 25 years, I think good arguments exist for Eric Weddle, Devin McCourty (the most underrated DB of the last 25 years in my opinion) and Earl Thomas.

I'm kinda ok with LT not being #1 at RB, with the caveat that I think its somewhat offense dependent. I wouldn't have Priest Holmes ahead of him, but I can see the logic for having Derrick Henry higher as he's a better rusher in my opinion. Of course, if the coaches actually matter, then with Kyle Shanahan as OC, then CMC makes some sense too, but that's putting infinitely more thought into the list than ESPN did. If its just who was the most productive then LT should be #1.

Some other names I thought deserved at least backup spots are Evan Mathis, Logan Mankins, Chris Myers, Khalil Mack, Patrick Willis, and Chris Harris.

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Tomlinson was better than all three RBs they picked ahead of him. That is some really strange stuff there. And Adrian Peterson should have been probably the 2nd RB picked behind LT2.

I don't know if he's better than Henry, but I'd have no issue with LT/Peterson being #1 & #2.

Henry is as one demential as it gets and I don’t think he’s even that punishing. He’s just a load to get down If he gets up to full speed. He’s actually fairly easy to tackle if he’s not up to max speed.

Marshawn lynch is much better to me.