NFL 100 All-Time Team

[JameisLoseston]

Getting to the more topical matter of the running backs. Here's how I'd rate their likelihood of making the team:

Locks: Brown, OJ, Payton, Sanders, Emmitt, LT

Should be in: SVB, Motley, Dickerson, AP

Coin flip: Moore, Taylor, Faulk

Will make it over someone more deserving because the company line loves him: Nagurski

Low chance: Campbell, Clark, Grange, Dorsett, Sayers

No chance: Allen, Bettis, Harris, McElhenny, Thomas

Have a feeling one of the two receiving backs may get the shaft for Bronko; Moore's stats don't pop out on either side until you consider them total from scrimmage (at which point he greatly outproduces Motley and Taylor), and Faulk played in an era when so many RBs were so great that he may be overlooked. I think one of them will make it though. Grange may have a higher chance than I'm giving him here too. I'm truly confused at McElhenny making the nominees but not Joe Perry.

[JohnTurney]

My thoughts are here. Certainly, reasonable people will have differences...
4-3 ends
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com ... story.html

3-4 ends
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com ... n-nfl.html

Love your stuff John. It really is just personal preference after the big 5 greats. One thing you mentioned is that Len Ford had "one of the 2-3 best seasons ever by a DE" in 1951, but no mention at all of what he actually did. Would be very interested to hear more about this. The two best DE seasons are undoubtedly White in 1987 and Watt in 2014, was Ford that good?

Ford was great early, but by 55 he was done. Not that good anymore, so he had a short peak. But a high one. He was more like an OLBer since they played a 5-2 and he was almost always in a 2-pint stance but all he did was crash in, not a sophisticated game back then, but yeah he got the QB a lot from 51-54 or so, and 51 had about 1-1/2 sacks a game

[Rupert Patrick]

Getting to the more topical matter of the running backs. Here's how I'd rate their likelihood of making the team:

Locks: Brown, OJ, Payton, Sanders, Emmitt, LT

Should be in: SVB, Motley, Dickerson, AP

Coin flip: Moore, Taylor, Faulk

Will make it over someone more deserving because the company line loves him: Nagurski

Low chance: Campbell, Clark, Grange, Dorsett, Sayers

No chance: Allen, Bettis, Harris, McElhenny, Thomas

Have a feeling one of the two receiving backs may get the shaft for Bronko; Moore's stats don't pop out on either side until you consider them total from scrimmage (at which point he greatly outproduces Motley and Taylor), and Faulk played in an era when so many RBs were so great that he may be overlooked. I think one of them will make it though. Grange may have a higher chance than I'm giving him here too. I'm truly confused at McElhenny making the nominees but not Joe Perry.

I think Campbell is close to a lock, and Red Grange is probably a lock also. The voters know little about Red Grange other than his name and that he was the first superstar in the NFL, and they'll have to put in somebody from the early years, same with Nagurski. Sayers will likely get in as a returner.

Here's how I see the 12:

Locks: Grange, Nagurski, Van Buren/Motley (one of them gets in, but not both), Brown, Simpson, Payton, Campbell, Dickerson, Sanders, Emmitt

Toss-up: Thomas, Faulk, Tomlinson, Peterson (probably two of these guys, my guess is Thomas and Peterson, but it could be Faulk and Tomlinson)

Little or no chance: Clark, McElhenny, Moore, Taylor, Sayers, Harris, Dorsett, Allen, Bettis (maybe a 10 percent chance any of these guys get picked, and if one does, it will be Marcus Allen)

[ChrisBabcock]

I'm truly confused at McElhenny making the nominees but not Joe Perry.

Yeah, this is a head scratcher to me too.

[JWL]

I'm truly confused at McElhenny making the nominees but not Joe Perry.

Yeah, this is a head scratcher to me too.

I am working on my own team based on the criteria used for the official team. Perry was one of the guys I am considering for the top 12 RBs. That he wasn't a finalist is very, very strange to me.

One of my favorites is Curtis Martin. I'm okay with him not being a finalist because I rank him somewhere outside the top 12, but I do question some of these other guys making the finalist list over him.

But the Perry omission is rough.

[JameisLoseston]

I'm truly confused at McElhenny making the nominees but not Joe Perry.

Yeah, this is a head scratcher to me too.

I am working on my own team based on the criteria used for the official team. Perry was one of the guys I am considering for the top 12 RBs. That he wasn't a finalist is very, very strange to me.

One of my favorites is Curtis Martin. I'm okay with him not being a finalist because I rank him somewhere outside the top 12, but I do question some of these other guys making the finalist list over him.

But the Perry omission is rough.

I'd have done Martin over Bettis, but it isn't a huge difference. If Perry was here I'd actually have thrown him in the coin flip tier, his career production grades out similarly to Taylor's imo (less peak but more sustained).

I feel like it's a longshot for both Grange AND Nagurski to get in; I'm guessing they'll go with one and in my experience the NFL brand is highly partial to Bronko. Campbell didn't play long enough to be taken over Tomlinson, who had inarguably one of the 3 best seasons of all time (idk what the order is with LT 06, Marino 84, and Spec Sanders, but those are the top three). The NFL has disappointed me before though.

[sheajets]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300000 ... ltime-team

NFL.com has released the 24 finalists for the 12 running back positions on the all-time team:

In alphabetical order:

Marcus Allen
Jerome Bettis
Jim Brown
Earl Campbell
Dutch Clark
Eric Dickerson
Tony Dorsett
Marshall Faulk
Red Grange
Franco Harris
Hugh McElhenny
Lenny Moore
Marion Motley
Bronko Nagurski
Walter Payton
Adrian Peterson
Barry Sanders
Gale Sayers
OJ Simpson
Emmitt Smith
Jim Taylor
Thurman Thomas
LaDainian Tomlinson
Steve Van Buren

Marcus Allen again. The longevity was there along with good production but...3 career 1,000 yard seasons. Career 4.1 ypc. Just not enough greatness.

Was he really all that better than Edgerrin James? Than Warrick Dunn? Prime Ricky Watters? I just don't see it.

[TanksAndSpartans]

I honestly didn't check who was nominated when I developed this. This is my prediction of what they will do:

QB (10): Brady, Montana, P. Manning, Unitas, Brees, Graham, Elway, Rodgers, Favre, Baugh

RB (12): J. Brown, Payton, B. Sanders, E. Smith, G. Sayers, E. Dickerson, Van Buren, L. Tomlinson, M. Motley, M. Faulk, Nagurski, Grange

WR (10): Rice, Hutson, Alworth, R. Moss, Warfield, R. Berry, M. Harrison, T. Owens, C. Johnson, L. Fitzgerald

TE (5): Ditka, Gonzalez, Winslow, Mackey, Gronk

OT (7): A. Munoz, F. Gregg, J. Ogden, A. Shell, W. Jones, Rosey Brown, Ron Mix

OG (7): Hannah, Jim Parker, Upshaw, L. Allen, B. Matthews, J. DeLamielleure, L. Little

C (4): Otto, M. Webster, Hein, D. Dawson

DE (7): Reggie White, Deacon Jones, Bruce Smith, G. Marchetti, Lee Roy Selmon, M. Strahan, Willie Davis

DT (7): Joe Greene, B. Lilly, M. Olsen, A. Page, Randy White, W. Sapp, A. Donald

MLB/ILB (6): - Butkus, Lambert, Willie Lanier, Ray Lewis, Singletary, Nitschke

OLB (6): - LT, J. Ham, B. Bell, Bednarik, Hendricks, Seau

CB (7): Night Train Lane, Deion Sanders, Mel Blount, Mike Haynes, R. Woodson, Adderley, Willie Brown

S (6): Lott, Tunnell, Reed, Houston, Willie Wood, Larry Wilson

KR (2): Billy White Shoes Johnson, Hester

K (2): Stenerud, Vinatieri

P (2): Guy, Lechler

When in doubt, I went with players named Willie (4) or peaked at ChrisBabcock's list. I'm still working on my own 100.

[Reaser]

Anyone else think they might use the second Punter spot to get someone else on? Like Baugh at P so they can have even more QB's on this 'team'. Or even Thorpe so they can get him on the team.

Not pondering as a conspiracy theory. Just seems possible to me that it could be Guy and one of them.

[Rupert Patrick]

I honestly didn't check who was nominated when I developed this. This is my prediction of what they will do:

RB (12): J. Brown, Payton, B. Sanders, E. Smith, G. Sayers, E. Dickerson, Van Buren, L. Tomlinson, M. Motley, M. Faulk, Nagurski, Grange

When in doubt, I went with players named Willie (4) or peaked at ChrisBabcock's list. I'm still working on my own 100.

I'm sure the Blue-Ribbon panel has addressed Simpson's unique situation and has concluded that what happened 15 years after he retired from football should have no bearing on his place on the top 100 list. I realize it is still (and will always be) somewhat politically incorrect to acknowledge what a great running back he was, but he is still in my opinion one of the ten greatest running backs I have ever seen; it just makes me uncomfortable to discuss it publicly because it sounds like I am defending him for what has happened in his post-football career. I know people will complain about his being there, but I would be very surprised if he is not on the Top 100 list because he belongs there.