I was listening to ESPN radio today, and they were discussing which of the top 20 players of all time you would select. Most people would select a QB, and only one person would pick a defensive player (Lawrence Taylor.) Besides a QB, the next most popular answer was Jim Brown or Jerry Rice. On defense, one of the only defensive players mentioned was Dick Butkis, with all kinds of qualifiers about how he couldn’t do that today and he specialized in stopping the run.
My questions:
Besides QB, who would you pick?
The question was stated (I know they meant something else): If you could add one all-time player to an existing team, who would you add? They ignored this later, but really, do the Steelers, Saints, or Chargers need a different QB? So, if you added this all-time player to your team, who would it be?
Can you build a team around a defensive player or offensive lineman? Imho, if there was a fantasy draft, I wouldn’t mind being forced to take Rod Woodson, Troy Polamalu, Jared Allen, Bruce Smith or Darrell Revis #1.
If you had to pick a defensive player first, who would you pick?
What’s the weakest position you would build a team around? I think I would need at least a safety. TE or special teams would be far too weak.
My answers:
I love offensive linemen. The only offensive lineman on today’s list was Anthony Munoz. I haven’t seen him play, but in my fan time, I would say Johnathan Ogden. However, I don’t expect to win. I would have to go with Brown/Rice.
My team is the Steelers, and as of today, we need a CB or OL. I would take Revis or Woodson (in his prime.)
I would need Bruce Smith, Deacon Jones, or Mean Joe Greene.
Rod Woodson or Troy Polamalu.
I would take an OL. I don’t know about the all-time guys, but of today’s players, I would need a player like Jeff Saturday.
QB’s are somewhat overrated. Mediocre qb’s like Jeff Hostetler, Mark Rypien, and Eli Manning all won Super Bowls agains considerably better qb’s. Elway lost to Phil Simms and Doug Williams in back to back Super Bowls, and both were record breaking blowouts (I think, the Redskins game definitely was).
I wouldn’t even consider a wide receiver. Great as Rice was, I’d rather have Ronnie Lott.
Although, even with Sanders, Detroit wasn’t a particularly good team.
For that matter, the same could be said for the 1970s Bills with O.J. Simpson, or the 1970s Bears with Walter Payton (it was only once they had a dominating defense in the 1980s that they became a powerhouse team, and, by that point, Payton was no longer in his prime).
Probably a great WR, like Rice or Don Hutson. The flaw, of course, is that you need to get them the ball.
2. The question was stated (I know they meant something else): If you could add one all-time player to an existing team, who would you add?
I’ll answer this for my team, the Packers. Offensive line still looks very thin. I’d add a great offensive tackle, like an Anthony Munoz (or, pulling from the Pack’s history, Forrest Gregg).
**3. Can you build a team around a defensive player or offensive lineman? **
I think so, with the right player. See Lawrence Taylor.
**4. If you had to pick a defensive player first, who would you pick? **
Someone whom offenses specifically have had to game-plan around on every play. Taylor, Butkus, and Ray Nitschke immediately come to mind, as do defensive backs like Deion Sanders, Rod Woodson, and Dick “Night Train” Lane.
5. What’s the weakest position you would build a team around?
Hmmmm, maybe an all-purpose back like Faulk or Tomlinson. Someone who can act as a receiver as well as a runner, and even block a little.
Packers - add Reggie White to the current team. Their d-line sucked last year, and this year both Kampman and Jolly are gone. Although given the sack-a-palooza on Rodgers last year, adding in an o-lineman might be the key.
The Ravens won a Super Bowl in 20010 around Ray Lewis, so yes you can. Remember, the Ravens offense sucked that year, going 5 games without a TD.
For a defensive draft, Revis or Allen are good choices among current players. All time would probably be LT.
Probably a center, although good ones like Saturday are actually much more valuable than people realize.
People underrate centers pretty routinely. A center in most systems has to read the defensive front line and call shifts to the O-line and the quarterback, time the snap properly and then block.
It isn’t a position for wimps, and in a locker room like the Steelers the center is a team leader as much or more than the quarterback. Think Mike Webster or Dermontti Dawson.
The Steelers are in the process of slotting Maurkice Pouncey, their #1 draft pick, into center. That’s a good move, from the looks of it.
Screw Lawrence Taylor and felony indictment for the thing with the child hooker. Even had that not happened, Rickey Jackson was every bit as good, with less attitude.
Not sure I’d build a team from the defense that way, but if I had to do it, and I get one all timer, it’s #57 all the way.
Deacon Jones is the grandpappy of pass rushing and i think he perfected it, even without the headslap.
call me old fashioned but i honestly think a MLB is where the defense starts and ends. Ray Lewis is a once-a-generation defensive player and for him to be at MLB is incredible.
Gimme Walter Payton. A durable, do-everything back with speed and quickness…yes please. Playing today with the emphasis on passing Payton would probably even shine more than he did then, he’d have been like Marshall Faulk squared. He’s even versatile enough to do the Wildcat. On that note, adding Payton to today’s Martz led Bears would a really exciting thing to watch.
With modern rules I think the only historical player on the defensive side that I’d be interested in is Ronnie Lott. The Safety position has risen in prominence and guys like Ed Reed and Polamalu have demonstrated how trans-formative they can be. Lott was better than both. I think modern schemes have somewhat deprecated the value of the front 7 guys and made them a bit more interchangeable. Taylor is the only guy that’s even close and I think the rules protecting the QB would really limit his value.
The Lions have proven that QB’s, RB’s and WR’s don’t amount to much if the offensive line cannot block.
I’ll point to the inception of the Jaguars franchise and their drafting of Tony Boselli as an example. No, they never won the Superbowl, but once you have that guy at LT (and I admit they are rare), you build around that.
Those were some good Jag teams with Brunell in his prime, Boselli, Fred Taylor (when healthy), McCardell and Jimmy Smith.
A one-in-a-million player on a mediocre team. Those teams suffered from bad defense and a bad QB in Mitchell, even with Herman Moore being the stud he was along with Barry. Just not quite enough pieces in place.
The Lions have proved that bad management will overcome great players. They have a list of pretty damn good players that wanted out as soon as it was possible.
The problem is fans judge the success by wins and losses. Some teams go by bottom lines. The Lions have made a ton of money Ford bought them for 3 million and they are worth about a billion. We have built hem 2 count them 2 stadiums. They get what they want and deliver nothing past the minimum for the fans. But man they made a shitload of money for them.
Ben has pretty much scrambled them into the playoffs every year.