All-Time 11-Man NFL Team

Introduction:

Recently, I happened upon this article. Its writers (the staff of Cold Hard Football Facts) attempted to create the best 11-man football team they possibly could. In other words, each player would have to be capable of performing on offense, defense, and even special teams. But that article's authors fell into a trap: since most players who played on both sides of the ball are very, very old, they picked mostly these players for their team.

(They also did other stupid things, like trying to pick "winners". In that article they also claim that their team "represent[s] the full spectrum of league history," which, as you shall soon see, is nonsense.)

The result of that approach is that their team is mostly composed of football players from the ancient era. Only three players on their list (Lawrence Taylor, Deion Sanders, and Joe Greene) played the majority of their career in the post-merger league. Six of their players even predate Jim Brown, which means the majority of their team was playing in the racist NFL, back in the era of quotas and segregation.

Yes, the modern NFL demands specialization, which is why it's so rare to see a modern player play on both sides of the ball. But that doesn't mean they're unable to do so. In fact, I have assembled here (with some collaboration) what I believe to be a far better team than the one CHFF offers in their article. I will first present the team and then offer my justifications for each player below.


The Eleven:

Russell Wilson: QB/SS
Randy Moss: WR/FS
Deion Sanders: CB/WR/KR/PR
Chad Johnson: WR/CB/K/P
Walter Jones: LT/DT
Dwight Stephenson: C/DT/LS
JJ Watt: OLB/RT
Lawrence Taylor: OLB/TE
Patrick Willis: MLB/RB
Reggie White: DE/OG
Bruce Smith: DE/OG


The Team By Position:

QB: Russell Wilson
RB: Patrick Willis
WR: Randy Moss
WR: Chad Johnson
WR: Deion Sanders
TE: Lawrence Taylor
LT: Walter Jones
LG: Reggie White
C: Dwight Stephenson
RG: Bruce Smith
RT: JJ Watt

DE: Reggie White
DT: Walter Jones
DT: Dwight Stephenson
DE: Bruce Smith
OLB: Lawrence Taylor
MLB: Patrick Willis
OLB: JJ Watt
CB: Deion Sanders
CB: Chad Johnson
FS: Randy Moss
SS: Russell Wilson

K: Chad Johnson
P: Chad Johnson
LS: Dwight Stephenson
KR/PR: Deion Sanders


Justifications:

Russell Wilson: At quarterback, my first priority was to secure an elite passer. The position of quarterback in the NFL is arguably the most valuable position in all of sports, and this importance has only increased as the league has tilted more towards passing offenses in recent years. Sacrificing passing talent for other abilities, like athleticism or versatility, may seem like a good idea for an 11-man team, but I would argue that prioritizing passing will give our team a bigger advantage than the one we would gain by prioritizing other abilities.

Fortunately, this is no longer a tradeoff we have to grapple with. This past season, Russell Wilson has proven himself to be an elite passer while also possessing all the other attributes we're looking for. As a passer, he is elite, having led the league in passer rating and gone on one of the greatest passing tears in league history this season. As a runner, he is exceptionally elusive and deceptively quick, while also possessing a good instinct to get down or out of bounds when a hit is coming. He is relatively athletic, although he wouldn't necessarily be my first choice if I had to play a quarterback on defense. That being said, Wilson is also a versatile athlete, having been drafted on three separate occasions (including once in the 5th round) by MLB teams.

But Wilson's trump card (and the biggest reason he's on this roster rather than Cam Newton) is his ability to survive under pressure: Wilson is astoundingly good at maintaining a high level of play while being rushed. Given that this team's offensive line is comprised of 60% non-offensive-linemen (which he already has to deal with from his offensive line on the Seahawks), Wilson is easily the best man for the job.

On defense, I elected to have Wilson play strong safety. He doesn't have the elite speed that you'd expect from a cornerback, nor does he have the size to play linebacker. But he is athletic enough to lay down some hits, and his knowledge of the opposing team's offense will be outstanding. I don't see Wilson dominating at his new position, but I could easily see him performing at least decently.

Randy Moss: Since our offensive line was going to be a nightmare, I wanted to provide Wilson with an elite weapon, someone whom he could lean on to help him carry the offense. Moss is a perfect candidate. Not only is he the easily greatest deep-ball threat of all time, but he's also elite at everything else you could possibly want from a pass-catching wide receiver: speed, quickness, hands, route-running, and elusiveness. (If you haven't seen much of Moss, I highly recommend this video, and, if you have time, try this one. At the VERY LEAST, watch the play starting at 1:19 in the first video, and the play directly after that.)

Moss was an unstoppable freak of nature, utterly uncoverable and constantly open. He made opposing defensive backs look like fools as he beat two or three of them at a time to the ball. It wasn't just his speed and quickness that made him so good, but also his sense of timing and his acceleration. He had an innate understanding of exactly when his defender's attention would lapse, just for a millisecond, at which point Moss would instantaneously accelerate to his top speed, which far outpaced anyone else on the field. He could juke defenders by simply slowing down and speeding back up (as he did in the play I mentioned at 1:19 in the video), and his body control was absolute.

Moss was, of course, a multisport star. While in high school, he was twice named West Virginia Player of the Year in basketball, despite playing on the same team as future NBA player Jason Williams. He was also an elite runner in track and field both in high school and college; during his freshman year at Marshall, despite not having raced competitively for four years, Moss performed among the best in the country in the 200-meter dash, with a 21.15.

On defense, the obvious position for Moss was at free safety. I think he would have made a great cornerback, but free safety is honestly his natural position. With his speed and unparalleled ability to catch jump-balls at their high points, I suspect Moss would catch more interceptions than he would allow completions.

Deion Sanders: One of the few choices that CHFF and I agree on, Sanders is practically a gimme in an exercise like this. To start with, he's an all-time great cornerback who was also an elite kick and punt returner, earning six First-Team All-Pros and eight Pro Bowl appearances for three different teams. He was probably the greatest cover corner ever, despite having relatively unimpressive technique, simply because with his inhuman speed (his 40-yard dash time was a 4.21, one of the fastest ever recorded) he could cover half the field easily.

But Sanders was much more than just a football star. In high school he played baseball and basketball, and in college he dropped basketball and added track, but unlike most NFL players he didn't drop these sports when he turned pro. Instead, he played two pro careers simultaneously: from 1989 to 2001 (at which time he had retired from baseball and, temporarily, football), Sanders played 163 games of football for four different teams, making and winning two Super Bowls (in '94 with the 49ers, and in '95 with the Cowboys). At the same time, he played 71 games of baseball for four different teams, making and losing a World Series in '92 with the Braves. (In that series, Sanders played exceptionally well, batting .533 with 4 runs, 8 hits, 2 doubles, and 1 RBI, despite playing on a broken foot.) Sanders is the only player to ever play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.

It probably won't surprise you to hear that Sanders was also a competent wide receiver, catching 60 passes for 784 yards and 3 touchdowns in his career. That's the position I chose to start him at on offense. With his incredible speed, legendary versatility and athleticism, and moderate experience, I expect him to perform very well. Sanders is also, naturally, my kick and punt returner, since he excels at both.

Chad Johnson: This one may come as a surprise. Johnson is not one of the greatest receivers of all time, although he is very good, and he's not one of the most versatile athletes at the position, although he is fairly athletic. The real reason he's on this team is because of a relatively unknown ability that Johnson possesses: he can kick. Now, when I made this team, I decided that under no circumstances would I sacrifice a position on offense and defense to a kicker or a punter. I don't consider either of those positions to be as valuable as most people do, and I suspect that many NFL players can probably learn to punt fairly easily. That being said, it is occasionally necessary (or at least very desirable) to be able to kick the ball, and Johnson provides that versatility. (I should note that I'm not convinced of Johnson's ability to kick off effectively, but he might be able to learn.) I have Johnson listed as both my kicker and punter, but it's entirely possible that another player turns out to be a more effective punter and takes the position from him.

Although Johnson is not at the athletic level of most other players on this list, he is an excellent receiver. From around 2003-2007, Johnson was a household name and one of the best receivers in the league, playing for an excellent Bengals team that starred Carson Palmer, Rudi Johnson, Chad Johnson, and TJ Houshmandzadeh in what a commentator once described as a "four-headed monster" on offense. I'm playing Johnson at cornerback on defense, since I think wide receiver is the position most closely related to cornerback, so I suspect some of the skills are transferable.

Walter Jones: In the making of this team, the most important attribute to consider was, of course, versatility. So the fact that Jones makes the team despite having virtually no experience playing anything but left tackle is a testament both to how superb he was at the position, and to how important the position is to a team.

Let’s start with left tackle. Prior to around 1980, left tackle was just another position on the offensive line, played much the same as any other. Big bodies, big frames, real strong. All that changed in the early ‘80s, when dominant edge-rushers started to take over the league. The key transformative figure in this period was Lawrence Taylor, who’s widely considered the best defender ever, and whose influence on the position of left tackle is well documented in The Blind Side (the book, not the movie), which you should read.

The idea, to briefly summarize, was this: most quarterbacks are right-handed, meaning that when they drop back to pass, they’re facing towards the right side of the field. Therefore, if a pass-rusher could beat the left tackle, he could hit the quarterback’s blind side, which would both prevent the QB from evading the hit and increase the chances of a turnover. And since Taylor was such a dominant pass-rusher, NFL teams naturally had to compensate by making their left tackles better able to hold off Taylor and pass-rushers like him.

The new left tackles were a different breed than any who came before. They were tall and incredibly strong, but they were fast too, with exceptional footwork and impeccable technique. The best of them virtually never got beaten. The first LT in the new tradition was Anthony Munoz, followed by Willie Roaf, Jonathan Ogden, Orlando Pace, and of course Walter Jones.

The legend of Walter Jones was stunning to behold. He started 12 years for the Seahawks, playing in 180 games and blocking for more than 5,500 passes. Yet in all those plays, he only allowed 23 sacks and was called for holding only nine times—and 3 of those 23 sacks came in Jones’s very last game of his career, when he was injured and playing against the great DeMarcus Ware. But back in 2005, when Ware was first exploding onto the scene, Jones didn’t even know who Ware was; he was so good regardless of the competition that it simply didn’t matter who he was going up against.

When back problems prevented him from squatting to stay in shape, Jones decided to train every morning in the offseason by pushing around a 6,800-pound Cadillac Escalade. And he did this in Alabama, in July. Mike Holmgren, who coached such talent as Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Shaun Alexander, and Steve Hutchinson, described Jones as the best offensive player he’d ever coached. There’s some debate as to who is the best left tackle of all time, but the argument begins and ends with Jones.

The bottom line is that Jones is such an incredible athlete, and LT is such an important position, that it’s justified to spend one of our roster spots on him. On defense, he’ll play DT, where his size, strength, and blocking skills will be the most valuable.

Dwight Stephenson: Very few people besides me and ProFootballFocus realize just how good Stephenson was. PFF, for their part, named their MVP-replacement award the “Dwight Stephenson Award,” with the intention of naming the best player in the NFL regardless of position. (JJ Watt, by the way, won the first three Stephenson awards.)

Stephenson played center for the Dolphins for eight years in the ‘80s. For his first two years he didn’t start full-time, but in his last six years he started every game he played, establishing a reputation as not only the best center in the league, but one of the best to ever play the position. Tragically, he suffered a terrible leg injury during the 1987 season, forcing his early retirement at the age of 30.

Stephenson has become legendary, at least among me and the writers at PFF, for the extraordinarily high level of play he brought to the center position during his relatively short tenure. Bear Bryant, the legendary Alabama coach, called Stephenson the best player he ever coached.

The center’s impact can be subtle: he’s responsible for many aspects of line play beyond blocking, such as line adjustments, helping the other linemen with their assignments, some audibles, and, of course, snapping the ball. As a result, it’s usually hard to point at a statistic and claim that it shows how well a center is playing. With Stephenson it’s easy: for the six seasons that he started, from 1982-1987, the Dolphins led the league in fewest sacks allowed every single year. (And lest you think this is a result of Dan Marino—who certainly played a role—recall that Marino was drafted in 1983, the year after this streak started.) Admittedly, there was certainly other talent on the line; this streak continued for three years after Stephenson’s retirement, as the Dolphins set an all-time record at nine straight seasons. (Marino actually does deserve credit for these later seasons.) But there’s little question that Stephenson was instrumental in establishing the legacy of great pass-protecting O-lines and allowing the young Marino to develop un-sacked.

Center is an extremely cerebral position, at which experience and football IQ play a higher role than at any other position besides quarterback. It’s a hard position to play for someone who hasn’t played it before. I’m therefore choosing Stephenson, who played center almost exclusively, over a more versatile athlete. On defense, Stephenson will be my second defensive tackle; I don’t expect him to dominate like Jones, since he’s not the same level of athlete, but he’ll do fine. Finally, Stephenson will of course be my long snapper, since he’s by far the most qualified player on the roster for that role.

JJ Watt: What is there to say about JJ Watt? Seriously, what? I’ve said it all before. Starting in his second year, Watt has done things that I’ve never seen another defensive player do. At worst, he’s the third best defensive end of all time, after Reggie White and Bruce Smith. At best, he’s the greatest defensive player in league history, a singular force of domination, both unstoppable and unmatched.

Watt started off his career with a slow year, the only one he’s ever had. His sophomore year in 2012 was one of the greatest defensive seasons of all time: he led the league in sacks with 20.5, batted down more passes than any defensive lineman in history, set an all-time record for tackles for loss (TFL), and annihilated every advanced stat that so much as considered him, from PFF’s grades to AdvancedNFLStats’s Expected Points Added to FootballOutsiders’s Defeats. Watt easily won Defensive Player of the Year and was in the conversation for MVP, although it stupidly went to Adrian Peterson.

Watt’s third year saw him “regress” a little, at least in regards to traditional statistics, although some sources had his performance as on par or even better than his 2012 season. His fourth year, Watt put up an unprecedented second 20+ sack season, recording 20.5 for the second time. Again, this is something that no one, from DeMarcus Ware to Reggie White to Lawrence Taylor himself, ever achieved. JJ Watt did it when he was 25. Watt won his second DPOY award, becoming only the seventh player to win the award multiple times, after Joe Greene, Lawrence Taylor (who won it thrice), Mike Singletary, Bruce Smith, Reggie White, and Ray Lewis.

This past season Watt played injured for much of the year, but he nevertheless led the league in sacks and most advanced stats and took home his third DPOY, making him the second player to win three awards (after Taylor).

What makes Watt so great? First, he has the most well-rounded game of any defender I’ve ever seen. He’s clearly an elite pass-rusher, despite the fact that he plays many of his snaps as a 3-4 defensive end, a position that doesn’t traditionally get many sacks. But he’s also equally dominant against the run, and he excels at knocking down passes. He’s the best I’ve ever seen at getting off blocks and penetrating the offense. He’s incredibly versatile, playing about 45% of his snaps at 5-tech, 30% from 3-4 tech, and a little less than 20% at the uber-wide 9-tech [pff graph]. His profile matches fairly closely with Michael Bennett, who actually plays more snaps on the interior of the DL than Watt, and fewer on the extreme edge.

It’s this versatility that makes me comfortable playing Watt at OLB. It may seem strange to start a 6’5, 289-pound linebacker, but Watt has the insane athleticism and the versatility to make it work. On offense, I’m playing him at right tackle; he’s proven to be such a brilliant, natural, dominant athlete that if anyone can quickly pick up the intricacies of OL play, it’s him.

Lawrence Taylor: I’ve already covered a lot of what makes Taylor so legendary, but it’s worth repeating. Taylor was drafted in 1981 and immediately notched 9.5 sacks. The next year, the NFL started officially recording sacks. Admittedly, a lot of credit for this change is owed to Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko, who put up 20 sacks and 20.5 sacks, respectively, in ‘81. But we’ll stick with the legend.

Taylor might be the most influential player in modern NFL history. He’s almost singlehandedly responsible for the invention of the modern blitzing OLB, or at least he’s the first to make it into a real threat. As mentioned in the Walter Jones writeup above, Taylor is also responsible for the creation of the modern left tackle position by forcing the offense to account for the pressure he brought to the blind-side.

Taylor famously first started blitzing the blind side against the instruction of his coach (then Defensive Coordinator), the great Bill Parcells. Parcells instructed Taylor to drop back into coverage, but Taylor blitzed instead. During practices, and eventually games, this happened again and again, until finally Parcells gave in and let Taylor blitz as much as he wanted.

From that time on, Taylor struck fear into the heart of quarterbacks. One QB, panicking that he couldn’t find Taylor before the snap, called a time-out, only to find that Taylor was sitting on the bench. Legendary coach Joe Gibbs created the two tight end offense and the h-back position in order to block Taylor, after discovering that the traditional method of blocking blitzing linebackers with running backs was insufficient to slow Taylor’s onslaught. Other coaches started using linemen to block Taylor.

Taylor and the great Giants defenses of the ‘80s he led won two Super Bowls, one in 1986 (to top off one of the greatest defensive seasons ever), and another in 1990. Taylor himself won three DPOYs, the most ever (since tied by Watt). He even won MVP in 1986, becoming one of only two defensive players to ever win it (along with Alan Page in 1971), and the only one to win it unanimously. Taylor is now considered, with good reason, the greatest defensive player ever.

On offense, I put Taylor at tight end not because of any particular pass-catching ability—his nine career interceptions, while respectable for a pass-rushing OLB, are not impressive—but rather because I think he’ll do a fine job blocking, and may be able to catch a few passes. Remember, we already have some amazing receivers, so that’s not a huge concern at this point.

Patrick Willis: Willis may seem like a strange choice for this roster. After all, although he is certainly a superb MLB and one of the best I’ve seen, he’s not in the conversation for GOAT at the position. He’s here for three reasons: first, I think he’s one of the best athletes to ever play the position; second, he’s an amazingly strong person with an incredible story, and I just like him; and third, beyond being a great linebacker, he was also an excellent high school running back.

His senior year of high school, Willis carried the ball 194 times for 2,167 yards (that’s 11.2 yards per carry) and 30 TDs. Those numbers look good even in comparison to legit NFL running backs. More importantly, the offensive line I’ve assembled, while it won’t be particularly great at pass-blocking, should absolutely crush anyone while run-blocking. Jones is one of the greatest run-blocking tackles ever; Stephenson, while he’s better at pass-blocking, was also a solid run-blocker; White and Smith are strong enough to be effective at guard; and Watt is such a gifted athlete that he should be able to figure out right tackle. If your offensive line can open up holes, you don’t have to be a great running back to run through them.

But of course Willis is best at middle linebacker. Prior to his early retirement, Willis looked on track to make the Hall of Fame on an easy first ballot. He made Pro Bowls in each of his first seven years, being named First Team All-Pro in five of those. Then, after an injury afflicted him during the 2014 season, Willis abruptly retired. Suddenly, he was a borderline Hall of Famer at best, and he’d never put together the kind of season that, say, Ray Lewis did in 2000, ‘03, or ‘08. But the advantage Willis brings at running back makes up for the small gap between peak Lewis and peak Willis at linebacker.

Reggie White: White is best known for three things. First, being the single most dominant defensive lineman to ever play, although Watt is taking a run at that title. Second, for being the first high-profile free agent in the first year of NFL free agency; White switched teams from Philadelphia to Green Bay, and despite being 32 years old, he went on to put up another six dominant seasons. Third, White’s known for his Evangelical Christianity, as well as his racism and homophobia. For this final reason, I’d actually prefer not to have White on my team, but when it comes to defensive ends, there’s really no one better.

White played fifteen seasons, of which thirteen were great, and the other two were just good. The “good” seasons include a 13-sack rookie effort and a 5.5-sack final season at the age of 39. Amazingly, every season in between those two was far better. Most notably, White put up 21 sacks in only 12 games during the strike-shortened 1987 season, a rate which prorates to 28 sacks over a full 16-game season. In each of his first nine seasons, White put up at least 11 sacks; his 198.0 career sacks is second to Bruce Smith’s 200 only because White played his first two years of professional football for the USFL, putting up 23.5 total sacks as a member of the Memphis Showboats.

I’m playing White at guard on offense. The guard position requires some skill, but it’s much easier to play than tackle or center. White is strong enough to run-block and I think he can be taught to defend the bull-rush.

Bruce Smith: If Reggie White is the greatest defensive end of all time, Smith is a close second. He played 19 years, from the age of 22 to 40, and totaled an NFL-record 200 sacks, two more than White. (For comparison, third place belongs to Kevin Greene, with 160. White and Smith are on another plane.) Smith’s sack output is made even more impressive by the fact that he played most of his career as a DE in a 3-4 defense, a position that usually has very little pass-rush production.

During Smith’s 15-year prime, he broke 10 sacks 13 times, including a career-best 19.0 sacks in 1990. That season the Bills made the Super Bowl for the first of four straight appearances. In ‘90, ‘92, and ‘93, Smith was an integral part of the Bills’ defenses, which averaged 16.4 points allowed per game. In 1991, when Smith missed 11 games due to injury, the Bills’ defense lagged, allowing 19.9 PPG. And while that’s not quite the same degree of impact that the great Bob Sanders had on the Colts’ defenses, it’s still impressive.

I’m starting Smith, like White, at guard on offense. Again, he’s strong enough to run-block, and he’s hopefully gifted enough to defend against the bull-rush.


Team Analysis:

That's the team I've settled on, and although it probably can be improved, I've spent enough hours on it to be satisfied with it. But before I wrap up this article, I want to consider what the team might look like on each side of the ball.

On offense, our big strength is the passing game. Wilson is an elite passer, and Moss and Johnson are both exceptional pass-catchers. Deion should also be competent at the position, although I have my doubts about Willis and Taylor as receivers. But Wilson's other big strength is his elusiveness and mobility, which will come in handy given the weakness of our offensive line.

Jones and Stephenson are exceptional linemen, but White, Smith, and Watt are not. It's possible that they'll pick up some skills along the way, but they'll also allow a lot of pressures without a doubt. Fortunately, Wilson is used to playing with terrible OLs, especially at the guard and RT positions. Our running game (outside of Wilson) is probably also not going to be very productive, but I have hope that our giant, incredibly athletic DL filling in on the line will be able to pick up the relatively simple art of run-blocking. If all else fails, we can slot the best DL/OL at LG and run every play to the left.

Our defensive line is interesting. White and Smith are obviously going to dominate anyone, but I'm not sure how Jones and Stephenson will fill in at DT. They're both large enough to succeed at the position, certainly, and they have the athleticism to be solid players, but it's all about whether they pick up the necessary skills to hold the gaps. (I'm confident that we'll get enough pressure and penetration from our DEs and OLBs to make up for a lack of pressure on the internal line.)

Our linebackers, on that note, are exceptional. Taylor is obviously an all-time great; Willis is, if not quite in that category, still a Hall of Fame level player; and Watt, albeit not actually an OLB, will be elite at the position.

Our secondary is more of a question mark, as we're starting three offensive players at our four positions. Deion is the perfect cornerback for this situation, however, as he's renowned for his ability to blanket one side of the field, allowing our other players to focus their attention on the opposite side. What's more, I genuinely think Moss will be an elite free safety; he has the instincts and the physical skills, and I'm optimistic that he'll be able to pick up the tackling skills (not that he'll allow too many completions). Johnson also has the skills needed to be at least an okay cornerback; he can track the ball and he's certainly athletic enough, but cornerback is such a skill-heavy position that it's not clear either way.

Our one big weakness in the secondary is Wilson at safety. But there are three reasons I'm comfortable with the choice. First, we absolutely need a true quarterback to start on offense, and I don't think there are many QBs who would be better on defense than Wilson. Second, Wilson has underrated athleticism, strength, speed, and durability, all of which will help him at the strong safety position. And third, SS is a relatively non-crucial position on defense. That is to say that Wilson won't be specifically required to do any role, like how a CB needs to cover WRs, or a FS needs to cover deep routes. We can basically use Wilson as a roaming safety, covering slow guys if needed and helping with the run. He might also find success as a shot-caller for the defense, using his deep knowledge of offensive strategy to his advantage as a safety.

Overall, although we have some weaknesses, I'm very happy with the strengths that this team brings. What's more, I'm completely confident that my team would utterly crush CHFF's 11-man team into the ground. And in the end, isn't that what really matters?