Unanimous Choices
Tom Brady
Adrian Peterson
Joe Thomas
Marshall Yanda
J.J. Watt
Aaron Donald
Von Miller
Justin Tucker
Here's the rest of the team.
NFL 2010s All-Decade Team
Offense
Quarterbacks
Tom Brady
Aaron Rodgers
Running Backs
Adrian Peterson
Frank Gore
Marshawn Lynch
LeSean McCoy
Receivers
Antonio Brown
Larry Fitzgerald
Calvin Johnson
Julio Jones
Tight Ends
Rob Gronkowski
Travis Kelce
Offensive Tackles
Joe Thomas
Jason Peters
Tyron Smith
Joe Staley
Offensive Guards
Marshall Yanda
Jahri Evans
Logan Mankins
Zack Martin
Centers
Alex Mack
Maurkice Pouncey
Flex
Darren Sproles
Defense
Defensive Ends
J.J. Watt
Calais Campbell
Cameron Jordan
Julius Peppers
Defensive Tackles
Aaron Donald
Geno Atkins
Fletcher Cox
Ndamukong Suh
Inside Linebackers
Luke Kuechly
Bobby Wagner
Patrick Willis
Outside Linebackers
Von Miller
Chandler Jones
Khalil Mack
Cornerbacks
Patrick Peterson
Darrelle Revis
Richard Sherman
Safeties
Eric Berry
Earl Thomas
Eric Weddle
Defensive Backs
Chris Harris Jr.
Tyrann Mathieu
Specialists
Kickers
Justin Tucker
Stephen Gostkowski
Punters
Johnny Hekker
Shane Lechler
Kick Returners
Devin Hester
Cordarrelle Patterson
Punt Returners
Tyreek Hill
Darren Sproles
Coaches
Bill Belichick
Pete Carroll
***
The Hall of Fame selection committee selected a fine team. It's a team that well represents the NFL's best of the 2010s. What would we do if we didn't have at least a few issues with an all-pro/all-decade/all-time team? I have a couple issues with the 2010s All-Decade Team.
I may be biased but Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith should be on this team. He's more involved in his team's overall defense than any safety that I've ever seen. Deep coverage, zone and man coverage, run defense, pass blitzing, run blitzing, coaching, quarterbacking the defense. He does it all and he's so good at all of it. Which is why he's expected to do so much. For some reason, the media has always rated him a bit behind Eric Weddle. I don't see it. Weddle is a great, fun player with an outrageous beard but he isn't the player that Smith is or asked to do as much as Smith does. Smith's play since he was drafted in 2012 has been on par with that of Earl Thomas and Eric Berry and better than Weddle's.
The other issue that I have with the 2010s All-Decade Team has no bias. The selection committee hacked up the return specialists. The only thing that they got right is that they have Devin Hester and Cordarrelle Patterson on the team. That's good. From there it's a mess. For some reason, the selection committee selected Hester as one of the team's kick returners. Maybe his touchdown that opened Super Bowl XLI was stuck in their heads. Who knows? I don't. Hester should be the punt returner. He was a very good kick returner. He was arguably the greatest punt returner in the history of the league. As a Vikings fan, no player scared me more than Hester did when he was returning a punt. He'll probably be honored in Canton one day simply for his scary, unmatched ability to take a punt back a long ways. His kick return abilities are a nice little side talent on his resume' and he earned a spot on the All-Decade team for it. Losing track of Hester's strongest talent wasn't the only mistake that the selection committee made with the returners. They selected Tyreek Hill as one of the team's punt returners. He was a full time punt returner as a rookie in 2016. He was a part-time punt returner in 2017 and 2018. He returned a single punt last season. He was a dangerous punt returner when he did it, maybe even Devin Haster-dangerous, but he didn't do it nearly enough to earn All-Decade honors. Again, at least the selection committee did get Cordarrelle Patterson and Devin Hester on the team. Patterson is arguably the greatest kick returner in league history and Hester is arguably the greatest punt returner. If it was me picking the team the 2010s All-Decade return specialists would look something like this:
Kick Returners
Cordarrelle Patterson
Devin Hester
Punt Returners
Devin Hester
Darren Sproles
I've heard some belly-aching from talking heads that go a little something like this: "How is Rob Gronkowski not a unanimous selection?" Well, his occasional injuries and a player like Travis Kelce are a pretty good reason. Gronkowski was the best tight end of the decade. An argument can, and will, be made that he's the best tight end to ever play in the league. Kelce is also one of the best tight ends to ever play. I can easily see one, or more, of the selection committee throwing a vote Kelce's way because of that talent as well as the unfortunate fact that Gronkowski wasn't always available to his team. It's easy to say that a certain player should be a unanimous pick for a team like this if you don't consider all of the supremely talented players.
A couple 2010s All-Decade Team nuggets:
Cal football hasn't had a lot of success during the past decade. The Golden Bears do, however, have very nice representation on the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
I may be biased but Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith should be on this team. He's more involved in his team's overall defense than any safety that I've ever seen. Deep coverage, zone and man coverage, run defense, pass blitzing, run blitzing, coaching, quarterbacking the defense. He does it all and he's so good at all of it. Which is why he's expected to do so much. For some reason, the media has always rated him a bit behind Eric Weddle. I don't see it. Weddle is a great, fun player with an outrageous beard but he isn't the player that Smith is or asked to do as much as Smith does. Smith's play since he was drafted in 2012 has been on par with that of Earl Thomas and Eric Berry and better than Weddle's.
The other issue that I have with the 2010s All-Decade Team has no bias. The selection committee hacked up the return specialists. The only thing that they got right is that they have Devin Hester and Cordarrelle Patterson on the team. That's good. From there it's a mess. For some reason, the selection committee selected Hester as one of the team's kick returners. Maybe his touchdown that opened Super Bowl XLI was stuck in their heads. Who knows? I don't. Hester should be the punt returner. He was a very good kick returner. He was arguably the greatest punt returner in the history of the league. As a Vikings fan, no player scared me more than Hester did when he was returning a punt. He'll probably be honored in Canton one day simply for his scary, unmatched ability to take a punt back a long ways. His kick return abilities are a nice little side talent on his resume' and he earned a spot on the All-Decade team for it. Losing track of Hester's strongest talent wasn't the only mistake that the selection committee made with the returners. They selected Tyreek Hill as one of the team's punt returners. He was a full time punt returner as a rookie in 2016. He was a part-time punt returner in 2017 and 2018. He returned a single punt last season. He was a dangerous punt returner when he did it, maybe even Devin Haster-dangerous, but he didn't do it nearly enough to earn All-Decade honors. Again, at least the selection committee did get Cordarrelle Patterson and Devin Hester on the team. Patterson is arguably the greatest kick returner in league history and Hester is arguably the greatest punt returner. If it was me picking the team the 2010s All-Decade return specialists would look something like this:
Kick Returners
Cordarrelle Patterson
Devin Hester
Punt Returners
Devin Hester
Darren Sproles
I've heard some belly-aching from talking heads that go a little something like this: "How is Rob Gronkowski not a unanimous selection?" Well, his occasional injuries and a player like Travis Kelce are a pretty good reason. Gronkowski was the best tight end of the decade. An argument can, and will, be made that he's the best tight end to ever play in the league. Kelce is also one of the best tight ends to ever play. I can easily see one, or more, of the selection committee throwing a vote Kelce's way because of that talent as well as the unfortunate fact that Gronkowski wasn't always available to his team. It's easy to say that a certain player should be a unanimous pick for a team like this if you don't consider all of the supremely talented players.
A couple 2010s All-Decade Team nuggets:
Cal football hasn't had a lot of success during the past decade. The Golden Bears do, however, have very nice representation on the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.
Aaron Rodgers
Marshawn Lynch
Marshawn Lynch
Alex Mack
Cameron Jordan
Maybe it's just me but I find it kinda humorous that long-time social antagonists Richard Sherman and Darrelle Revis are cozied up together on the 2010s All-Decade Team.
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