Top 5 of Each Position (Offense)

[bigbluedefense]

Yup, it's officially the dark days of the offseason. So name your top 5s of each position

QB

1. Tom Brady
2. Aaron Rodgers
3. Drew Brees
4. Eli Manning
5. Ben Roethlisberger

NOTE: Peyton didn't make the top 5 bc he has to prove first he can come back from injury.

RB

1. Arian Foster
2. LeSean McCoy
3. Adrian Peterson
4. MJD
5. Matt Forte

NOTE: 2 things. One, I think AD is overrated nowadays. Why? I don't question that he's the best pure running back in the NFL, but it's a passing league now, and AD's pass protection and ability to catch out of the backfield are below average. That's why Shady and Foster are ahead of him. Two, I would have Jamaal Charles on this list but I need to see how he recovers from that ACL first.

FB

1. Vonta Leach
2. Marcel Reece
3. Ovie Mughelli
4. Jim Kleinsasser
5. Le'Ron McClain

NOTE: Kuhn is not that good.

WR

1. Calvin Johnson
2. Larry Fitzgerald
3. Andre Johnson
4. Wes Welker
5. Hakeem Nicks

NOTE: The top 3 are pretty much etched in stone. I went Welker 4 bc of productivity, and I went Nicks 5 bc out of the rest of the fringe top 5 WRs in the game right now, the rest are either too old (Steve Smith) or not complete enough (Mike Wallace) to put ahead of Nicks. Nicks is complete and has production to boot. I'm sure homerism plays a part in my decision, but I do think Nicks can put his hat in that top 5 spot. AJ Green is also too green to get it, and Moss needs to prove he's good Randy again before I give it to him.

TE

1. Rob Gronkowski
2. Jimmy Graham
3. Jason Witten
4. Vernon Davis
5. Antonio Gates

NOTE: Gates got real fat. Gonzalez is good but I don't know if he's top 5 anymore. Gresham needs more production to get on this list, ditto for Olsen and the rest of the fringe guys.

LT

1. Joe Thomas
2. Jake Long
3. Jason Peters
4. Duane Brown
5. Andrew Whithworth

NOTE: Peters tore his achilles but I put him on the list bc you can argue that he was the best LT in football last year. He was a beast. I had trouble picking the 5th guy, I went with Whithworth over Penn, Clady, Gross, Trent Williams, and Roos.

LG

1. Carl Nicks
2. Benn Grubbs
3. Mike Iupati
4. Stefen Wiesnewski
5. Evan Mathis

NOTE: I may have Wiesneski higher than most but I think he's an absolute beast.

C

1. Nick Mangold
2. Ryan Kalil
3. Chris Meyers
4. Alex Mack
5. Maurkice Pouncey

RG

1. Jahri Evans
2. Harvey Dahl
3. Marshal Yanda
4. Jake Scott
5. Brian Waters

RT

1. Eric Winston
2. Tyron Smith
3. Brian Bulaga
4. Tyson Clabo
5. Michael Oher

[Bob Sanders Dreadlock]

QB
1 Aaron Rodgers
2 Drew Brees
3 Tom Brady
4 Eli Manning
5 Ben Roethlisberger

RB
1 Arian Foster
2 Lesean McCoy
3 MJD
4 Ray Rice
5 Matt Forte

WR
1 Calvin Johnson
2 Larry Fitzgerald
3 Victor Cruz
4 Andre Johnson
5 Wes Welker

TE
1 Rob Gronkowski
2 Jimmy Graham
3 Dallas Clark...jaykayz Vernon Davis
4 Jason Witten
5 Aaron Hernandez

[Don Vito]

Logan Mankins would like to have a word with you

[scottyboy]

uhm, 'scuse me but

WHERE THE **** IS RAYMELL RICE?

[Mufasa]

QB
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Ben Roethlisberger
5. Eli Manning

RB
1. Adrian Peterson
2. Ray Rice
3. Maurice Jones-Drew
4. LeSean McCoy
5. Arian Foster

FB
1. Jed Collins
2. Vonta Leach
3. John Kuhn
4. Marcel Reece
5. Greg Jones

WR
1. Calvin Johnson
2. Andre Johnson
3. Larry Fitzgerald
4. Greg Jennings
5. Roddy White

TE
1. Rob Gronkowski
2. Jimmy Graham
3. Jason Witten
4. Vernon Davis
5. Brandon Pettigrew

T
1. Joe Thomas
2. Jake Long
3. Duane Brown
4. Ryan Clady
5. Donald Penn

G
1. Carl Nicks
2. Jahri Evans
3. Josh Sitton
4. Marshall Yanda
5. Ben Grubbs

C
1. Nick Mangold
2. Alex Mack
3. Chris Meyers
4. Ryan Kalil
5. Eric Wood

[Mr. Goosemahn]

You clearly have not seen the Steelers play lately, because Pouncey is unquestionably the best center in the league, and you know nothing of football, and Alex Mack is teh suckz!

/falsely-informed-homer-troll

Pouncey is good, but he's still improving. He's a sight for sore eyes for Pittsburgh fans, but because he plays with trash he looks better. He is amazing at pulling and kicking out to the second level, but he can still improve. I predicted he'd be the best center in the league by the time he was 25, so there's still three more years to go!

Really glad you put Kalil there, he is vastly underrated. The higher draft picks get all the attention, but he's quietly been not only consistent, but great in both facets of the offense. Same for Yanda.

One thing I'd have differently though is the LT rankings. I think Jason Peters is the best offensive tackle in the league, better than both Thomas and Long. I think that with the way the league is playing right now, focusing much more on the pass, a guy like Thomas has heightened value, but Peters is a baller. Just great at everything.

[cmarq83]

Originally Posted by Don Vito

Logan Mankins would like to have a word with you

After last season I wouldn't put Mankins top 5 either.

[Don Vito]

Last year wasn't his best but he was banged up all year. Healthy Mankins is one of the best guards in the league.

[fenikz]

Fitz with Stafford would put up 120/2000/20 not even kidding

[Mufasa]

Originally Posted by fenikz

Fitz with Stafford would put up 120/2000/20 not even kidding

No he wouldn't.

He's a great WR and will put up great numbers with any QB. A good QB can only do so much to improve on those already great numbers. Look at Randy Moss pairing with Brady. He did set the TD record his first year, but he still fell just short of 1500 yards. His other full seasons with Brady he posted the same numbers he averaged throughout his career. Calvin Johnson just had a monster year, but he did basically the same thing in 2008, just with fewer targets; while having a combination of Dan Orlovsky, Jon Kitna, and Daunte Culpepper throwing him the ball. Hell, even look at Fitzgerald himself. He's having about the same production with garbage QBs as he did when he had Kurt Warner playing at a high level. With Stafford as his QB you could probably expect 1200-1600 yards and 12-14 TDs a year from Fitzgerald.

Johnson, Johnson, and Fitzgerald are unquestionably the three best WRs in the game. I would have them in that order, but the distance between them is minuscule.

[ChiFan24]

Megatron >> Fitz >> Andre Johnson. Very clear separation in my mind.

[Splat]

There are some freaking studs at the TE position in the NFL right now.

[wogitalia]

Pretty much sums up the Vikes that we only have one guy who is even sniffing these lists and he has to come back from a ruptured ACL to even hold onto that spot.

The scary thing is I think you could stretch it to 15-20 and we still wouldn't have anyone get named... and you could argue our offense is better than our defense...

[dunagan15]

How is Roddy not in your top 5???

[vidae]

Originally Posted by dunagan15

How is Roddy not in your top 5???

Because he's Roddy.

[mightytitan9]

your list loses all credibility when you list wes welker as a top 5 wr and don't list michael roos in LT or David Stewart in RT

[njx9]

based on the lists, it's shocking to me that tom brady isn't everyone's #1 qb. without him (say, with cassell), that's a 4-12 team. if that. instead, they ended up in the super bowl.

[Jvig43]

Originally Posted by njx9

based on the lists, it's shocking to me that tom brady isn't everyone's #1 qb. without him (say, with cassell), that's a 4-12 team. if that. instead, they ended up in the super bowl.

Eh people also try and point to us going 11-5 without him the year after we went 18-1. Obviously I have him number :P

I'll post my list up later this weekend.

[The Dynasty]

Originally Posted by bigbluedefense

FB

4. Jim Kleinsasser

Jim Kleinsasser Retired at the end of last year but he will be missed in Minnesota. Fan Favorite and a great blocker as a FB and TE.

[njx9]

Originally Posted by Jvig43

Eh people also try and point to us going 11-5 without him the year after we went 18-1. Obviously I have him number :P

I'll post my list up later this weekend.

yeah, but i think that was a MASSIVELY more talented team. if he'd been out this year instead of peyton, i suspect you'd have seen a similar result.

[BaLLiN]

Originally Posted by Bob Sanders Dreadlock

QB
1 Aaron Rodgers
2 Drew Brees
3 Tom Brady
4 Eli Manning
5 Ben Roethlisberger

RB
1 Arian Foster
2 Lesean McCoy
3 MJD
4 Ray Rice
5 Matt Forte

WR
1 Calvin Johnson
2 Larry Fitzgerald
3 Victor Cruz
4 Andre Johnson
5 Wes Welker

TE
1 Rob Gronkowski
2 Jimmy Graham
3 Dallas Clark...jaykayz Vernon Davis
4 Jason Witten
5 Aaron Hernandez

I wouldn't put Cruz up there yet, Nicks has proven more and was more focused on by defenses. It was only late in the season Cruz was getting doubled, but he showed he could break the double. I'd say its pending.

[Brodeur]

Originally Posted by dunagan15

How is Roddy not in your top 5???

By not being that good. And I don't think Pouncey is a top five center nor do I think Wes Welker is a top 5 receiver, but the list is generally solid otherwise.

[CashmoneyDrew]

For Jake Scott to be the 4th best RG in the NFL, there would literally have to be only 4 right guards in the NFL. He was probably the worst starter on our line last year.

[Caddy]

There is a disturbing lack of Davin Joseph in this thread. The man is an absolute machine.

[lowlife]

Maybe divide the WR list into two? Depending upon offenses, slot WRs are asked to do completely different things from outside players. Slot receivers are basically starters these day anywho.

Welker easily tops the slot list.