Four 49ers land on NFL All-Decade team

Frank Gore, Joe Staley, Richard Sherman and Patrick Willis all made the NFL all-decade team.

The 49ers were well-represented on the NFL’s All-Decade team released Monday.

Four current and former 49ers made the list, including running back Frank Gore, left tackle Joe Staley, linebacker Patrick Willis and cornerback Richard Sherman.

Gore was one of four running backs to make the list, along with Marshawn Lynch, Adrian Peterson and LeSean McCoy. Darren Sproles made it as a specialist. He’s the only other running back besides Gore left from the 2005 NFL draft.

The third-round pick out of Miami finished his career with the 49ers as the franchise’s all-time leading rusher, and he’s continued to churn ahead to No. 3 on the all-time rushing list. Gore was a stalwart at running back for the 49ers through their best and worst years, and racked up more than 1,200 yards from scrimmage in an NFL record 12 consecutive seasons.

The argument can be made that Gore was never the best running back in the league in the 2010s, but he was easily the most consistent player among that group.

Staley is another no-brainer choice. He earned a nod alongside Joe Thomas, Tyron Smith and Jason Peters. Staley has been an outstanding player at left tackle since the 49ers took him in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft.

Injuries bookended the decade for Staley, but in those 10 years, he made all six of his Pro Bowls and went to two Super Bowls. There’s a really good chance Staley winds up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the strength of his performance through the 2010s will be what carries him there.

Willis’ dominance as a player is underscored by the fact he made the All-Decade team despite playing just half the decade. In his five seasons in the 2010s though, Willis made four Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams while anchoring one of the NFLs best defenses for the first part of the decade.

Making an impact on a short timeline is a perfect metaphor for Willis’ career. He’ll make the Hall of Fame despite spending fewer than 10 years in the league. He was so singularly great in the time he was on the field that his effect on the 49ers and the league is impossible to ignore. It’s how he winds up on an All-Decade team with Luke Kuechly and Bobby Wagner with only five years of his production under his belt.

There’s no denying that Sherman has been excellent in two years with the 49ers, but the bulk of his dominance in the 2010s came with the Seattle Seahawks’ Legion of Boom defense. Those Seattle teams helped defined the early part of that decade, and Sherman was the outspoken face of it.

He was going to land on the All-Decade team anyway, but closing the 2010s strong with two good years in San Francisco surely solidified his standing. Sherman joined Patrick Peterson and Darrelle Revis in the group of cornerbacks.

Here are the full teams: