11 Chiefs named to ESPN’s AFC West All-Decade Team

The Kansas City Chiefs had the most players selected of any AFC West team.

ESPN’s four NFL Nation reporters for the AFC West recently took a look back at the best players in the division from the 2010s decade, cast their votes and assembled an all-star team.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos both dominated the 2010s decade in the AFC West. Both teams won five division titles during the decade and won a Super Bowl. The Chiefs, however, were the most well-represented franchise in the AFC West for ESPN’s All-Decade Team, locking down 11 players out of the 27 positions represented. Four of the players listed for Kansas City even remain on the team to this day.

Here’s a look at the players that made the list for the Chiefs:

RB Jamaal Charles
C Rodney Hudson
RT Mitchell Schwartz
TE Travis Kelce
DT Chris Jones
OLB Justin Houston
LB Derrick Johnson
S Eric Berry
KR Knile Davis
PR Tyreek Hill
P Dustin Colquitt

If you were hoping to see Patrick Mahomes, unfortunately, Peyton Manning’s time with Denver edged out his two seasons in the 2010s decade. There are some names on here that you’d expect to see like Charles, Houston, Johnson and Colquitt. You have those players still on the team like Schwartz, Kelce, Jones, and Hill. I’m a little surprised to not see Hill as one of the receivers and only listed as a punt returner, but the Broncos receivers, Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas did have a really good run.

One thing that’s pretty astonishing to me is that Kansas City absolutely dominated the special teams category. Credit to Dave Toub, who has been the special teams coordinator for most of the 2010s decade. I was really surprised to see Davis listed as the kick returner but looking back he had 72 returns for 1,942 and two touchdowns, including the 108-yard return in 2013. That was good for the best four-year stretch in the AFC West this decade.

What do you think, Chiefs Kingdom? Are there enough Chiefs represented on this All-Decade team? Were there any blatant snubs? Let us know your thoughts on Facebook, Twitter and the Chiefs Wire forums.

[vertical-gallery id=70524]

PFF names Drew Brees a top-3 NFL player of the 2010’s

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees named the third-best player of the 2010’s on the NFL All-Decade Top 101 from Pro Football Focus.

[jwplayer yQ2odcyB-ThvAeFxT]

The New Orleans Saints were represented well on the All-Decade Top 101 list from Pro Football Focus, with quarterback Drew Brees joining several teammates on their ranking of the best NFL players over the last ten years. Terron Armstead and Cameron Jordan were each featured in previous updates to the list, as were a few other faces familiar to Saints fans.

But Brees ranked higher than any of them. In fact, he was selected as the third-best player to take the field since 2010. PFF analyst Sam Monson wrote of the high placement:

3. QB DREW BREES

Drew Brees has been the most accurate passer in league history and is closing in on being the most prolific in pretty much every passing category. Brees owns two of the top three seasons in the decade in terms of adjusted completion rate, and for the decade as a whole is more than two percentage points clear of the field. Brees had three seasons in the decade with a PFF grade above 90.0 and two more above 89.0. He has been a model of consistency and production despite rarely having consistent receivers or the depth of some of the other top quarterbacks.

What’s even more impressive is that Brees trails just one other quarterback, who is now his newest division rival in the NFC South: Tom Brady, at the number-one spot. Green Bay Packers signal-caller Aaron Rodgers is the next-best quarterback (at No. 6), but you’ll have to scroll pretty far down PFF’s list to find Peyton Manning (fittingly, at No. 18). How’s that for a gulf between their talents?

[vertical-gallery id=33495]

Calvin Johnson checks in at 16 on PFF’s All-Decade team

Pro Football Focus put together an All-Decade team and former Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson landed 16th on their list.

Pro Football Focus put together an All-Decade team and former Detroit Lions all-world wide receiver Calvin Johnson landed 16th on their list.

Ranked at 16 may feel a bit too low but there are a few factors that need to be considered. PFF noted that “this list isn’t an evaluation of talent, but rather of production, efficiency and performance over a specific time period — in this case, the entire decade.”

While that alone wouldn’t negatively impact Johnson, it’s also worth noting that he only played in six of the 10 seasons and “playing time was factored into the decisions, too; somebody who played twice as much within the decade was given some level of preference over players who played only a few seasons in the 2010s.”

Here’s PFF’s reasoning for Johnson’s ranking:

Calvin Johnson walked away from the game at the height of his powers, and only that held him back from the very top of this list. He left on the back of five straight seasons with a PFF grade of 88.0 or higher, and over the six seasons he played within the decade, he never had a grade lower than 83.0. He scored a touchdown on almost 7% of targets, the third-highest rate of any receiver with 800 or more targets over the decade. Calvin Johnson was one of the most physically imposing receivers ever to play the game and was virtually unstoppable at his best. Even though he played just 60% of the decade, he was one of the best 20 players to feature in it.

Some of Johnson's accolades in the 2010s:

– 1st player with 1,600 rec. yards in cons. seasons (2011-12)
– 1st player with 100 rec. yards in 8-straight games (2012)
– Most rec. yards in a season (1,964 in 2012)
– Most rec. yards in a 5-game span (861 in 2013)

(Out of characters) https://t.co/j09DXFEOys

— Greg Maiola (@Gom1094) May 14, 2020

On behalf of Lions Wire, congratulations to Johnson on the recognition.

3 current Saints players added to PFF’s All-Decade Top 101

New Orleans Saints players like Emmanuel Sanders, Terron Armstead, and Cameron Jordan made the All-Decade Top 101 from Pro Football Focus.

The team at Pro Football Focus has continued to update its All-Decade Top 101, ranking the best players in the NFL over the last ten years. And it shouldn’t surprise anyone that several New Orleans Saints have already made an appearance.

It’s quite a comprehensive piece — one-time Saints wideout Dez Bryant also cracked the list, at No. 75; embittered ex-Saints practice participant Brandon Marshall was also ranked at No. 61 — but so far, just three current Saints players have been recognized.

PFF is updating its list each day this week, with the final wave dropping on Thursday. So stay tuned to see whether big names like Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, or Alvin Kamara get listed.

One of the Saints rated highly by PFF hasn’t even played a down in New Orleans yet, which should get fans even more excited about his arrival. Let’s get started:

Pages: 1234

Derrick Johnson, Travis Kelce, Tyrann Mathieu join Chiefs on PFF All-Decade Top-101

Johnson, Mathieu and Kelce join current and former Chiefs players on the PFF All-Decade Top-101 list.

Pro Football Focus is continuing to unveil its top-101 players from the 2010s decade on Tuesday. As they continued their countdown on Tuesday, bringing us to 50 total players announced so far, three more Kansas City Chiefs players have been added. That brings the tally for current and former Chiefs players to eight.

Keep in mind, PFF is looking at the production, efficiency and impact of players during the 2010s decade in order to compile this list. There should be a few more players revealed in the coming days, but let’s go ahead and look at the newest Chiefs added and what was said about them by PFF’s Sam Monson.

No. 66 on the #PFFAllDecade101 @Mathieu_Era pic.twitter.com/g0pHSs46Wi

— PFF (@PFF) May 12, 2020

No. 66 – DB Tyrann Mathieu

“In a league of versatile offensive players, Mathieu stands out as a hybrid answer to the many problems presented by opposing offenses. He is half safety and half slot cornerback, bringing a skill set that gives great flexibility to his defensive coordinators. Mathieu has been a playmaker since his days at LSU, and that has continued at the NFL level, where he has broken up 34 passes and picked off 17. At his peak, Mathieu is the perfect slot defender for today’s NFL, where he’s not only sound in coverage, but he also has three years with 80.0-plus grades as a run defender, allowing his defense to stop the run while maintaining coverage flexibility on the back end. His best season came in 2015, where his 90.7 PFF grade, seven pass breakups and five interceptions had Mathieu in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year conversation.“

Mathieu also should have been in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year conversation in 2019, his only season thus far with the Chiefs. Yes, most of Mathieu’s dominance during the decade came away from Kansas City when he was with the Arizona Cardinals. We’re still claiming him, though, because he’s set to be in Kansas City for the foreseeable future.

Few players in this decade have had the type of versatility that Mathieu has in his game. We’re talking about a player that lines up everywhere from deep safety to linebacker spots. He’s an all-around defensive weapon and the Chiefs really have given him a lot of freedom within the scheme to do what he does best, which is getting after the football.

Pages: 123

Ex-Chiefs Eric Berry, Jamaal Charles, Tamba Hali listed in PFF’s All-Decade Top-101

Some of the greatest former Kansas City Chiefs players are ranked in PFF’s All-Decade Top-101 list.

Pro Football Focus has begun to unveil its top-101 players from the 2010s decade on Monday. PFF sought to look at the production, efficiency and performance of players during the 2010s decade and narrow them down to a list of 101. They began with players 74-101 and will continue counting down throughout the week to the No. 1 player which will be revealed on Thursday.

This week we are counting down the top 101 players in the NFL over the past decade

No. 101 on the #PFFAllDecade101

Eric Berry pic.twitter.com/1RB7Xo05GY

— PFF (@PFF) May 11, 2020

No. 101 – DB Eric Berry

“Much of Eric Berry’s legacy will revolve around beating cancer to return to play at an extremely high level. In addition to that incredible achievement, Berry was one of the best players of the past decade. He showed incredible versatility within the Kansas City Chiefs‘ defense, excelling as a deep-lying free safety as well as an in-the-box joker on defense. It speaks to his skill set that his best seasons in terms of overall PFF grade (both well above 85.0) came in completely different roles and responsibilities within the defense.“

For a while, Berry was one of the most exciting defenders on the Chiefs’ defense. Like PFF says, he was a versatile playmaker, with the ability to line up in a variety of different spots. He could act as a ball-hawking deep safety. You could put him in the box against the run. He was a great one-on-one cover guy against tight ends. If you look at his two best seasons in Kansas City, 2010 and 2016, they’re nearly identical from a statistical standpoint with four interceptions, nine passes defended and at least one defensive touchdown in each season.

Unfortunately, Berry’s current legacy with the Chiefs is the $8 million in dead cap space for the 2020 season. While Berry is rumored to be looking for opportunities to continue his playing career, he’s at a bit of a disadvantage due to the COVID-19 pandemic and team doctors being unable to conduct a physical and examine the heel injury which marked his demise in Kansas City.

Pages: 123

Guess which eight NFL players were unamiously voted to the 2010s All-Decade Team

OK, so you NFL fans should be able to nail this quiz.
But, there might be a couple of miss-guesses and surprises for you and your friends and family members who are quarantined and playing family-time trivia.

OK, so you NFL fans should (maybe) be able to nail this quiz.

However, there might be a couple of miss-guesses and surprises for you and your friends and family members who are quarantined and playing family-time football trivia.

Anyhow, The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 48-member selection committee revealed their collective choices Monday and it’s a solid list.

They picked 52 players and two head coaches — just two?! yeah, they don’t play — and while you can look at everyone who made the list, it’s the unanimous ones we’re showcasing here because they’re all likely future Hall of Famers.

Tom Brady (QB)

Pages: 12345678

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers named to NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team

Aaron Rodgers joined Tom Brady as the two QBs selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been recognized as one of the top players in the NFL during the decade of the 2010s.

Rodgers, a two-time MVP, joined Tom Brady as the two quarterbacks on the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team, an honored class of players selected by the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee.

Only two other players who played with the Packers during the decade made the list: defensive end Julius Peppers (2014-16) and guard Jahri Evans (2017).

Between 2010 and 2019, Rodgers threw 305 touchdown passes and just 63 interceptions and compiled a 103.6 passer rating. He led the Packers to 96 wins over 142 starts, made the playoffs eight times, won six division titles and captured Super Bowl XLV. In 2011 and 2014, he was named the league’s MVP.

The last Packers to be named to the All-Decade Team were Charles Woodson and Darren Sharper, who were both selected to the NFL’s 2000s All-Decade Team.

Rams 2010s All-Decade Team: Defense and special teams

Breaking down the best defensive and special teams players to play for the Rams during the 2010s.

Despite an up-and-down decade on offense, the Rams have had one of the better defenses in the NFL since Jeff Fisher took over as head coach in 2012. They had a fearsome pass rush even before Aaron Donald arrived and their secondary has always been a tough out for opposing quarterbacks. The Rams became known for their defensive identity before Sean McVay arrived, and they continued to shine under McVay and Wade Phillips.

There are a lot of players deserving of a spot on the Rams 2010s All-Decade Team, at least compared to the other side of the ball. To choose this group, we only factored in the achievements of a player during their time with the Rams between 2010-2019. For example, Chris Long’s first two years with the Rams did not affect his status on this list.

You can read the selections for offense here. We’ll start with the defensive line, and we’ll end with special teams.

Defensive end/EDGE: Robert Quinn (2011-2017) & Chris Long (2010-2015)

Since the Rams ran two different styles of defense last decade, we’ll be combining some positions here. But this is one of the most obvious choices of the entire list.

Robert Quinn’s 2013 season was one for the ages. Quinn recorded 19 sacks, 23 tackles for loss, 34 quarterback hits, seven forced fumbles, and even scored a touchdown. He was named a First-Team All-Pro, the only All-Pro selection of the decade for a Rams defensive player not named Aaron Donald, and won the PFWA Defensive Player of the Year award.

The rest of Quinn’s tenure with the Rams wasn’t too shabby. He totaled 62.5 sacks in his seven years with the team, which is tied for the fourth-most in franchise history. He’ll likely go down as one of the more underrated Rams.

Though Chris Long’s numbers weren’t as flashy as Quinn’s, he was a perfect complement to him on the other side of the defensive line. In addition 45.5 sacks and 56 tackles for loss during his six years with the Rams last decade, Long was a locker room leader, a team captain, and a well-respected teammate. Players have long been vocal about how much they enjoyed playing with him.

Despite spending eight seasons with the Rams, Long will be remembered for what he accomplished in his three seasons after leaving. He won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Patriots and Eagles in addition to being selected as the Walter Payton Man of the Year in his final NFL season. Regardless, the bulk of his career starts happened with the Rams, and he’s more than deserving of a spot on this list.

Honorable Mention: William Hayes

Pages: 123456

Rams 2010s All-Decade Team: Offense

Breaking down the best offensive players to play for the Los Angeles (and St. Louis) Rams during the 2010s.

The 2010s were quite an eventful decade for the Rams franchise. They played in two different cities, had the first overall pick twice, played in a Super Bowl, drafted a generational talent and a massive bust in the first round of the same draft, won two games in a season, hired a coach who produced a timeless meme, and hired another coach who changed how teams hire coaches in the NFL.

There were some incredible highs and some devastating lows. This list is no different. There are players on this list that would make anybody’s overall NFL All-Decade team, and there are players on this list that maybe shouldn’t have even been starting games in the NFL. The Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams of the 2010s were a rollercoaster ride. This list will give you a chance to relive it.

To select our All-Decade Team, we only considered what players did between the 2010 and 2019 seasons. For example, when considering Steven Jackson, we wouldn’t take into account his entire career with the Rams, just his three years playing for the team this decade.

Let’s get into it, starting with the offense.

Quarterback: Jared Goff (2016 – 2019)

(Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Goff is the only real option here. In his three full seasons as the Rams starting quarterback, Goff threw for 13,130 yards while completing 63% of his passes. He tossed 82 touchdown passes against 35 interceptions and added five touchdowns on the ground. His rookie season may have been abysmal, but Goff bounced back with two very impressive seasons in 2017 and 2018. He was the first Rams quarterback to be selected to back-to-back Pro Bowls since Kurt Warner in 2000-2001.

Most importantly, he’s helped the team win football games – something the Rams’ other QBs from last decade struggled to do. The Rams have put together three straight winning seasons for the first time since the days of the Greatest Show on Turf. Goff played a significant role in leading the Rams to a 13-3 record and a Super Bowl appearance in 2018. He holds a 33-14 record as the Rams starting quarterback since 2017.

Goff left a lot to be desired in 2019, but his overall tenure with the Rams has been a success. Let’s hope he can return to form in 2020 and cement himself as the quarterback for next decade’s team.

Honorable Mention: Sam Bradford

Pages: 12345678