Which cities and states produce the best football talent? It’s an age-old debate, and Touchdown Wire asks you to help determine the answer.
We’ve imagined NFL rosters for the ages composed of the greatest players who grew up in the areas of the 32 current franchises. Our selection methodology is explained in detail in this article.
Touchdown Wire columnist Doug Farrar revealed his power rankings for our 32 Homegrown Legends rosters, providing the seedings for an epic virtual tournament.
Here’s where you come in. Cast your votes below in the second round of our Homegrown Legends tournament, and check back on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at approximately noon ET for results and the opening of second-round voting.
First-round results:
AFC: 1. Houston def. 16. Denver, 62-38%; 8. LA Chargers def. 9. Buffalo 74-26%; 12. Kansas City def. 5. Jacksonville, 68-32%; 13. Tennessee def. 4. Cincinnati, 53-47%; 6. Pittsburgh def. 11. Baltimore, 83-17%; 3. Cleveland def. 14. Indianapolis, 70-30%; 10. Las Vegas def. 7. NY Jets, 62-38%; 2. Miami def. New England, 87-13%.
NFC: 1. Dallas def. 16. Minnesota, 76-24%; 8. Washington def. 9. NY Giants, 65-35%; 5. Atlanta def. 12. Tampa Bay, 58-42%; 4. San Francisco def. 13. Seattle, 67-33%; 6. Carolina def. 11. Arizona, 68-32%; 3. LA Rams def. 14. Green Bay, 64-36%; 10. Detroit def. 7. Philadelphia, x-x%; 2. New Orleans def. 15. Chicago, 58-42%.
AFC second-round matchups
1. Houston vs. 8. Los Angeles Chargers
How Houston can win: Good luck throwing the ball against a secondary composed of Lester Hayes, Emmitt Thomas, Darrell Green and Earl Thomas. The Texans defense creates a no-fly zone that generates coverage sacks with Bubba Smith getting after the quarterback and Simon Fletcher shutting down the run. Russell Okung and Steve Wisniewski pave the way for Thurman Thomas and Eric Dickerson to get chunk plays on the ground while also controlling the clock and tempo. — Mark Lane, Texans Wire
How Los Angeles can win: The Chargers can win through the air with QB John Elway distributing the wealth to WRs Michael Thomas and JuJu Smith-Schuster and TE Tony Gonzalez. Or the Bolts could rely on the ground game with RBs Terrell Davis and Marcus Allen. Pressuring Elway won’t be an easy task with Hall of Fame OTs Gary Zimmerman and Ron Mix in the way. Houston could have a difficult getting the run game going against LBs Junior Seau and Anthony Barr, along with the hard-hitting safety tandem of Ronnie Lott and John Lynch lying in wait. — Gavino Borquez, Chargers Wire
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Other matchups:
KC vs Ten / Cle vs Pit / Mia vs LV // Dal vs Was / SF vs Atl / LAR vs Car / NO vs Det