4-4-3

Hey, I'm Bob.

Here are my thoughts on the all-time NFL team. I've written more than is probably healthy.

Gameday Roster

QB: Joe Montana.                        Bart Starr.                   
HB: Jim Brown.                           Barry Sanders, Walter Payton

FB: Marion Motley.                
TE: John Mackey.                        Mike Ditka, Tony Gonzalez

WR: Jerry Rice, Don Hutson.      Paul Warfield, Lance Alworth, Devin Hester, Steve Tasker

C: Dwight Stephenson.                Bruce Matthews

G: John Hannah, Jim Parker.       Larry Allen

T: Anthony Munoz, Forrest Gregg.   

DT: Joe Greene, Bob Lilly               Alan Page, Merlin Olsen
DE: Reggie White, Deacon Jones    Bruce Smith, Gino Marchetti

MLB: Dick Butkus. Lawrence Taylor.    Jack Lambert. Ray Lewis

OLB: Jack Ham. Derrick Brooks      Ted Hendricks, Bobby Bell

CB: Dick Lane, Mel Blount.             (Herb Adderley), Rod Woodson, Darrell Green

S: Ronnie Lott.                                 (Emlen Tunnell) Ed Reed

P: Ray Guy.                            Adam Vinateri

K: Adam Vinateri.                  Ray Guy

KR/PR: Devin Hester.          (Jack Christiansen) Rod Woodson

LS: Bobby Bell.                      Bruce Matthews

H: Ray Guy.                            Bart Starr

Reserves: Sid Luckman, Bronko Nagurski, Jim Otto, Jonathan Ogden, Herb Adderley, Emlen Tunnell, Jack Christiansen

( ) Players in reserve that will start in the event of injury

Responses to probable questions and objections...

Honorable Mentions: There are over 200 players in the NFL Hall of Fame, all of  whom would obviously be outstanding players on this team. The following players are the ones I most wish I had room on the roster for: Johnny Unitas, Emmitt Smith, Lorenzo Neal, Kellen Winslow, Raymond Berry, Mike Webster, Randall McDaniel, Art Shell,  Warren Sapp, Willie Davis, Mike Singletary, Kevin Greene, Willie Brown, Ken Houston, Larry Wilson. 

Depth: I have 26 players on offense, 25 on defense, and 2 on special teams (22, 22, and 2 dressed). My special teams players have each both kicked and punted in college, so they are each other's emergency backup. Ray Guy is also my emergency quarterback, as he was with the Raiders. While I'm only starting a single safety in the base package, I'm carrying four on the roster because A) Reed and Christiansen are major special-teams contributors, and B) I want the ability to substitute safeties for LBs on long-yardage passing situations.

No Deion Sanders: Deion Sanders is not a particularly gifted tackler. My selections are all among the hardest-hitting corners to ever play the game. My two starters hit so hard that the NFL had to change the rules! While Deion Sanders is a Hall of Fame caliber player, his coverage skills are comparable to the harder-hitting players I've selected. Lem Barney is another example of a Hall of Fame caliber CB who doesn't hit hard enough to make the team.

No Randy Moss or Terrell Owens: While both are incredibly talented players, they are both a toxic presence in the locker room and are therefore not welcome on my team. This list is certainly not exhaustive. 

No Jim Thorpe: I did not feel comfortable putting a player without footage to evaluate on my team (The player I saw the least footage of was Jack Christiansen, but I was very impressed with what little I saw).

Back-up Quarterbacks: While few would be surprised with Joe Montana at #1, most people do not have Starr and Luckman in their top 10, let alone their top 3. But like Montana, both Starr and Luckman have incredible post-season passer ratings, incredible regular season stats (in their respective eras), and were true leaders on teams that became championship dynasties. The more difficult question is why Montana isn't 2nd or 3rd. The answer is that he has the highest championship game passer rating of all-time at a staggering 127.8. Special thanks to The Cold Hard Football Facts, whose quarterback analysis, though we reached different conclusions, heavily influenced my own. 

Overall: I realize the decision to cut Sanders and Moss will not be popular. But I trust my gut, and I firmly believe I have assembled the best possible team. 

Strategy...

DEFENSE: I will be running a traditional Cover 3 defense with non-traditional personnel. As you can see, I have dispensed with the strong safety and will be fielding a "4-4-3" defense. In the base package, Butkus and Taylor will be the Middle/Hook defenders and Ham and Brooks will cover the Curl/Flat. The airtight pass-coverage provided by Ham and Brooks is what initially attracted me to this scheme. Both are able to go downfield with their receiver if needed, just as the strong safety traditionally would. Butkus and Taylor are both solid in coverage, but more importantly, are both incredible at forcing fumbles, so even checkdown passes in the middle of the field shouldn't be considered "safe." My secondary all are violent hitters who can separate the ball from the receiver. Blount and Lane both have the physicality to press the receiver at the line and Lott has the range required to cover the deep middle (similar to the 2014 Seattle Seahawk's system). Lastly, my defensive line will be in a 4-3 alignment with Lily as the 1 technique and Greene as the 3 technique. 

Q: WHOA, LT ISN'T PART OF THE BASE 4-MAN PASS RUSH!?!? WHY AREN'T YOU PLAYING A 3-4 SO HE CAN BLITZ MOST DOWNS?!?

A:       While there are countless hybrids, there are two fundamental 3-4 concepts: 1-gap and 2-gap. My main concern with the 2-gap 3-4 defense is that there are no Nose Tackles in the Hall of Fame. Bill Willis played directly over center, but he was an undersized lineman on a 5-man front; hardly a 3-4 prototype. Vince Wilfork is a future Hall of Famer, and Ted Washington and Fred Smerlas should arguably be in, but do they really compare to the iconic 4-3 DTs on my team? I think not. As for the 1-gap three four, I would still want Lilly and Greene on the field to dominate the line, which leaves two spots for outside pass rushers. Rather than choose between Jones and White, I would rather have both on the field with the option to blitz LT. Furthermore, LT is incredible against the run and has general 'playmaker' instincts, so he will certainly excel in my system.
           Basically, LT is my big exception. I'm running a 4-3 sytle scheme and LT is a 3-4 player. He's a square peg in a round hole, but dammit I'm going to make it work!
       

OFFENSE: I will use smashmouth, ball-control running to set up play-action passing. I certainly have the personnel to run a more complex passing scheme, but I prefer simple concepts that are well-executed. While I admit I have a much stronger vision for the defense, I do have some offensive ambition. The 1978 New England Patriots set the single-season record for total rushing yards with 3,165. I intend to break this record. Let's say my running backs average over 5 yards per carry on an average of 40 rushing attempts per game. This beats the record and averages over 200 rushing yards per game, just like the 1972 Dolphins and the 1976 Steelers. That's my kind of team. Old School.

Offensive line:

          With Jim Parker, John Hannah, and Forrest Gregg on the line, I'm imagining a lot of outside power running with pulling offensive linemen. On inside runs, Dwight Stephenson is quick enough to chip shot a defensive tackle and still make a second level block on a linebacker. 

Running backs:

          I plan on using a tandem backfield system where each of my four running backs are used roughly equally each game. However, I also plan on using Motley as a lead blocker, so he would probably see fewer carries than the HBs. 

Quarterback/Receivers:

         I'm hoping to exploit my power running game for lots of play action passing. On these plays, I imagine Hutson usually going deep, Rice and Mackey on mid range routes, and Motley as the check-down receiver. In general, I have a quarterback adept at short timing routes and Rice, Mackey and Motley are all among the greatest receivers after the catch of all-time. When the running game isn't quite clicking, we certainly will still have plenty of ways to win.

Overall: Any "All-Time" team will obviously have weapons at every position. But it's still important to have an overall philosophy, a preferred method of attack, a standard from which to deviate. For me, I want a hard-nosed physically punishing running attack to be the cornerstone of the offense. And we can already see that old-school power running is making a comeback in today's NFL, so I have no doubt that this system will produce results.

I'd love to hear what anyone has to say at stephenproctorjr@gmail.com