While scrolling through Twitter, I saw an idea that caught my eye. The tweet said that you had to construct an offense of eight players from the AFC West; however, you could only use two players per team. It was a tough decision due to the disparity in talent between teams, but I constructed a roster that I would be proud to put on a field. I decided to expand on the idea, but I encompassed the whole NFL.
The idea is simple: You construct a roster – offense, defense, and special teams – and you can only select one player from every team. Afterwards, you can select two reserves on offense and two reserves for defense. The remaining three teams would provide a coach, stadium, and team colors. It’s incredibly easy to find talent on the top teams, but how do you balance it out with some of the worst teams in the league? Check out my roster below; if you have a roster that beats mine, let me here it!
OFFENSE
QB: Patrick Mahomes- Chiefs
RB: Christian McCaffrey- Panthers
WR1: Michael Thomas- Saints
WR2: DeAndre Hopkins- Cardinals
WR3: Julio Jones- Falcons
TE: Rob Gronkowski- Buccaneers
OT1: Tyron Smith- Cowboys
OG1: Quenton Nelson- Colts
C: Maurkice Pouncey- Steelers
OG2: Brandon Brooks- Eagles
OT2: Taylor Lewan- Titans
DEFENSE
DL1: Geno Atkins- Bengals
DL2: Aaron Donald- Rams
DL3: Myles Garrett- Browns
DE1: J.J Watt- Texans
DE2: Nick Bosa- 49ers
LB1: Khalil Mack- Bears
LB2: Bobby Wagner- Seahawks
LB3: Von Miller- Broncos
CB1: Tre’davious White- Bills
CB2: Byron Jones- Dolphins
S: Jamal Adams- Jets
SPECIAL TEAMS
P: Britton Colquitt- Vikings
H: Derek Carr- Raiders
K: Justin Tucker- Ravens
BENCH
Offense (2): Saquon Barkley- Giants, Kenny Golladay- Lions
Defense (2): Chase Young- Redskins, Yannick Ngakoue- Jaguars
OTHER
Coach: Bill Belichick- Patriots
Stadium: Lambeau Field- Packers
Team Colors: Blue, white, and gold- Chargers
NOTES
- I value coaching very highly, so I sacrificed some defensive talent to secure the best coach in the league, Bill Belichick.
- The three teams that I had the most difficulty selecting just one player from were the Chiefs, 49ers, and Ravens.
- The players I absolutely had to have were: Patrick Mahomes, Christian McCaffrey, Michael Thomas, DeAndre Hopkins, Rob Gronkowski, Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, J.J Watt, Von Miller, and Justin Tucker.
- It seems bizarre to have only one safety, but I did that intentionally. I wanted to make a tough choice even harder. By only having one safety, it made the decision that much more difficult.
- The stadium actually carried decent weight in my decision process. Home-field advantage is huge in sports, and the Packers have both a stadium that both draws in fans and displays history. This was also an easy choice because the Packers have only a select few players I genuinely considered.
- I chose a QB as a holder because it allows the potential option of a fake field goal. The bench selections were made after the “other section,” and they simply were the best players of the worst teams.
- Players selected aren’t necessarily the best player on their team. They aren’t always the best player at their position either. The selection puzzle is like a giant jigsaw puzzle; everything has to fit together just right to work in the end.
Eric Fenstermaker 