Monday’s release of the NFL’s All-Decade team rekindled spirited debates over the best players of the 2010’s. Below is our definitive list of the best players of the last decade.
The Criteria
Our selections were based on the following:
Production -- Yards, receptions, sacks, and other position relevant stats. All stats and accolades are from 2010-2019.
Dominance -- At their peak, were they one of the best at their position?
Accolades -- MVP, Defensive POY, and All-Pro Selections. Pro Bowls were not taken into consideration. Accolades aren't without their shortcomings, but they are helpful in determining the perceived dominance of a player.
Longevity -- They must have played at least six years of the decade with reasonable production. In other words, they can’t have spent multiple years injured, retired, or irrelevant.
The Offense
Honorable Mentions
QB - Aaron Rodgers edged out Drew Brees for the final spot. Brees has superior raw stats (See below) but Rodger earns the nod on the strength of his two league MVP awards as well as his Super Bowl MVP in 2010. Brees won his Super Bowl MVP in 2009.
Peyton Manning also received consideration, but he missed all of 2011 and played his final injury-riddled season in 2015.
RB - Evaluating running backs is difficult because they typically have a four to five year window of high-level play followed by a precipitous drop-off. The selection essentially boils down to which running back’s five-year window you like best.
Adrian Peterson was the first-team choice as the second leading rusher and the only RB to win an MVP this decade, and McCoy was an easy choice as the decade’s leader in scrimmage yards and TD. After that, it gets rather murky. See below.
Arian Foster and Jamaal Charles both had outstanding five year runs that included three All-Pro selections, but Foster was out of the league by 2016 and Charles last topped 1,000 yards in 2014. Le’Veon Bell had an elite flash from 2014-2017 but he ranks just seventh this decade in scrimmage yards and thirteenth in TD. And let’s not forget the running backs that rank No. 2 and No. 3 in scrimmage yards this decade -- Frank Gore and Matt Forte. Bonus points if you called that one. Both have the raw numbers, but Forte last topped 1,000 yards in 2014 and Gore’s lone All-Pro selection came all the way back in 2006!!
Again, there are arguments for ALL of these backs, but the mixture of longevity and productivity tips the scales towards McCoy and Peterson.
OL - The lack of clear, quantifiable productions stats makes direct comparison between offensive lineman extremely tricky. The discussion essentially comes down to reputation and accolades, leaving more room for debate than any other group.
The honorable mentions here included Travis Frederick at center as well as David Bakhtiari and Mitchell Schwartz at tackle. All have been dominant players with multiple All-Pro selections, but the decade-plus longevity of players like Alex Mack, Jason Peters, and Andrew Whitworth tipped the scales in their favor.
TE - Excluding Jimmy Graham was the biggest point of contention on this entire list. Graham is second in both yards and TD, putting together a string of MONSTER years from 2011-2014. However, Kelce’s last four seasons top Graham’s peak in both catches and yards, and Kelce has four 1,000 yard receiving seasons to Graham’s two. The argument for Graham comes in his two-to-one TD advantage -- 74 to 37.
WR - When sorting through all the great receivers of the last decade you have to include the leaders in yards (Julio Jones), touchdowns (Antonio Brown), and catches (Larry Fitzgerald). After that, it again cames down to which player's four to five year window was most impressive. It was hard to ignore Calvin Johnson’s NFL record 1,964 yards on 122 catches in 2012, but Johnson's career is split between two decades, having played his last game in 2015. Due to his early retirement, he ranks just eighth in catches and seventh in yards this decade despite his gaudy averages. A list of the decade leaders is shown below.
Other Honorable mentions included multi-time All-Pro selections A.J. Green (3) and De’Andre Hopkins (3).
That's our list. Who's on YOUR list? Please comment and let us know.
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