With all the talk at kusports.com about all-decade teams for basketball, I started wondering who would be on such a team for the football side of things. Some were no-brainers, but a lot of positions were tough to narrow down. I considered making a second-team, but at several spots I felt like I was really scraping the bottom of the barrel, so I stuck with just one.
The ground rules are simple: the field is limited to any player who saw time between the years of 2000 and 2010. I've included stats for the positions where stats are attainable and/or relevant. I'm sure some of these selections will generate some spirited discussion, but hey, that's all we have this time of year, isn't it?
Now, without further ado, the PenHawk All-Decade Jayhawk Football Team...
OFFENSE
OL - Justin Hartwig
OL - Anthony Collins
OL - Adrian Jones
OL - Caesar Rodriguez
OL - Ryan Cantrell
TE - Derek Fine (98 rec, 1009 yds, 10 TDs)
WR - Kerry Meier (226 rec, 2309 yds, 18 TDs)
WR - Dezmon Briscoe (219 rec, 3240 yds, 31 TDs)
WR - Mark Simmons (155 rec, 2161 yds, 16 TDs)
RB - Clark Green (641 att, 2754 yds, 13 TDs, 122 rec, 1279 yds, 2 TDs)
RB - Jake Sharp (450 att, 2200 yds, 23 TDs, 84 rec, 778 yds, 6 TDs)
QB - Todd Reesing (932/1461, 11,194 yds, 90 TDs) ::head explodes::
Honorable mention offense: Marcus Henry, Jon Cornish, Bill Whittemore, Brandon Rideau, Joe Vaughn
DEFENSE
DT - James McClinton
DT - Nate Dwyer
DE - David McMillan (150 tack, 30 TFL, 15 sacks, 5 FF, 2 FR, 2 ints, 3 defensive TDs)
DE - Jake Laptad (145 tack, 27 TFL, 20.5 sacks, 3 FF, 2 safties)
LB - Mike Rivera (300 tack, 25 TFL, 6 sacks, 7 FF, 1 int)
LB - James Holt (231 tack, 30.5 TFL, 9 sacks, 6 FF, 2 FR, 1 int)
LB - Joe Mortensen (282 tack, 35 TFL, 9 sacks, 3 FF)
CB - Aqib Talib
CB - Charles Gordon
S - Darrell Stuckey
S - Jerome Kemp
Honorable Mention Defense: Charlton Keith, Nick Reid, Kevin Kane, Justin Thornton
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Johnny Beck
P - Alonso Rojas
KR/PR - Charles Gordon
Honorable Mention S/T: DJ Beshears
That's what I came up with, after a lot of thought and digging through stats. See some players you feel I overlooked? Let's hash it out in the comments section.