You are the GM . . .

[Arm of Harm]

You are the GM of an expansion football team. Your team does not have a first round pick. Instead, you get to pick a head coach and five players from any era of professional football. Whichever five players you choose, you get 21 year old versions of those players. You get to choose the age of your head coach. You have draft picks in rounds 2 - 7, but the draft won’t take place until after you’ve chosen your coach + five players. 
 

Who is your head coach? Who are your five players? What are you hoping to achieve by choosing the guys you picked? 

[Ann]

Wait a second... 21 year old version? I want Peyton Manning but he didn't even come into the league until he was 22. Why not the 25 year old version? I keep looking and 21 doesn't work at all. No one is in the league at 21 except Tremaine Edmunds, and I ain't selectin' him.

 

[Ann]

Coach: John Madden

None of these guys were in the league at 21 (except Barry Sanders), but I still picked 'em.

QB: Peyton Manning
WR: Jerry Rice
RB: Barry Sanders
DE: Bruce Smith
LB: Mike Singletary

What are you hoping to achieve by choosing the guys you picked?  - A good base to just win baby...

[Nanker]

First off, I’m firing the fan base. Those a-holes are nothing but a bunch of backseat drivers with obsessive-compulsive disorders. 

[Nanker]

Coach Vince Lombardi

 

MLB Dick Butkus

QB Josh Allen

WR Jerry Rice

WR James Lofton

RB Earl Campbell

[Ann]

4 minutes ago, Nanker said:

Coach Vince Lombardi

 

MLB Dick Butkus

QB Josh Allen

WR Jerry Rice

WR James Lofton

RB Earl Campbell

I had Butkus, but switched to Singletary.

[Nanker]

9 minutes ago, Ann said:

I had Butkus, but switched to Singletary.

Not a bad choice at all. Butkus was a monster. He’s the prototypical MLB. 

I think it might have been in Plimpton’s “Paper Tiger” that I read about his rookie year first game against the Packers. 
Some coaches were telling Vince that Butkus was something special and they had to put more guys on him. Vince said something like, “Aw Hell, he’s just a rookie” and left it at that. 
 

After (IIRC) the first half, when Butkus absolutely wrecked the Packers Offense and broke one of their players arms, Vince made a halftime adjustment and double teamed him thereafter. 

[snafu]

Tom Landry

 

QB — Elway

OL — Anthony Munoz

LB — Lawrence Taylor

WR — Jerry Rice

DE — Bruce Smith

 

[Core Four]

Bill Parcells

 

QB - Dan Marino

TE - Kellen Winslow

SS - Ronnie Lott

OT - Joe Jacoby

CB - Lester Hayes

 

 

[Ann]

12 hours ago, snafu said:

Tom Landry

 

Good choice

[TakeYouToTasker 2.0]

HC: Vince Lombardi

 

QB: Josh Allen

WR: Calvin Johnson

WR: Randy Moss

WR: Jerry Rice

RB: LaDanian Tomlinson

 

The offense would put up 50 points a game.

[Crap Throwing Clavin]

2 minutes ago, TakeYouToTasker 2.0 said:

HC: Vince Lombardi

 

QB: Josh Allen

WR: Calvin Johnson

WR: Randy Moss

WR: Jerry Rice

RB: LaDanian Tomlinson

 

The offense would put up 50 points a game.

 

That is a true murderer's row of receivers.

[Taro T]

HC - Don Coryell

 

QB - Josh Allen

RB - Gayle Sayers

WR - Jerry Rice

LB - Lawrence Taylor

DE - Reggie White (nearly went w/ Smith but w/ Taylor on that D would rather have the guy that could also stop the run)

 

Have Coryell turn the D over to an assistant.  Only want him focusing on O & STs.

 

That has some of the absolute best O weapons ever & the start of a ferocious D.

[Alaska Darin]

Coach:  Belichick

QB:  Allen

WR:  Megatron

DE:  Bruce

DT:  Reggie

LB: LT

 

Take a 7 Step drop.  I dare you.

[Alaska Darin]

15 hours ago, snafu said:

Tom Landry

Way ahead of his time.  Along with Noll, probably the most adaptable coaches prior to Belichick.

[Uncle Joe]

Don Meredith, Dallas Cowboys Quarterback once said: "Coach Tom Landry is such a perfectionist that if he was married to Raquel Welch, he would 

expect her to cook.”

16 hours ago, snafu said:

Tom Landry

 

4 hours ago, Ann said:

Good choice

1 hour ago, Alaska Darin said:

Way ahead of his time.  Along with Noll, probably the most adaptable coaches prior to Belichick.

 

[Robs House]

Josh Allen

Bruce Smith

Aaron Donald

Jonathan Ogden

Trent Williams

 

HC - Brian Flores

[Arm of Harm]

To make this more interesting, I'm going to avoid using names others have already chosen.

 

Head coach: George Halas. When the NFL was first created in 1920, Halas was one of the head coaches. Initially he served as both head coach and a player, at the same time! He was a two way player: a WR and a DE. His best play occurred when he knocked the ball out of the opposing QB's hands, recovered the fumble, then ran 98 yards for a touchdown. In the 1940s, he invented the revolutionary (for the time) T-formation. Also during the '40s Halas's Bears team achieved the most lopsided victory in NFL history, winning 84-0. Halas's career winning percentage is .671, as compared to Belichick's .670. Halas's head coaching career spanned almost half a century, so his winning percentage cannot be attributed to any one player in particular. Correction: Halas's teams won 6 NFL championships. The other 2 were championships won while Halas was alive, but while he'd stepped away from coaching for a while.

 

QB: Johnny Unitas. Unitas played in an era when defenses were allowed to absolutely murder opposing QBs. Later in his career Unitas's throwing hand didn't work the way it should have, his throwing arm wasn't right, and he had a number of other injuries as well. Due to these injuries the last third of his career dragged down his numbers. But Unitas was tough as nails. His career lasted 18 years. Despite his un-healed injuries, he was able to achieve a career average of 7.8 yards per attempt. That's better than Brady, Montana, or Brees, and tied with Aaron Rodgers. Unitas had a great career, and for a long time was known as the greatest quarterback ever. Now imagine if he'd been playing under modern rules, designed to protect the quarterback. If he'd had access to modern sports medicine and modern training techniques. Very, very few modern quarterbacks could play at or near his level!

 

WR: Steve Largent. The obvious choice here would have been Jerry Rice, but he was already taken. Before Rice's career got started Largent was known as the best WR ever. He'd be a great target for Unitas.

 

WR: Don Hutson. Hutson is widely considered the 4th best WR all time, behind Jerry Rice, Steve Largent, and Calvin Johnson. Hutson played in the '30s and '40s.

 

OT: Jim Parker. Parker played on Unitas's Colts team back in the '50s, and is Gil Brant's #1 OT of all time.

 

DT: Alan Page. Page was a member of the Vikings' Purple People Eaters back in the '70s. Had sacks been counted as an official stat back then, he'd have the third-most sacks of a defensive lineman, behind only Bruce Smith and Reggie White. That'd be great from a DE, but it's even better coming from a DT! Page is the only defensive lineman to ever receive the NFL's MVP award.

 

What am I looking to achieve with all of this? First and foremost, I want a great offense. I like the fact that Halas was an innovator on the offensive side of the ball. Then you have the greatness of Unitas, who might have been the best quarterback ever. You're giving him pass protection (Jim Parker) and targets (Largent and Hutson). Yes, I'm neglecting the defense, with only 1/5 of my selections going there. But a Hall of Fame DT like Alan Page at least creates a foundation upon which a good defense can be built. I envision him pressuring and sacking opposing QBs, while making it very difficult to run the ball up the middle.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Arm of Harm

[Jabba The Hutt]

Coach: Andy Reid

 

QB: Josh Allen

RB: Christian McCaffery

WR: Cooper Kupp

LB: Luke Kuechly

DL: TJ Watt

TE: Gronk since I traded down

[Ninety-4]

Parcells

 

Dan Marino Or Elway, tough call

Randy Moss

Earl Campbell

Dwight Stephenson

Reggie White