Tom Brady is the easy QB selection for the offense. Seven Super Bowl titles in 10 appearances. Fourteen Conference Championship Game appearances, including eight in a row. Fifteen Pro Bowls. Three first-team All-Pro selections. Three MVPs. Two of the greatest statistical seasons in QB history (2007 and 2010). Brady also led the New England Patriots to 17 AFC East championships, including 11 in a row. His sustained excellence helped turn the Pats into a dynasty, but Brady didn’t stop there, winning another Lombardi after joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. Brady is the NFL’s all-time leader in passing yards, touchdowns, and completions. There’s no one else we’d rather have under center.
Jim Brown led the league in rushing in eight of his nine pro seasons and touchdowns in five of those campaigns. He earned three MVP trophies, eight first-team All-Pro nods, and nine Pro Bowl trips, exuding a level of dominance rarely seen in professional sports. He remains the only player in league history to average more than 100 rushing yards per game. He retired in 1965 as the NFL leader in most rushing categories and is still sixth all-time in rushing touchdowns (106) and 11th in rushing yards (12,312). Brown achieved these totals while playing in an era where defenses sold out to stop the run. Plus, the NFL played only 12 games per season over the first four years of Brown’s career before shifting to a 14-game slate in 1961, meaning he didn’t get as many appearances to rack up statistics.
Jerry Rice owns several of the most unbreakable records in sports. No NFL player will ever touch his 22,895 receiving yards or 197 receiving touchdowns. Rice is 5,000+ yards ahead of Larry Fitzgerald and outpaced Randy Moss by 41 touchdowns — both records are uber-safe. Essentially impossible to cover, Rice posted an absurd 14 1,000-yard seasons. He led the NFL in yards six times, touchdowns six times, and receptions twice. Rice developed connections with quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young, helping the San Francisco 49ers to three Super Bowl titles. An utterly dominant pass catcher, Rice was named an All-Pro in 12 of his 20 NFL campaigns. His 10 first-team All-Pros are tied for the most by any player.
Arguably the most physically dominant receiver in NFL history, Randy Moss’ ability to embarrass opposing defensive backs with leaping contested catches inspired a generation of “You Got Mossed!” highlights. A 1998 first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings, Moss was electric from the start. He led the league with 17 touchdown catches in his first NFL season, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and finishing third in MVP voting. Moss ranked first in TD receptions twice more with the Vikings, earning five total Pro Bowl nods in Minnesota. After a brief stint with the Oakland Raiders, Moss was traded to the Patriots in 2007 and quickly became the cornerstone of one of the best offenses the NFL has ever seen. He holds the single-season touchdown reception record after scoring 23 times in 2007.
Terrell Owens is one of the only three wide receivers in NFL history have put up 15,000 yards and 150 touchdowns. He thrived with the San Francisco 49ers — earning three consecutive first-team All-Pro nods from 2000 to 2002 — before infamously joining the Philadelphia Eagles in 2004. After grabbing another All-Pro berth, he returned from a broken leg after just seven weeks to post nine catches for 122 yards in Super Bowl 39. Owens seemingly defied the rules of aging. He made his final All-Pro team in 2007 after managing an 81-1,355-15 line as a 34-year-old with the Dallas Cowboys. He somehow caught 72 passes for 983 yards and nine TDs in his last NFL campaign as a 37-year-old Cincinnati Bengal.
Tony Gonzalez’s NFL production blows away the rest of his position. Gonzalez was statistically dominant over 17 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons while earning six All-Pro nods and 14 Pro Bowl selections. His 1,325 receptions and 15,127 yards rank first among tight ends, while Gonzalez’s 111 touchdowns are second to only Antonio Gates (116). Gonzalez finished top-10 all-time among all NFL pass catchers in receptions, yards, and TDs, ranking ahead of wide receivers like Marvin Harrison in catches and Tim Brown in yardage.
The No. 3 overall pick in the 1980 NFL Draft, Anthony Muñoz used his size and perfect technique to become the greatest left tackle in league history. Muñoz started 184 games across 13 seasons with the Bengals. From 1981 to 1991, he earned nine first-team All-Pro nods and two second-team berths, displaying a level of positional dominance rarely seen in the league.
While he was listed at just 6’3″ and 276 pounds, Randall McDaniel was an uber-athlete. A high school track and field star who competed in discus and shotput, McDaniel ran a 10.64-second 100-yard dash during his senior season. That athleticism transferred to the NFL after McDaniel was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1988 NFL Draft. He went to the Pro Bowl in every campaign from 1989 to 2000, while his seven first-team All-Pros are tied for the most among guards.
Bruce Matthews played all five offensive line positions over his 19 NFL campaigns, producing a valuable combination of high-end talent and unmatched consistency. He started 293 games, third-most in league history behind Brady and Brett Favre, while his 14 Pro Bowls are second only to Brady’s 15. Matthews played center for the then-Houston Oilers from 1991 to 1994, then improbably earned his final Pro Bowl nod after shifting to center as a 40-year-old for the Tennessee Titans in 2001.
Although Larry Allen primarily played left guard for the Dallas Cowboys, he was a right guard from 1996 to 1998. With McDaniel holding down the left side, we’ll shift Allen for our All-Time NFL Offense.
Allen appeared in 203 NFL games (197 starts), terrorizing defensive linemen with his staggering combination of strength and speed. He was selected to the Pro Bowl 11 times and made six consecutive All-Pro teams from 1996 to 2001.
Parker, the eighth overall pick in the 1957 NFL Draft, played mostly left tackle for the Baltimore Colts but also dabbled at guard and right tackle.
Parker was well ahead of his time as a pass blocker, using techniques that only later came into vogue around the league. An eight-time first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler, Parker won NFL Championships with the Colts in 1958 and 1959.
