My Ultimate 53 Man Team

[Andy]

*Article in its draft stages; give me your thoughts!*

 

In lieu of Mark Dominik’s 53-man ultimate team posted on ESPN, I’ve decided to do the same, and build the real ultimate team that fits within the 133M-dollar salary cap.

 

Rules & Information:

- No Rookies

- All Cap Hits are for the 2014 NFL Season

- Stay under the 133M-dollar cap limit

- Defense is a 3-4 Defense

- Balanced Offense w/ West Coast Qualities

 

Offense

Quarterbacks – $7,617,636

Andrew Luck ($6,029,454)

Russell Wilson ($817,302)

Nick Foles ($770,880)

 

Andrew Luck is the best young quarterback in the game and his late game heroics make him an easy choice to man this team. Russell Wilson is right up there with Luck and is amongst the better quarterbacks in the game. Wilson already has a Super Bowl ring on his finger, which makes him a great backup. Nick Foles would be the third stringer and although inexperienced, Foles had the best TD-INT ratio last season and big things are ahead for him. 

 

Running Backs – $12,392,711

Jamaal Charles ($9,633,333)

Le’Veon Bell ($936,500)

Eddie Lacy ($771,003)

John Kuhn ($1,051,875) (Fullback/H-Back)

 

Jamaal Charles is star player who can do anything. He can catch, run and block and is amongst the fastest players in the league. Le’Veon Bell is a great young running back with tons of potential and can also do everything very well. Eddie Lacy is a bruising running back who shined as a rookie last season. John Kuhn is a perfect fullback/H-Back as he can do everything well and is not afraid of anything, making him also a perfect player on special teams.

 

Wide Receivers – $21,026,936

AJ Green ($6,264,394)

Julio Jones ($5,149,375)

Antonio Brown ($4,517,500)

Dez Bryant ($3,148,500)

Alshon Jeffery (1,240,317)

TY Hilton ($706,850)

 

This wide receiver group has the perfect combination of deep threat/game changing ability and consistency (with catching). Jones, Green and Bryant are three superstars who change games and are great deep threats. Antonio Brown is a great possession receiver with blazing speed and great hands. Alshon Jeffery and TY Hilton are two quality backups with sky high potential and big play ability.

 

Tight Ends – $5,576,826

Jimmy Graham ($4,000,000)

Dwayne Allen ($835,826)

Julius Thomas ($741,000)

 

Jimmy Graham at 4M is a steal, and can play anywhere on the field. He’s a nightmare for any team, but a dream for my team. Dwayne Allen and Julius Thomas are two quality backups. Thomas is a better receiver, but Allen is better all around.

 

Offensive Line -- $25,519,108

Jason Peters ($8,292,000)

Evan Mathis ($6,150,000)

Zach Strief ($2,100,000)

Kyle Long ($1,866,580)

Chad Rinehart ($1,750,000)

Travis Frederick ($1,561,370)

Stefan Wisniewski ($1,315,810)

Manelik Watson ($1,089,739)

Larry Warford ($714,250)

Terron Armstead ($679,359)

 

Chemistry is very important on an offensive line, which is why I paired up Evan Mathis and Jason Peters on the left side of the line. Travis Frederick is a great talent with a lot of potential and Warford and Strief are two consistent performers. Having depth on your offensive line is crucial, and Long, Rinehart, Wisniewski, Armstead and Watson are good backups. Watson is an interesting case, he has great upside but no experience and he’s raw. He’s a risk, but they have many player on the line who can play both tackle and guard. 

 

Total Number of Offensive Players: 26 Players

Total Amount Spent on Offensive Players: $72,133,217

 

Defense

Defensive Line – $14,167,638

JJ Watt ($3,575,540)

Dontari Poe ($3,087,274)

Cameron Jordan ($2,459,991)

Sheldon Richardson ($2,285,000)

Muhamed Wilkerson ($2,187,500)

Damon Harrison ($572,333)

 

The defensive line is stacked from head to toe. JJ Watt and Cameron Jordan is an outragerous duo and Poe up the middle is scary. They have great depth with the three Jets, Richardson, Wilkerson and Harrison. I feel it’s important to have a strong defensive line on defense and it’s worth investing big money into that position.

 

Linebackers – $12,611,882

Luke Kuechly ($3,430,528)

Ryan Kerrigan ($2,774,639)

Jabaal Sheard ($1,619,625)

Justin Houston ($1,598,812)

Mychal Kendricks ($1,212,121)

Demario Davis ($764,490)

Parys Haralson ($635,000)

Jerrell Freeman ($576,667)

 

The linebackers are talented and can cause havoc. Luke Kuechly isn’t a perfect fit, but he’s a leader and he has great work ethic. He’s a must for any team, especially at that price. Kerrigan and Sheard fit their role perfectly and are two good starters. Jerrell Freeman narrowly beats out Kendricks and Davis for the starting ILB spot, because he makes plays, and is always near the ball. They have great depth with Sheard, Davis and Kendricks, and good experience plus a special teams performer in Parys Haralson. 

 

Cornerbacks – $12,003,020

Brent Grimes (4,250,000)

Richard Sherman ($3,676,606)

Desmond Trufant ($1,855,870)

Casey Hayward ($902,703)

Brandon Boykin ($671,367)

Tommie Campbell ($656,474)

The cornerbacks are filled with great starters and great depth. Grimes and Sherman as starters creates the best duo in the NFL. Sherman is arguably the best CB in the league and Grimes is up there with him. Trufant is a great young upstart and Boykin can play exceptionally in the slot (same with Hayward). Tommie Campbell is a great special teams player who can also make plays on defense.

 

Safeties – $9,107,379

Jairus Byrd ($3,500,000)

Kenny Vaccaro ($2,141,980)

Eric Reid ($1,927,444)

Matt Elam ($1,537,955)

 

The starting safeties, Byrd and Vaccaro, have good chemistry as they play for the same team. Byrd is an ideal free safety, as he excels in coverage, and Vaccaro is a tough-nosed player who can play in the box. It’s the same for Reid and Elam, who are the backups. Elam can play tough in the box and Reid can play anywhere on the field.

 

Total Amount of Defensive Players: 24 Players

Total Amount Spent on Defensive Players: $47,899,919

 

Special Teams

Kicker

Justin Tucker ($570,000)

 

Having Justin Tucker at this low a price was just too easy. Tucker is arguably the best kicker in the league and has one of the biggest legs.

 

Punter

Marquette King ($570,334)

 

Did you know that Marquette King had a 48.9 punt average last season? This man can boot the ball as well as anyone else and his precision is improving year after year.

 

Long Snapper

Matt Overton ($570,000)

 

Overton is reliable and he doesn’t cost too much, meaning he’s the perfect long snapper. Overton is also athletic enough to make plays down the field. 

 

Total Number of Special Teams Players: 3 Players

Total Amount Spent on Special Teams Players: $1,710,334

 

Salary Cap: $133,000,000

Total Cap Hit: $120,033,136

Amount Remaining: $12,966,864

 

Offensive Starters:

QB: Andrew Luck

RB: Jamaal Charles

FB: John Kuhn

LWR: Julio Jones

RWR: AJ Green

TE: Jimmy Graham

LT: Jason Peters

LG: Evan Mathis

C: Travis Frederick

RG: Larry Warford

RT: Zach Strief

 

Defensive Starters:

LDE: JJ Watt

NT: Dontari Poe

RDE: Cameron Jordan

LOLB (Strong): Ryan Kerrigan

LILB: Jerrell Freeman

RILB: Luke Kuechly

ROLB (Rush): Justin Houston

LCB: Richard Sherman

RCB: Brent Grimes

FS: Jairus Byrd

SS: Kenny Vacarro

 

 

Recap: The team that you see is a team that would be amongst the very best in the NFL, with its star power on offense (Luck, Charles, Julio, Dez and Green), an offensive line that has good chemistry (Peters & Mathis) and a lot of young talent and strength. On defense, it is strongly built up front with JJ Watt and Cameron Jordan on the line with Kerrigan and Houston rushing the edges. Jerrell Freeman and Luke Kuechly will man the middle. Kuechly has great leadership skills and is a great tackler, he just could not be left off the team, despite the not-so-perfect scheme fit. Behind them, you have a top notch secondary with great chemistry at safety (Byrd and Vaccaro) and two shut down corners in Sherman and Grimes. Each position also has great depth.

On special teams, you have TY Hilton as a very good punt returner. Brandon Boykin and a backup offensive skill player could become the kick returners. On kickoff, you have a lot of talent athletes like Tommie Campbell, Demario Davis, Matt Elam, Dwayne Allen and John Kuhn (just to name a few). Justin Tucker and Marquette King are two great players at each positin as well.

The beauty of the team is that there is $12.6M in cap space remaining, meaning that the team could re-sign or keep a lot of its core players. This team is built extremely well for now and will be force to be wrecking with for years to come. With all due respect to Mark Dominik, this is the ultimate team and there is $12M still left in cap space.  

[IcEWoLF]

^ So you want to run a west coast offense with no blocking Tight Ends? Okay...

[Nobody]

^ So you want to run a west coast offense with no blocking Tight Ends? Okay...

Allen?

And Andy, I'd have to include Lavonte David in my team

[IcEWoLF]

Allen?

And Andy, I'd have to include Lavonte David in my team

 

I haven't seen much from Allen to impress me as a blocking TE. I would have picked Kyle Rudolph over Allen.

[Dustin]

I haven't seen much from Allen to impress me as a blocking TE. I would have picked Kyle Rudolph over Allen.

I hope you're being sarcastic. You want to take one of the best blocking TEs in the NFL and replace him with one of the worst?

[Yoshinator]

Very good job Andy. I would of put McAfee as the Punter, but I'm a bit biased. 

 

Why couldn't we get this team? We draft terrible lol.

[Yoshinator]

I hope you're being sarcastic. You want to take one of the best blocking TEs in the NFL and replace him with one of the worst?

He's a Pats fan, so I think he's showing some hate for Allen. It might also be that he hasn't seen Allen play much.

[Nobody]

I haven't seen much from Allen to impress me as a blocking TE. I would have picked Kyle Rudolph over Allen.

Bruh.