Start a franchise with 3 players

[NannyMcafee]

Peyton Manning.

 "Mean Joe" Greene.

Dick Butkis. 

[crazycolt1]

Peyton Manning

Jerry Rice

Berry Sanders

[New Zealands #1 Colts Fan]

2019 Derrick Henry

George kittle

Quentin nelson

[ColtStrong2013]

Patrick Mahomes

Michael Thomas

Nick Bosa

 

24, 26, and 22 years old and will all be at the top of their positions, which happen to be the most important in today’s game, for the next 8 to 15 years... Those 3 with a supporting cast around them and solid drafting over the course of their careers would be hard to beat. Many championships. 
 

[Myles]

On 1/12/2020 at 8:26 PM, ColtStrong2013 said:

Patrick Mahomes

Michael Thomas

Nick Bosa

 

24, 26, and 22 years old and will all be at the top of their positions, which happen to be the most important in today’s game, for the next 8 to 15 years... Those 3 with a supporting cast around them and solid drafting over the course of their careers would be hard to beat. Many championships. 
 

I almost took the same, but decided for Nelson instead of Thomas.   Neither is a bad choice.  

[lollygagger8]

Quenton Nelson 

Clone of Nelson

Twin of Nelson 

[ColtStrong2013]

4 hours ago, Myles said:

I almost took the same, but decided for Nelson instead of Thomas.   Neither is a bad choice.  

If having a subpar o-line is the tradeoff, I’d take Nelson elevating a top 10 o-line in place of Thomas resulting in a subpar receiving core . I think Mahomes would elevate the offense behind a good offensive line. But if it’s an average or better o-line and Thomas and Mahomes have time to connect, there is no stopping that offense. 

[ColtStrong2013]

4 hours ago, lollygagger8 said:

Quenton Nelson 

Clone of Nelson

Twin of Nelson 

Twin of which Nelson? 

[danlhart87]

On 1/12/2020 at 7:26 PM, ColtStrong2013 said:

Patrick Mahomes

Michael Thomas

Nick Bosa

 

24, 26, and 22 years old and will all be at the top of their positions, which happen to be the most important in today’s game, for the next 8 to 15 years... Those 3 with a supporting cast around them and solid drafting over the course of their careers would be hard to beat. Many championships. 
 

Mahomes would get killed behind no OL 

[ColtStrong2013]

2 hours ago, danlhart87 said:

Mahomes would get killed behind no OL 

which is why I said I would take Q elevating a sub par oline over Thomas. But if it were an average or better than average line without Nelson, I would take Thomas elevating a subpar receiving core. 

With all due respect to Mahomes, we really don’t know what kind of quarterback he is without Kelce, Hill and Watkins... Which is pretty great group of weapons. 

[Imgrandojji]

3 individual players?  Pick of the league?

 

QB Fran Tarkenton

FB Mike Alstott

LB Lawrence Taylor

 

I'll take Tarkenton over other more prominent QBs because Tarkenton specialized in compensating for weak OLs and could be a huge asset while building meat around the bones of the franchise.  Tarkenton was one of the few real QBs who unequivocally made the team around him better rather than leaning on his supporting cast. 

 

As you build your talent in the draft you then might transition to a young man who you intend to be "your guy" but in those first few years having Tarkenton over a conventional pocket passer could add 4-5 wins a year.

 

Alstott is self explanatory, if you're building a new offense Alstott is a perfect piece to build around.  Tough, physical, tough minded fullback that has the complete package.

 

And there is no question who you build your D around.  LT was just special.

 

Pick of current players is a bit more hazy, because the guys who were always the easy answers in years past are getting older and the new wave of talent is only just coming into its own now.

 

That said:

 

QB Aaron Rodgers

RB Derrick Henry

CB Stefon Gilmore

 

If you're building an offense from scratch with currently there is no correct answer that is not Aaron Rodgers.  Mahomes is getting there but if you have to choose the guy who's been there over the guy who's getting there, there is no comparison.

 

RB is a bit more up in the air but Henry is amazing.

 

Defense was more questionable because there's a lot of guys you could choose up front like the Bosas, the Watts, etc, but I tend to think elite secondary play sets up the rest of the defense for success in modern defensive schemes far more than used to be the case even 10 years ago.  Physical defense isn't obsolete but it's the coverage team that gives them a chance to do their thing in this era of quick release offense so I'll go for a consensus top corner or safety over a front 7 role at the moment.  And Gilmore is probably the best CB in football right now.

[PeterBowman]

Nelson

 Aaron Rodgers 

prime Cameron Heyward

 

[JimJaime]

Patrick Mahomes

Nick Bosa

Kittle