This posted on Friday, but because of the long weekend we didn't get a chance to get to it until today. But it's still worth exploring a very interesting post from the folks at Pacific Takes, who put together an All-NFL team consisting of Pac-12 alumni. Only current NFL players are eligible. Their team:
Offense
QB Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, Cal
RB Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville, UCLA
RB Marshawn Lynch, Seattle, Cal
T Jordan Gross, Carolina, Utah
G Zane Beadles, Denver, Utah
C Ryan Kalil, Carolina, USC
G Andy Levitre, Buffalo, Oregon State
T Tyron Smith, Dallas, USC
WR Steve Smith, Carolina, Utah
WR DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia, Cal
TE Rob Gronkowski, New England, Arizona
K Jason Hanson, Detroit, Washington State
Defense
DE Andre Carter, New England, Cal
DT Haloti Ngata, Baltimore, Oregon
DT Jurrell Casey, Tennessee, USC
DE Frostee Rucker, Cleveland, USC
LB Terrell Suggs, Baltimore, Arizona State
LB Clay Matthews, Green Bay, USC
LB Lance Briggs, Chicago, Arizona
CB Nnamdi Asomugha, Philadelphia, Cal
CB Brandon Browner, Seattle, Oregon State
S Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh, USC
S Eric Weddle, San Diego, Utah
P Chris Kluwe, Minnesota, UCLA
They go on to list a complete second team for offense and defense as well as honorable mentions for most positions (it's a good, in-depth post with thoughts on each player).
Hard to argue with a lot of those names on the first team. And maybe I could see swapping a couple of the first-teamers out for the second-teamers and vice-versa. But for the most part it's solid.
So in the interest of sparking some additional discussion, here's who I think from the 2012 draft class could land on this list of first-teamers in five years.
Offense
QB Andrew Luck, Indianapolis, Stanford
RB LaMichael James, San Francisco, Oregon
OL Tony Bergstrom, Oakland, Utah
OL David DeCastro, Pittsburgh, Stanford
TE Coby Fleener, Indianapolis, Stanford
Defense
DE Nick Perry, Green Bay, USC
LB Mychal Kendricks, Philadelphia, Cal
S Brandin Hardin, Chicago, Oregon State
