All-Professional Footballers

As we approach the NFL Final Four, and on the heels of naming my collegiate Pepster All-Americans, it is time to name the best professional footballers of this NFL season.  This is my reflection of the best players from throughout the NFL.  It is simply who I thought played the best this year.  Although there are more than 11 offensive and defensive players listed, the team is selected to account for the various offenses and defenses used around the country (trip receivers, spread, 3-4, 4-3, etc.). I also choose some backups to account for different styles of players. I chose to explain my picks in some instances, and not in others. Why? Because I feel like it. Now here are the Pepster 2012 All-Pros.


Offense

QB - Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers; Tom Brady, New England Patriots - Controversy out of the gate as no Peyton Manning and none of the "young guns".  Don't worry RGIII, you will have plenty of time to make this list if you stay healthy, and Luck and Wilson look like future staples.  As far as no Manning, Rodgers and Brady just looked much more in control of games, against much stiffer competition than the AFC West this year.  Rodgers was first in QB rating, and Brady's Patriots led the league in scoring.

RB - Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings; Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks; Alfred Morris, Washington Redskins - No explanation should be necessary, nor will be forthcoming.

WR - Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions; Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears; Andre Johnson, Houston Texans; Wes Welker, New England Patriots - C. Johnson with a single season record 1,964 yards and 122 receptions and Marshall with an often electrifying 118 catches, for 1,508 yards and 11 TDs.  Johnson and Welker with equally spectacular seasons, although 118 catches for Welker can be described as ho-hum.  Remember all of the "where is Wes Welker in the playbook" discussions the first quarter of the season?

TE - Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta Hawks; Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys - Two of the all-time greats.

T - Ryan Clady, Denver Broncos; Joe Staley San Francisco 49ers; Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns - Clady and Staley are nasty.  Staley's performance with one hand against Matthews was phenomenal.

G - Mike Iupati, San Francisco 49ers; Marshal Yanda, Baltimore Ravens;  Logan Mankins, New England Patriots - Iupati, in my opinion, is the best offensive lineman in the game.  Yanda always seems to control his guy.  Mankins because the highest scoring offense has to get some line credit, and he is the best on that team.

C - Mike Pouncey, Miami Dolphins; Maurkice Pouncey, Pittsburgh Steelers - Mike doesn't get much credit yet because of his team.  When I asked Mike who should back him up on this team, he responded, "My brother Maurkice, calling up the freaks"!

Defense

DE - J.J Watt, Houston Texans; Julius Peppers, Chicago Bears; Cameron Wake - No discussion necessary.

DT - Vince Wilfork, New England Patriots; Justin Smith, San Francisco 49ers; Haloti Ngata - Again, no discussion necessary, but I will say that Wilfork, Watt and Charles Tillman should be the only 3 vote getters for defensive player of the year.

OLB - Aldon Smith, San Francisco 49ers; Von Miller, Denver Broncos; Chad Greenway, Minnesota Vikings - Smith and Miller are game changing defensive players.  Greenway led all outside backers in tackles.

ILB - Patrick Willis, San Francisco 49ers; NaVorro Bowman, San Francisco 49ers; Luke Kuechly, Carolina Panthers; London Fletcher, Washington Redskins; Jerod Mayo, New England Patriots - The Niners picks are no brainers, Kuechly led the league in tackles, and Fletcher has been good for a long, long, long time!!!

CB - Charles Tillman, Chicago Bears; Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks; Tim Jennings, Chicago Bears; Patrick Peterson, Arizona Cardinals - See my Tillman note above, and Sherman was fantastic.  Jennings led the NFL in picks with 9.  As for Peterson, remember when the Cardinals were undefeated and had a great defense - yeah me either - but Peterson is awesome.

S - Dashon Goldson, San Francisco 49ers; Thomas DeCoud, Atlanta Falcons; Morgan Burnett, Green Bay Packers; Thomas Davis, Carolina Panthers - Goldson is always around the ball, on runs or passes, and DeCoud caught every overthrown pass in the NFL. Burnett led all safeties in tackles, and I just love watching Thomas Davis play.

Special Teams

K - Blair Walsh, Minnesota - One of the greatest kicking seasons in history.  36-36 on extra points and 35-38 on FGAs, including 10-10 over 50 yards.

P - Andy Lee, San Francisco 49ers - I don't normally care about punters, and Lee led the league in net yardage (along with Thomas Morestead), but dropped more than Morestead inside the 20.

R - Jacoby Jones, Baltimore Ravens (Kicks); Leodis McKelvin, Buffalo Bills (Punts); T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts - all three were incredibly exciting, although Trindan Holliday marks a huge run after his playoff performance.  I could also just have Patrick Peterson return kicks as well.