Welcome to the MMQB’s Quarter-Century Week. All week we’ll be publishing lists, rankings and columns looking back at the past 25 NFL seasons. You can find all those stories here.
If you had been asked, in September 2000, to predict who the best players of the NFL’s next 25 seasons would be, you probably would not have guessed the Patriots’ sixth-round rookie backup quarterback. Seven Super Bowls and a full career later, Tom Brady was a unanimous choice to be the first-team quarterback in the MMQB’s exercise looking back at the past quarter century.
Other decisions were not so clear-cut. Trying to stack rosters with the best of the best turns from celebratory to apologetic in short order. How can I leave that guy off? There are too many great players to find a spot for all of them. No doubt, some of your favorites missed the cut, while our team of writers and editors endeavored to recognize as many of our favorites as we could.
The NFL has had plenty of occasions to look backward, from the Hall of Fame’s official all-decade teams every 10 years to the league’s 100th anniversary team in 2019. With the 2025 season upon us, we decided to use this opportunity to recognize the top players of the past 25 years in a format similar to the league’s annual All-Pro teams.
A few ground rules:
• Voters were asked to consider players’ accomplishments specifically during the past 25 years. This impacted some players whose careers spanned the turn of the millennium.
• Players received three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote. Our first tiebreaker was the total number of ballots on which a player was named.
• Each of our teams has 11 players on offense and defense, which required some decisions about what positions to include. Rather than choosing between 11-personnel (one running back and three receivers) or 21-personnel (two running backs and two receivers), we voted on backs and receivers together with a flex position. The result is that our three teams don’t all have the same number of players at those positions, but we think it worked out nicely to reflect the best players at both running back and receiver. We also included fullbacks with the specialists so we could recognize those players without taking spots away from other skill-position players.
• For the defensive front seven, we went with three edge rushers, two defensive tackles and two inside linebackers.
Here are our voters:
• Albert Breer, senior NFL reporter (X/Twitter)
• Conor Orr, senior writer (X/Twitter, BlueSky)
• Gilberto Manzano, staff writer (X/Twitter, BlueSky)
• Matt Verderame, staff writer (X/Twitter)
• John Pluym, managing editor (X/Twitter)
• Mitch Goldich, senior editor (X/Twitter, BlueSky)
Without further ado, let’s go through the teams position by position.
OFFENSE
Quarterback
First-team: Tom Brady (18)
Second-team: Patrick Mahomes (9)
Third-team: Peyton Manning (8)
Others receiving votes: Lamar Jackson (1)
Brady was an easy choice for the first team, given that he’s widely regarded as the best quarterback ever and his entire career fit within this quarter century. The decision between Mahomes and Manning was much more interesting. Mahomes was given the edge for his three Super Bowl rings and historic production through seven seasons as a starter, even though Manning played more seasons, in which he won two Super Bowls of his own, plus five regular season MVPs, and he led the league in passing yards three times and touchdowns four times. Clearly, they’re both legends.
It was an unfortunate era to be any other all-time great quarterback. There were zero votes for Aaron Rodgers, who won a Super Bowl and four MVPs, or Drew Brees, who won a Super Bowl and retired as the all-time leader in passing yards. Manning was left off one ballot to make space for Lamar Jackson, a two-time MVP who has separated himself as the greatest running quarterback of all time.
Running back
First-team: LaDainian Tomlinson (17)
Second-team: Adrian Peterson (12), Derrick Henry (9)
Third-team: LeSean McCoy (4)
Others receiving votes: Frank Gore (3), Shaun Alexander (1), Saquon Barkley (1), Edgerrin James (1)
See the note above to understand why we have four running backs on three teams.
Tomlinson was a nearly unanimous selection for the first team. He trails Gore and Peterson in rushing yards since 2000, but his 145 rushing touchdowns clear second place (Peterson) by 25, and in fewer games. Tomlinson was a first-team All-Pro three times, Peterson four times, and they are the two most recent non-QBs to win league MVP.
Henry is fifth in rushing yards this century, third in rushing touchdowns and tops in yards per carry among anyone in the top 25 in yards. McCoy is sixth in rushing yards, was also a dual threat as a receiver, and made six Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pros. He got the nod over Gore, who had 16,000 yards and five Pro Bowls, but only one second-team All-Pro appearance.
Wide receiver
First-team: Larry Fitzgerald (17), Randy Moss (17), Calvin Johnson (15)
Second-team: Terrell Owens (11), Julio Jones (10)
Third-team: Tyreek Hill (7), Antonio Brown (4), Marvin Harrison (4)
Others receiving votes: Mike Evans (2), A.J. Green (2), DeAndre Hopkins (2), Andre Johnson (2), Steve Smith Sr. (2), Anquan Boldin (1)
See the note above to understand why we have eight wide receivers on three teams.
Wide receiver was the most crowded ballot, with plenty of roster spaces available and 14 different players receiving votes. The top three who made our first team separated themselves pretty cleanly. Larry Fitzgerald had 356 more receptions since 2000 than the next closest receiver (Boldin) and led the No. 2 receiver (Smith) by more than 2,500 yards. Moss led the league in receiving touchdowns four times and made three first-team All-Pro teams (even without giving him credit for his sensational rookie season in 1998, in which he achieved both of those feats before our time frame). Calvin Johnson did not accumulate as many counting stats because he played only nine seasons, but he was recognized for his dominance. The former Lion retired after his age-30 season, on the heels of six consecutive Pro Bowl campaigns. He is third over this period in receiving yards per game, behind only current stars Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase (neither of whom received a vote after playing just five and four seasons, respectively).
Owens played four seasons before 2000, but his career included eight 1,000-yard seasons and five first-team All-Pro selections during this quarter century. His 123 receiving touchdowns in this span trail only Moss’s 128. Julio Jones is sixth in receiving yards, thanks to a run of five consecutive seasons with 1,400-plus yards.
Hill is 21st in yards, though 10th in yards per game, and his game-breaking speed made him a unique weapon for the Chiefs’ first title in the Mahomes era. Brown is fourth in yards per game and had streaks of six consecutive 100-catch seasons and four consecutive first-team All-Pro teams. Harrison is another player whose career straddled the year 2000 (wiping out his league-leading 1,663 yards in 1999), but he began the century with seven consecutive 1,000-yard Pro Bowl seasons as Peyton Manning’s top target in Indianapolis.
Tight end
First-team: Travis Kelce (14)
Second-team: Rob Gronkowski (13)
Others receiving votes: Antonio Gates (1)
Kelce is a four-time first-team All-Pro, who set a tight end record with seven consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and has won three Super Bowls for the dynastic Chiefs. He received four first-place votes, barely edging Gronkowski for first-team honors.
Gronk won four Super Bowls (one with the Buccaneers) and has a better reputation as an exceptional blocker. He made four first-team All-Pro teams, with more seasons marred by injury. His 92 receiving touchdowns are third, behind Gates (116) and Gonzalez (96) among tight ends in the period.
Gonzalez led all tight ends since 2000 with 13,289 yards, with five of his six career first-team All-Pro selections in that span. The Hall of Famer led the league in receptions in ’04, the last time a tight end has done so.
Tackle
First-team: Joe Thomas (18), Jonathan Ogden (16)
Second-team: Trent Williams (13), Walter Jones (11)
Third-team: Tyron Smith (4), Lane Johnson (4)
Others receiving votes: Orlando Pace (4), Jason Peters (2)
Thomas was a unanimous first-team selection, after a career that saw him make six first-team All-Pro teams in a seven-year span. He also played more than 10,000 consecutive snaps, believed to be an NFL record. Ogden, a fellow Hall of Famer, won a Super Bowl with the Ravens and made the Pro Bowl in his final 11 seasons.
Williams, the current 49ers star with 11 Pro Bowls on his résumé, received two first-team votes. He and Walter Jones, the career Seahawk who was the No. 6 pick in the 1997 draft and elected to the Hall of Fame, were both selected on all six ballots.
Smith and Johnson, two longtime stalwarts in the trenches of the Cowboys-Eagles rivalry, rounded out the group. (Both also have teammates along their respective lines who’ll be named shortly.) They were tied in points with Pace, the No. 1 pick in the 1997 draft, but were named on more ballots, which was our tiebreaker.
Guard
First-team: Zack Martin (17), Alan Faneca (16)
Second-team: Steve Hutchinson (13), Marshal Yanda (10)
Third-team: Jahri Evans (7), Joe Thuney (3)
Others receiving votes: Logan Mankins (2), Quenton Nelson (2), Chris Lindstrom (1), Will Shields (1)
Martin just retired after 11 seasons in Dallas, which included nine Pro Bowls and seven first-team All-Pros. Faneca played 10 seasons in Pittsburgh, with six first-team All-Pro selections and a Super Bowl win. He added two more Pro Bowl seasons with the Jets, too.
Hutchinson was a first-round pick of the Seahawks, who split his career between Seattle and Minnesota. He had seven consecutive Pro Bowl seasons, with five first-team All-Pros, blocking for Shaun Alexander’s MVP season and Adrian Peterson’s sensational first five years. Yanda spent 13 decorated seasons in Baltimore, winning a Super Bowl with Joe Flacco and later protecting a young Lamar Jackson.
Evans was a durable cog on the Saints’ line, earning four consecutive first-team All-Pro nominations, beginning with the team’s 2009 Super Bowl season. Thuney is still active, and has been a versatile member of both the Chiefs and Patriots, playing in six Super Bowls and winning four.
Center
First-team: Jason Kelce (18)
Second-team: Kevin Mawae (9)
Third-team: Maurkice Pouncey (3)
Others receiving votes: Jeff Saturday (2), Tyler Linderbaum (1), Alex Mack (1)
Kelce joins his brother on our first team after a 13-year run in Philadelphia, including six first-team All-Pro marks in his final seven seasons. He won a Super Bowl and played in two.
Mawae earned four second-team votes. He began his career as a guard, before the Seahawks moved him to center in his third season. After 2000, he reached seven Pro Bowls for the Jets and Titans.
Pouncey reached nine Pro Bowls in his 11 seasons for the Steelers and made the official 2010s all-decade team.
DEFENSE
Edge
First-team: Julius Peppers (17), J.J. Watt (16), Myles Garrett (12)
Second-team: Jared Allen (11), DeMarcus Ware (11), Von Miller (11)
Third-team: Jason Taylor (10), Khalil Mack (8), Michael Strahan (6)
Others receiving votes: T.J. Watt (4), Cam Jordan (1), Terrell Suggs (1)
Edge is another position loaded with Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers without enough space to list them all. Peppers was a near-unanimous pick for our first team. His 159.5 sacks are 20 more than anyone else over this period. He had great longevity, with 10 double-digit sack seasons, spanning from age 22 to age 37. J.J. Watt won Defensive Player of the Year three times and was a five-time first-team All-Pro. In eight seasons (and counting), Garrett already has four first-team All-Pro seasons, 102.5 sacks and a DPOY.
The second team is also stacked. Ware and Allen are both Hall of Famers with four first-team All-Pros, and are third and fourth in sacks since 2000. Miller is sixth in sacks, has three first-team All-Pros and won two Super Bowls with the Broncos and Rams. He was also the MVP of Super Bowl 50 (as a teammate of Ware).
Taylor and Mack are both DPOY winners with three first-team All-Pros. Strahan was one of the most interesting players for our panel to think about, given that his career spanned from 1993 to 2007. He appeared on only two ballots, but both voters placed him on the first team. In eight seasons after 2000, he reached four Pro Bowls, won the Defensive Player of the Year award in ’01, set the single-season sack record that year and was a key figure in one of the greatest Super Bowl upsets of all time.
Defensive tackle
First-team: Aaron Donald (18), Chris Jones (12)
Second-team: Warren Sapp (11), Richard Seymour (9)
Third-team: Ndamukong Suh (5), Geno Atkins (5)
Others receiving votes: Kevin Williams (4), Calais Campbell (3), Haloti Ngata (3), Fletcher Cox (2)
Five players on the defensive side of the ball were unanimous first-team selections for our panel, starting with Donald, who was a Pro Bowler in all 10 of his seasons, a first-team All-Pro in eight of them and a three-time Defensive Player of the Year. The other first-team votes were split between four players, with Jones receiving two of them and appearing on five ballots. The Chiefs’ star has three first-team All-Pros and three Super Bowl rings.
Sapp was a slight victim of timing, with his Defensive Player of the Year award coming in 1999. He had three more first-team All-Pros and a Super Bowl win in this century. Seymour is a Hall of Famer, with three first-team All-Pros and three championships on the Patriots.
Suh made three first-team All-Pros, five Pro Bowls and won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers. Atkins made eight Pro Bowls in a career spent entirely with the Bengals. He and Suh were both on the Hall of Fame’s 2010s all-decade team.
Inside linebacker
First-team: Ray Lewis (18), Bobby Wagner (17)
Second-team: Brian Urlacher (11), Luke Kuechly (9)
Third-team: Derrick Brooks (9), Patrick Willis (6)
Others receiving votes: London Fletcher (1), C.J. Mosley (1)
Lewis is a no-brainer for inside linebacker, with six first-team All-Pros, two Defensive Player of the Year awards, two championships and a Super Bowl MVP after 2000 (which leaves out some accolades from the first four years of his career). Wagner will eventually join him in Canton, with six first-team All-Pros, 10 Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl ring.
Urlacher received one first-team vote after a Hall of Fame career that saw him rack up 10 Pro Bowls, four first-team All-Pro selections and a DPOY award. Kuechly and Brooks were tied in points, but the career Panther was named on all six ballots. He retired after only eight seasons, yet earned seven Pro Bowls and five first-team All-Pro honors.
Five of Brooks’s 14 seasons came before the turn of the century, giving him and Kuechly similar lengths of time within this span. The longtime Buccaneer made eight Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pro teams after 2000, along with a DPOY and a Super Bowl. Willis also played only eight seasons, but it was enough to reach the Hall of Fame. He was a five-time first-team All-Pro. Willis and Kuechly both led the league in tackles during their respective rookie seasons.
Cornerback
First-team: Darrelle Revis (18), Charles Woodson (15)
Second-team: Champ Bailey (13), Richard Sherman (10)
Third-team: Ronde Barber (8), Patrick Peterson (5)
Others receiving votes: Nnamdi Asomugha (2), Jalen Ramsey (1)
Revis was an elite shutdown corner with four first-team All-Pro selections. He’s remembered for his dominant run on Revis Island with the Jets and also won a Super Bowl in his one season with the Patriots. Woodson’s 59 interceptions are second to Ed Reed’s 64 over this span. He made seven of his nine Pro Bowls after 2000, won a Super Bowl with the Packers and prolonged his career by moving to safety.
Bailey made 12 Pro Bowls and Pro Football Reference lists him as the all-time career leader in passes defended. He and Woodson were both named first-team on three ballots. Sherman made three first-team All-Pro teams and starred for one of the most famous secondaries ever, winning a title with the Seahawks.
Barber played his whole career in Tampa Bay, making three first-team All-Pro teams and winning a Super Bowl. Peterson made two first-team All-Pro teams as a cornerback and one as a punt returner in his rookie season.
Safety
First-team: Troy Polamalu (18), Ed Reed (18)
Second-team: Brian Dawkins (10), Earl Thomas (8)
Third-team: John Lynch (7), Tyrann Mathieu (4)
Others receiving votes: Sean Taylor (2), Eric Berry (1), Rodney Harrison (1), Darren Sharper (1), Harrison Smith (1), Eric Weddle (1)
Safety was an easy ballot at the top, with a pair of unanimous first-team selections, and difficult at the bottom, with 12 players named on at least one ballot. Polamalu and Reed are Hall of Famers and Super Bowl champions who defined the position during their overlapping careers, often facing off against each other in one of the league’s best rivalries.
On the second team, Dawkins was a four-time first-team All-Pro who made the Hall of Fame. Thomas earned three consecutive first-team All-Pros and joins Sherman representing the Legion of Boom.
Lynch retired in 2007, and made seven of his nine Pro Bowls (and won his Super Bowl ring) after 2000. Mathieu has three first-team All-Pro selections and won a Super Bowl with the Chiefs.
Taylor stands out among the others receiving votes. He was murdered during a home invasion when he was 24 years old, in the middle of his fourth NFL season. He was the No. 5 pick in the 2004 draft, the fourth-place finisher in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting and a two-time Pro Bowler. There’s no telling how his career would have stacked up against these other greats had it played out in full.
SPECIALISTS
Kicker
First-team: Adam Vinatieri (16)
Second-team: Justin Tucker (14)
Third-team: Harrison Butker (3)
Others receiving votes: Stephen Gostkowski (2), Jason Elam (1)
All six of our voters had Vinatieri and Tucker in the top two spots, but four of them ranked Vinatieri first. The longtime Patriot and Colt played from 1996 until his age-47 season in 2019. He was selected to three first-team All-Pro teams and won four Super Bowls (one in Indy). He owns the career record with 56 field goals made in the playoffs, including some of the most famous kicks in league history.
Tucker has more Pro Bowls (seven) and first-team All-Pro selections (five), the highest regular-season field goal percentage in history and the longest kick made in NFL history.
Voting for our third-team was close, but three votes went to Butker, who has won three Super Bowls and is second to Tucker in career regular-season field goal percentage.
Punter
First-team: Shane Lechler (18)
Second-team: Andy Lee (8)
Third-team: Johnny Hekker (8)
Others receiving votes: Thomas Morstead (2)
Lechler began his career with the Raiders in 2000 and played until his age-41 season in 2017. He made the NFL’s official all-decade teams for both the 2000s and 2010s, making him an easy choice.
Lee appeared on all six ballots (though Hekker had more second-team votes, with four). Lee made three first-team All-Pro teams with the 49ers, while Hekker made four with the Rams.
Kick returner
First-team: Dante Hall (11)
Second-team: Cordarrelle Patterson (9)
Third-team: Devin Hester (9)
Others receiving votes: Josh Cribbs (7)
Dante Hall and Devin Hester both made our team twice, for their kickoff and punt return prowess. Hall was voted to the first team on kickoffs in a tight vote; he had three first-team votes but was left off two ballots entirely. Cribbs was named on more ballots (five), but fell to honorable mention without any first-team support.
Hall was second behind Cribbs in total kickoff return yards, and in fourth place with six touchdowns. Numbers at this position only tell some of the story, as part of Hester’s mythology is how teams stopped kicking to him, taking away opportunities to rack up yards and touchdowns. It can also be hard to parse the difference between kick return and punt return value in Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams, because typically, both are factored into the selections at those positions.
Patterson leads the way with nine kick return touchdowns since 2000, and his average yards per return is second behind only current Cowboys All-Pro KaVontae Turpin (who has only played three seasons). Patterson earned four Pro Bowls and four first-team All-Pros.
Punt returner
First-team: Devin Hester (18)
Second-team: Darren Sproles (11)
Third-team: Dante Hall (4)
Others receiving votes: Ted Ginn Jr. (2), Jacoby Jones (1)
There was much more consensus when it comes to punt returns, with Hester a unanimous choice for our first team. He led the NFL over this period in punt return yards, and he has at least triple the number of returns of any player who had a higher yards per return mark than he did. He also had 14 punt return touchdowns, double the next closest player (Sproles had seven, Hall had six). Hester was a three-time first-team All-Pro.
Sproles was second in punt returns, yards and touchdowns, and made three Pro Bowls, all in his 30s. Hall made two Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro one time.
Fullback
First-team: Kyle Juszczyk (17)
Second-team: Lorenzo Neal (11)
Third-team: Tony Richardson (6)
Others receiving votes: Mike Alstott (1), Patrick Ricard (1)
Some love for the fullbacks! We’ve included them as specialists instead of taking spots away from running backs, now that they are not featured as heavily in the modern game.
Juszczyk became a star in San Francisco, with nine consecutive Pro Bowl seasons (that includes his final year in Baltimore). He is one of the many versatile players who has made Kyle Shanahan’s offense so potent.
Neal and Richardson made the Hall of Fame’s official 2000s all-decade team. Neal made four Pro Bowls, three of them with the Chargers as the lead blocker for LaDainian Tomlinson during his peak seasons. Richardson made three Pro Bowls, two with the Chiefs while paving the way for Priest Holmes and one with the Vikings in Adrian Peterson’s rookie season.
Special-teamer
First-team: Matthew Slater (15)
Second-team: Larry Izzo (10)
Third-team: Kassim Osgood (3)
Others receiving votes: J.T. Gray (2), Don Muhlbach (2), Justin Bethel (1), Patrick Mannelly (1), Brad Maynard (1), George Odum (1)
The league recognizes special-teamers every year, and our voters recognized players ranging from gunners to long snappers.
Slater just retired after a 13-season career that saw him reach 10 Pro Bowls and win three Super Bowls with the Patriots. Izzo is also a longtime Patriot (he was on New England’s three other Super Bowl teams), though one of his three Pro Bowls was as a member of the Dolphins. And Osgood made three Pro Bowls with the Chargers.
Here is a final look at who made our first-, second- and third-teams. Below that, check out the 10 players who were unanimous first-team selections.
