2010 All-Pro 2nd Team

QB: Aaron Rodgers, GB
After the regular season, this was a 3-way toss-up. After the postseason, well that’s a different story. He really cranked it up a notch after Week 8 and in 10.5 games passed for over 3000 yards, completing over 70% of his passes and 25 touchdowns (28 total) to only 4 interceptions. Of those 4 picks, 2 came on dropped passes (1 should have been a touchdown), which the other 2 came against the rival Bears. His performances in the postseason against Atlanta and Pittsburgh will be talked about for years to come and ultimately cemented his status among the game’s elite and this season only 2 quarterbacks were dialed into top gear for a long stretch.

RB: Adrian Peterson, MIN
There’s no disputing that this was Peterson’s most challenging season as a running back. The passing game was inept, the offensive line was blocking uphill, and then came AP’s late season injuries. Despite all of it, Peterson still churned out his efficient 1300 yards and 12 touchdowns, but also finally managed to rid himself of the fumbling plague. He’s still the best in the league.

RB: Darren McFadden, OAK
At this time last year, we had all written him off as another epic Al Davis bust, but now, he’s looking like one of the league’s most dangerous running backs. He led the league this year with 14 runs of over 20 yards and tacked on a couple more big ones catching the ball. The only thing that will slow McFadden down is his own health.

FB: Le’Ron McClain, BAL
McClain’s a brutal hitter with enough to skill to handle the ball; therefore it should come as no surprise that he was the most utilized fullback in 2010. McClain could be a fairly successful runner in the mold of Hillis, but has unselfishly taken the backseat to Rice and McGahee, paving the way for a good running game. He’s also been efficient converting 13 of 18 first down opportunities on 2 yards or less to go.

WR: Greg Jennings, GB
In the first quarter of the season, Jennings was being bypassed for Jermichael Finley as the team’s top receiver. He stayed professional and went on to have the best season of his career as a reliable target and an integral cog in an offense that relies on hot reads, pre-snap checks, and option routes. By demonstrating his ability to play the X, Y, and Z, Jennings has become of the best route runners and complete wide receivers in the league while amassing 1200 yards and 12 touchdowns. Averaging 5.7 YAC per receptions, he’s perfect for the West Coast offense, but could play any position in any scheme.

WR: Andre Johnson, HOU
Johnson was on pace for his second consecutive 100-catch, 1500-yard season if not for an ankle injury that forced him to miss 3 games. When healthy, there’s no better wideout in the game and that may hold true when just a little dinged up too. His late-season performance in the miraculous Texans comeback against the Ravens will stick with me for some time. A hobbled Andre is still better virtually all NFL receivers.

TE: Jason Witten, DAL
Witten continues to live up to his reputation as the league’s best combo tight end. Paired with Bennett, the Cowboys feel comfortable sending him out to catch balls or keeping him in to go one-on-one with defensive ends, where he holds up better than most. He led all tight ends in receptions, yards, and 1st downs and only fell one touchdown short of the leaders, while catching passes from his back-up quarterback.

LT: Andrew Whitworth, CIN
Whitworth had an outstanding, unheralded season at left tackle for what was probably a lone bright spot on the most disappointing team this year. He allowed 2.5 sacks and less than 1 additional pressure per game. Further, the stretch play outside left tackle was the staple of the Bengals offense and where Benson averaged nearly a full yard more per carry than in any other direction. In fact, no team ran left more than the Bengals who ran 39% in that direction or 14% more than the NFL average. His ability to seal the edge and keep Carson clean from his blind side was the only consistency on the entire offense.

LG: Carl Nicks, NO
Nicks had his second consecutive dominant season outplaying even Jahri Evans on the right side. The running game was its best running up the middle and to the left side with Nicks out in front. The line finished inside the top 10 in allowing negative rushes and power percentage up the middle. In pass protection, he was consistent as always, allowing only 3 sacks on the year.

C: Alex Mack, CLE
In just his second season, Mack is ahead of the curve that Mangold took en route to becoming the best center in the league. Like Mangold, Mack has both the athleticism and strength to anchor against bigger tackles and also maneuver to connect with blocks on the second level. This year, Mack allowed only 1.5 sacks and a pair of hits with no penalties called against him and was one of the best on a unit that made Peyton Hillis and finished just outside the top 5 in hits allowed.

RG: Brandon Moore, NYJ
With no real accolades to his name, Moore continues to be one of the best kept secrets at guard forming one of the better sides in football with Damien Woody at right tackle. Moore doesn’t have the elite strength or athleticism that makes some guards special, but he’s incredibly consistent in all aspects of the position. Though the Jets didn’t move the ball as well on the ground as they did a year ago, he was exceptional in pass protection allowing only 1 sack and no hits.

RT: Kareem McKenzie, NYG
It’s nice to see McKenzie back at the top of his game. He allowed only 2 sacks, 5 hits, 1 penalty and comprised of one-half of the Giants’ dominant run-blocking right side. In fact, no team ran right more often than the Giants who had 37% of their carries in that direction. Both Bradshaw and Jacobs shared the right side as a common strength according to their splits.

DE: Justin Tuck, NYG
Tuck is a rare athletic specimen and disruptive player in all he does. Combined with strength and a deadly first step, Tuck is a proven match-up nightmare for both tackles and guards alike. Tuck finished the year leading all defensive ends with impact plays (35.5) by a wide margin (7.5). He led all defensive ends in tackles, stuffs, and fumble recoveries, while finishing just behind his teammate in forced fumbles, and 5th in sacks. Tuck was the top playmaker on the line this season for a defense that has just that as its number one goal.

DE: Charles Johnson, CAR
Given the steep upward trend of the Bears and equivalent downward trend of the Panthers, it seems like the loss of Peppers was huge to Carolina. In reality, Charles Johnson had an incredible season and arguably better than that of Peppers. He led the league in pressure percentage, disrupting the quarterback on 16.7% of his rush attempts, but also played stellar run defense. He had a solid 62 tackles on the year, but more importantly, Football Outsiders ranked the Panthers defensive line 2nd and 8th in runs over right tackle and right end, respectively.

DT: Casey Hampton, PIT
This was a year of blossoming young defensive linemen into stars—Suh, Johnson, Raji, Knighton, etc. And on the other hand there was 33-year-old Casey Hampton leading the front for the league’s best run defense. There’s no denying the talent playing beside him in the front 7, but it all starts with him up front as the space occupant. In fact, it wasn’t just a good run defense, but the 2nd best run defense in NFL history by raw yardage, while allowing only 3.0 yards per carry. Further, it’s no coincidence that both Farrior and Timmons had outstanding seasons behind Hampton playing as well as he did.

DT: Richard Seymour, OAK
Several departures from the Raiders over the past few seasons have criticized the toxic work environment in Oakland, but the arrival of Seymour, along with several other factors, have quickly turned that around. With instant credibility, Seymour claimed the vocal leadership role and immediately helped to improve the porous run defense. He notched 5.5 sacks in addition to 9 other QB hits in 13 games and led all interior linemen by applying pressure on 10.3% of his pass rushes. Further, as a result of his drawn attention, several of his teammates experienced career years as they learned from and took advantage of his presence in the middle.

OLB: Cameron Wake, MIA
Wake led all linebackers in splash plays with over 2 per game (33 in total) and still somehow cracks only the 2nd team? Well that says something about players at his position and how well they played this season. He shows a great first step and explosiveness, but also tremendous torque while turning the corner. Wake has emerged out of nowhere into an elite pass rusher—okay fine, Dolphins fans probably aren’t all that surprised with the way they were clamoring about him last year. My favorite Cameron Wake moment? New York Jets, Week 14. Wake closes the game with 2 sacks in the final 3 plays of a potential game-winning drive to put an end to the Sanchez magic and clinch the game for the Dolphins.

OLB: DeMarcus Ware, DAL
Out of the gates, it seemed Matthews had the sack title wrapped up. Then midseason Cameron Wake started to close ground week after week. But by the end of the season, it was a familiar face atop the sack leaderboard, though not without help from the rival Eagles who pulled their starters in the final week. Ware finished with 15.5 sacks, 9 stuffs, and 30.5 total impact plays, while still not playing as well as he has the past 3 seasons. Now there’s a special linebacker for you.

ILB: Lawrence Timmons, PIT
Timmons came out of the gates looking like he would be a contender for DPOY. He slowed down during the second half of the season, but has become another elite defender in a historically proud linebacking brotherhood. His 26 impact plays ranked 3rd among all inside linebackers and his play in the middle was a big reason why the Steelers finished with one of the best run defenses in history. His ability to play 3 downs factored further into the teams’ top ranked scoring defense.

ILB: Ray Lewis, BAL
With Favre gone from the league (quickly heads to the bathroom to vomit upon mentioning his name unnecessarily), I’m ready to call Lewis the ageless wonder. I’m starting to wonder whether he’ll ever slow down, especially with Ngata in front of him. Lewis is still a tremendous 3-down linebacker who leads a tenacious Ravens defense. His ability to hit the sidelines is one area that’s fading (only 27.3% of tackles near the sidelines), but he still fills the stat sheets and makes game-changing plays.

CB: Brandon Flowers, KC
How many elite seasons does it take to be named to at least the Pro Bowl? Well Flowers had a great rookie season and followed it up with a pair of elite ones and he’s still sitting here today without any accolades to his name. What a travesty! I know what the response is going to be. He wasn’t elite—the Raiders torched him. Sure he allowed a couple big catches and had one or two other average outings after that, but aside from that, Flowers played at a near-Revis level, dealing with injury for much of the 2nd half of year. Opponents completed only a hair over 50% and scored only once on him all year. His 6.4 YPA would be considerably lower disregarding the anomaly in Oakland. Still, not only did the Chiefs allowed the 3rd fewest yards to #1 receivers per game (44.1), but the 5.4 YPA while throwing against top targets was three-quarters of a yard lower than the next best team. Without making this sound like anymore of a lovefest for Brandon, I also admire his ability to limit YAC and his willingness in run support. Yes he was elite this season.

CB: Darrelle Revis, NYJ
I think it says a lot about the future that lay ahead when Revis finishes second-team, despite playing much of the season with a hammy issue. He surpassed even his success rate from a year ago, getting beat on only 33.9% of passes thrown his way. However, this season he allowed 4 touchdowns and a higher YPA (6.1).

SS: Quintin Mikell, PHI
No safety made more raw impact plays this season than Mikell this year (29). He played with consistency throughout the season recording at least one in all but 2 games—ironically both against the Redskins. Mikell is your quintessential strong safety with more traditional roles than everyone’s first-teamer.

FS: Kerry Rhodes, ARI
After being traded to the Cardinals for peanuts, Rhodes rebounded to have a solid season for the Cardinals. He finished 4th among safeties in impact plays with 24, which includes 4 picks, 4 fumble recoveries, and 2 touchdowns. Aside from a couple errors in run support, he’s back to his Pro Bowl level.

K: Billy Cundiff, BAL
Cundiff had a fantastic season on kickoffs, equaling an NFL record with 40 touchbacks. He missed only 3 field goals all year and failed to connect from outside of 50 on his lone attempt, but still drilled 89.7% of his attempts.

P: Adam Podlesh, JAC
Podlesh finished 4th in the league in net punting, but his unit only allowed 123 return yards on the season, or an average of 2.2 yards on the backend of every punt. It’s a pivotal number in an era where returners are more dangerous than ever. His 45.6 In-20 percentage was good for 3rd in the league.

KR/PR: Leon Washington, SEA
With 10 returns of 40 yards or more on punts and kicks combined, Washington went for the home run each time he stepped up to bat. He took a pair of kicks back to the end zone against San Diego to single-handedly win them the game and finished with 3 total scores on the season. He was tripped up by the punter near the goal line that would have otherwise been his 4th.

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