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Creating a Patriots All-Bill Belichick-era Team versus All-Decade Team

The New England Patriots have finished their 16th season under head coach Bill Belichick and they've had an astonishing run of success. Six Super Bowls, ten conference champions, 13 division titles, and probably the greatest array of talent in the entire league over that span of time.

I was curious and trying to compare the recently retired Jerod Mayo to other Patriots linebackers under Belichick (article coming out later today), and came across the Patriots All-2000s Team. That group of players was stacked.

Naturally, I wanted to update the roster because there have been some Patriots players at the turn of the decade that would turn that All-2000s team from one of the scariest groupings of players in the era to one of the greatest groups of player in the history of the sport.

I also wanted to highlight some of the players that weren't, or haven't been, around long enough to make the All-Belichick era team. These players will be categorized under the "One Game" title, in the sense that if we could arrange the greatest Patriots roster for just one game, who would make the squad?

So without further ado, here's the list:

Offense

Quarterback:

Tom Brady: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

Running back:

Corey Dillon: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

Wide receiver:

Randy Moss: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

Wes Welker: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

Troy Brown: 2000s, All-Belichick

Deion Branch: One Game

I thought that Branch's Super Bowl MVP warranted the one-game distinction, and because he was the fourth receiver on the list for me. Julian Edelman needs some more time before cracking the list.

Tight end:

Daniel Graham: 2000s

Rob Gronkowski: All-Belichick, One Game

Offensive tackle:

Matt Light: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

Nick Kaczur: 2000s

Sebastian Vollmer: All-Belichick, One Game

Offensive guard:

Logan Mankins: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

Joe Andruzzi: 2000s

Stephen Neal: All-Belichick

Brian Waters: One Game

I had some difficulty deciding whether I'd want Waters or Neal for my one game, but I think Waters was one of the most outstanding guards in the Belichick era for his short time.

Center:

Dan Koppen: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

Defense

Defensive tackle and nose tackle:

DT Richard Seymour: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

DT Ty Warren: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

NT Vince Wilfork: 2000s, All-Belichick, One Game

If I had to choose two, it would be Seymour and Wilfork, but the All-2000s team was a 3-4 construct. I thought a similar structure still made sense for the modern Patriots All-Belichick team.

Edge defenders:

Mike Vrabel: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game

Willie McGinest: 2000s, One Game

Rob Ninkovich: All Belichick

I had a lot of trouble with Ninkovich as an All Belichick nominee, but I value longevity when it comes to my All Belichick roster and Ninkovich holds the edge over McGinest from a statistical standpoint. I'd still pick Willie for a single game.

Linebackers:

Tedy Bruschi: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game

Roman Phifer: 2000s

Jerod Mayo: All Belichick

Dont'a Hightower: One Game

The linebacker position for the Patriots is one of the most interesting ever. I think Hightower is better than his well-regarded counterpart Jamie Collins, and is one of the best linebackers I've ever seen in a Patriots uniform.

Cornerback:

Ty Law: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game

Asante Samuel: 2000s, All Belichick

Darrelle Revis: One Game

Can you imagine a secondary with both Law and Revis? My goodness.

Safety

Rodney Harrison: 2000s, All Belichick, One Game

Lawyer Milloy: 2000s

Devin McCourty: All Belichick, One Game

It wasn't a big decision to put McCourty over Milloy, and the idea of pairing Harrison with McCourty is incredible.

Special Teams

Kicker:

Adam Vinatieri: 2000s, One Game

Stephen Gostkowski: All Belichick

This was really tough since I think Vinatieri could clear the board with Gostkowski's missed extra point fresh in our minds. But Gostkowski has been the kicker for twice as long as Vinatieri under Belichick. This is the one pick where if you wanted Vinatieri to be the All Belichick, I wouldn't argue against it.

Punter:

Josh Miller: 2000s

Ryan Allen: All Belichick, One Game

The punter position has to be the worst position under Belichick and it's not even close. Yeesh.

Returner:

Kevin Faulk: 2000s, All Belichick

Julian Edelman: One Game

Faulk is the best kick returner and Edelman is the best punt returner, but Faulk has done both. Edelman is my single game because he's good on a historic level, but Faulk is good over a long stretch of time.

Special Teamer:

Larry Izzo: 2000s

Matthew Slater: All Belichick, One Game

Not a difficult decision.

The following players made every list:

Offense: QB Brady, RB Dillon, WR Moss, WR Welker, OT Light, OG Mankins, C Koppen

Defense: DT Seymour, DT Warren, NT Wilfork, ED Vrabel, LB Bruschi, CB Law, S Harrison

Full list

OFFENSE
All-2000s Team All-Belichick Team One Game
T Matt Light T Light T Light
T Nick Kaczur T Sebastian Vollmer T Vollmer
G Joe Andruzzi G Steve Neal G Brian Waters
G Logan Mankins G Mankins G Mankins
C Dan Koppen C Koppen C Koppen
TE Daniel Graham TE Rob Gronkowski TE Gronkowski
WR Troy Brown WR Brown WR Deion Branch
WR Randy Moss WR Moss WR Moss
WR Wes Welker WR Welker WR Welker
QB Tom Brady QB Brady QB Brady
RB Corey Dillon RB Dillon RB Dillon
DEFENSE
All-2000s Team Change One Game
DT Richard Seymour DT Seymour DT Seymour
DT Ty Warren DT Warren DT Warren
NT Vince Wilfork NT Wilfork NT Wilfork
ED Willie McGinest ...ED Rob Ninkovich? ED McGinest
ED Mike Vrabel ED Vrabel ED Vrabel
ILB Tedy Bruschi LB Bruschi LB Bruschi
ILB Roman Phifer LB Jerod Mayo LB Dont'a Hightower
CB Ty Law CB Law CB Law
CB Asante Samuel CB Samuel CB Darrelle Revis
S Rodney Harrison S Harrison S Harrison
S Lawyer Milloy S Devin McCourty S McCourty
SPECIAL TEAMS
All-2000s Team Change One Game
K Adam Vinatieri …K Stephen Gostkowski? K Vinatieri
P Josh Miller P Ryan Allen P Allen
Ret Kevin Faulk Ret Faulk Ret Julian Edelman
ST Larry Izzo ST Matthew Slater ST Slater
HEAD COACH
All-2000s Team Change One Game
Bill Belichick lol still lol