Building the Best Current Day All-AFC East Roster

With the New England Patriots dominating the division year-in and year-out, it may not seem like the AFC East is loaded with talent. On the contrary, there are plenty of talented players that simply don't get the recognition they deserve because they're on mediocre, or just plain bad teams.

Not anymore. Now, those players get to be part of a best-of-the-best team in the AFC East. 

The NFL may be all about building a team, not a group of talented players, but we're taking that mentality and throwing it out the window. What we want is the best team that can carve up any group they face in a "vacuum" where nobodies' character clashes (wouldn't the Jets love to live in that vacuum?) and everyone is a perfect fit for the system.

Which players made the cut?

Quarterback

Starter: Tom Brady

Dude. Duh.

Records. Titles. Winning. These are all things that are in Tom Brady's blood, and all things that have made his legacy one of the best in sports—regardless of his two Super Bowl losses.

Backup: Matt Moore

Running Back

Starter: Fred Jackson

If Fred Jackson had stayed healthy, he would have been good for 2,202 yards from scrimmage, which would have had him as the No. 1 player in the NFL. It's no wonder why Bill Belichick gushes over Jackson every time he's asked about the Bills running back.

Backup: Reggie Bush

Wide Receiver

Starters: Wes Welker, Brandon Marshall

Wes is a slot machine. Marshall is a deep ball beast. The match is made in Heaven. Just ask the 2007 Patriots, which rode that type of combo to 18 straight wins and the highest-scoring offense in league history. Marshall has proven virtually uncoverable on deep balls, averaging 15 yards per reception in 2011, and has put up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons despite quarterback quandaries that would have most receivers crying for help.

Welker, on the other hand, has some of the best hands in the NFL and isn't afraid to take a pounding on underneath routes. He's reliable, having reeled in 554 receptions since 2007, by far the most in that span.

Backups: Stevie Johnson, Santonio Holmes

Tight End

Starter: Rob Gronkowski

After finishing up what was likely the best single-season performance by a tight end in NFL history, Gronkowski got rolled up on in the AFC Championship Game and the Patriots offense just wasn't the same in the Super Bowl. Rarely does a tight end have that kind of an impact on an offense.

Such is the case when your key tight end is uncoverable, untacklable and all-around unstoppable. Except on a sprained ankle.

Backup: Aaron Hernandez

Tackle

Starter: Jake Long, Matt Light

The first pick of the Sparano era is the perfect building block for a franchise, especially one like the Dolphins, where the team changes regimes almost as often as they change jerseys. Long has proven to be a great tackle to put up against every type of rusher, both the speedy edge types and the bull-rushing guys.

Matt Light has caught some criticism at times, but most of it is unwarranted. You rarely hear his name called out during a game, which isn't a good thing if you're a skill position player, but is an ideal situation for a tackle. That means he's not getting beat off the ball every down.

Backup: Sebastian Vollmer, Demetrius Bell

Guard

Starters: Logan Mankins, Brian Waters

Logan Mankins may have been victimized by Justin Tuck in the Super Bowl (again), but being beat by one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL is nothing to hang your head in shame about. Mankins has been an All Pro guard for the Patriots in the past, and continues to be an anchor and enforcer for the line.

As for Waters, he experienced a career resurrection in his first year in New England, and though his future in the NFL is still uncertain, his performance is worthy of praise.

Backup: Chad Rinehart, Dan Connolly

Center

Starter: Nick Mangold

It may not have been a great year for the Jets rushing attack, which averaged 3.8 yards per carry, but Nick Mangold ranked out as Pro Football Focus' second-best center overall. He goes toe-to-toe with Vince Wilfork on a twice-per-year basis, and is one of very few centers in the NFL that can handle big Vince one-on-one.

Backup: Mike Pouncey

Defensive End

Starters: Randy Starks, Mike Devito

Neither of these two are the world's best pass-rushers (although Starks did log 4.5 sacks), but since we're building a 3-4 defense, they don't need to be. Both of these guys do their job well enough of simply soaking up the blockers, and both were solid run defenders for their ability to clog the holes at the line of scrimmage. 

Backups: Muhammad Wilkerson, Brandon Deaderick

Nose Tackle

Starter: Vince Wilfork

Forget the AFC East—Vince Wilfork may be the best nose tackle in the NFL right now. He consistently draws double-teams and makes it difficult for offenses to run the ball. The Patriots have been solid in run defense since he joined the team back in 2004.

Backup: Marcell Dareus

Inside Linebacker

Starters: Jerod Mayo, David Harris

Mayo has finally begun making an impact as a big play linebacker, nabbing an interception in back-to-back games in 2011, including one in the final minutes that helped ice a win over the Redskins. He and Harris have consistently eclipsed the century mark for tackles, and though that statistic can sometimes get inflated, these linebackers just have a penchant for finding the ball. That makes them a fit in virtually any defense.

It's interesting that Harris' nickname is "The Hitman," and rather ironic, since he and Mayo combined for 187 tackles.

Backups: Brandon Spikes, Kevin Burnett

Outside Linebacker

Starters: Cameron Wake, Andre Carter

Both Wake and Carter have been revelations for their respective teams. Wake didn't appear to be all-anything in his CFL days, and though Carter is an all-time great at defensive end, he was a fairly innocuous signing for the Patriots this past offseason, but helped New England greatly improve their pass rush before getting injured himself.

Wake and Carter combined for 18.5 sacks. With these two coming off the edge, quarterbacks would be running for their lives on nearly every down.

Backups: Mark Anderson, Calvin Pace

Cornerback

Starters: Darrelle Revis, Vontae Davis

Darrelle Revis is arguably the best defensive player in the NFL (at least, that's what Rex Ryan tells us) and quite possibly had his best year in 2011. He only gave up one passing touchdown in 2011. Vontae Davis isn't the same shutdown caliber as Revis, but according to Pro Football Focus, he gave up just three passing touchdowns while intercepting four passes, and gave up just a 68.8 passer rating on throws his direction.

Backups: Kyle Arrington, Antonio Cromartie

Safety

Starters: Jairus Byrd, Jim Leonhard

Jim Leonhard gets type-cast as the short, slow, white safety, but he's a very reliable cover safety, allowing just a 55.8 passer rating on throws his direction in 2011. When it comes to being a signal-caller, we'd trust him to "quarterback" the secondary any day. 

As for Jairus Byrd, the guy is like a heat-seeking missile, if that "heat" is a pointy, oval-shaped pigskin. He tied for a league-leading nine interceptions in 2009 and has 13 picks in his three-year career. He has also logged over 90 tackles in each of the past two years. While that may be an indictment of the guys up front not doing their job in tackling, at least we know we can count on him as the last line of defense.

Backups: George Wilson, Patrick Chung

Kicker

Starter: Stephen Gostkowski

It came down to Gostkowski and Bills kicker Rian Lindell, but Gostkowski has been more accurate over the past five years by three percentage points (85.8 to 82.8 percent). And in the year of the touchback, Gostkowski was one of the top 10 kickers at forcing their opponents to take a knee on a kickoff.

Backup: Rian Lindell

Punter

Starter: Zoltan Mesko

Mesko has a higher average net yards per punt, and also has a higher percentage of his punts land inside the 20. While some of that may be due to his team's astounding field position, we'll go ahead and assume that an all-start AFC East roster will probably have good field position more often than not.

Backup: Brandon Fields

Specialist

Starter: Brad Smith

The world's best utility player. How can you not love a guy that can line up at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, kick returner and punt returner all in the same game? The only other guy that matches that criterion is Julian Edelman, and I'm pretty sure most fans would take Brad Smith's explosive capabilities over Edelman's every time. 

Backup: Julian Edelman

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