Top 50 NFL Franchise Cornerstones By: Roshan Bhagat With the influx of young talent the last several years have brought through the NFL Draft, it?s inevitable that these players will forever be compared to one another. Accordingly here?s an early look at the top 50 franchise cornerstones under the age of 27. These players are ranked based on a combination of production, talent, and the importance of their position. To qualify, players must have been under the age of 27 as of June 1st.This list also includes several rookies from last April?s draft. While none of these rookies have played a down in the NFL, these players received my highest pre-draft grades.Positions you won?t find among the 50 best are fullback, guard, center, and outside linebacker (4-3). Very rarely are these positions able to be built around and their impacts are felt primarily as contributing positions on the field. To give credit to standouts at these positions, as well as others who just missed the top 50 list, here?s a list of players on the bubble. Just Missed (alphabetically): Shawn Andrews [OG, Philadelphia Eagles, 25], Jon Beason [OLB, Carolina Panthers, 23], Antoine Bethea [S, Indianapolis Colts, 23], Michael Boley [OLB, Atlanta Falcons, 25], Trent Cole [DE, Philadelphia Eagles, 25], Karlos Dansby [OLB, Arizona Cardinals, 26], Tamba Hali [DE, Kansas City Chiefs, 24], Santonio Holmes [WR, Pittsburgh Steelers, 24], Thomas Howard [OLB, Oakland Raiders, 24], Logan Mankins [OG, New England Patriots, 26], Kirk Morrison [MLB, Oakland Raiders, 26], Reggie Nelson [S, Jacksonville Jaguars, 24], Darrelle Revis [CB, New York Jets, 22] , Michael Roos [OT, Tennessee Titans, 25], Joe Staley [OT, San Francisco 49ers, 23], Donte Whitner [S, Buffalo Bills, 22], D.J. Williams [OLB, Denver Broncos, 25], Tony Ugoh [OT, Indianapolis Colts, 24] ~ ~ ~ 42. Vernon Gholston [DE/OLB, New York Jets, 21]*Rookie* Stats: *37 tackles, 15.5 TFL, 14 sacks, FR* Gholston's athletic prowess should be enough to warrant this spot. However, when you look at Vernon, he's more than meets the eye. He's intelligent and productive. He does what's asked of him and excels at it. Whether it?s tearing up quarterbacks or containing the edge, Gholston has the god given ability to do it all. In the Jets system, he'll be asked to play the rush linebacker position where he'll have the luxury to plow through backs to get to the quarterback. What makes Gholston special is that if he can play 100% for just half the downs, the team should have one of the best defensive weapons in the league. It takes a tremendous rookie to make the list, which Gholston is. 40. David Harris [ILB, New York Jets, 24] Stats: 127 tackles (90 solo), 5 sacks, 2 FF, FR, 3 PDef This may come as the first big surprise of the list. After watching Harris play for half a season, I?ve fallen in love with his play. While I have him ranked over the likes of DeMeco Ryans who has proven more than Harris, I can't help but to think how great Harris can be in the interior of the Jets defense. If he isn't already, he's going to become the heart and soul of that D along with Gholston. Adding a real nose tackle that can absorb multiple blockers can only help his case this season. The way Harris jumped into the Jets starting lineup and racked up the tackles, shed blocks, and made plays caught me off guard and has left me star struck. 30. Kerry Rhodes [S, New York Jets, 25] Stats: 68 tackles (52 solo), 2 sacks, 7 STF, 2 FF, 5 INT, 10 PD Kerry Rhodes has got to be the most complete safety you've never "heard" of. By that, he's put up incredible numbers and backed it up with play that doesn't show up on the stat sheet and yet still hasn't earned a Pro Bowl berth. Rhodes is the ultimate safety with few weaknesses. He successfully flirts with the fine line between maintaining his responsibilities in the secondary and taking chances to create big plays. A young playmaker and leader like Rhodes is hard to come by and that is why the Jets fans were ecstatic after inking him to a hefty, long term contract. > http://www.footballsfuture.com/2009/cornerstone50.html
What they say about Gholston makes me feel like a kid getting ice cream after hitting a walk off single to win a baseball game. I can't wait to watch this defense. It would be nice, however, to have someone on offense on this list. Keller in 2 years???
Throw Revis into the mix, and you're looking at 4 great players, possibly 5 if Jenkins lives up this billing, that could turn this defense into a monster. Should be a very fun year. Nothing more fun to watch than a sick defense and a power running game.
Darrell Revis, Shawn Andrews & Logan Mankins should definitely be on that list. Not Brandon Marshall (really too early to really tell on this guy). Not Marion Barber III (if he was so good why did they use this year's 1st round pick on Felix Jones?). Not Devin Hester (love him in the return game, but he's not an every down player......plus he can't crack a starting WR spot in Chicago???).
Devin Hester is most definitely one of the 50 best players in the league. Field position is just ridiculously underrated...special teams in general.
He's the best return man in the game.......no argument there at all. I disagree that he is an NFL Franchise Cornerstone, just as the topic suggests.
Gholston over Umenyiora. I lol'd. I mean, even Gholston over Tuck would be, at this stage, laughable. Also, I'm going to really enjoy it when people realize what was exposed about Marion Barber during the playoffs- that he never started games because he can't last a full 60 minutes running the way he does.
Umenyiora is not under the age of 27. He'll be 28 in November. Therefore, he is ineligible to be on this guy's list. Jon Beason should have been on the list over Gholston only because he has one NFL season under his belt and played well.
I disagree. I don't think Cribbs was even better than Leon, at least on KRs (Leon sucks on PR). Hester takes that title all the way, since he does the KR and PR at such an elite level.
Cribbs doesn't fuck around when he fields kicks. He just goes. He was tremendous last season (30.7 avg on kickoffs and 13.5 avg on punts). He is tough to tackle and has superb vision. Hester was also great (21.7 avg on kickoffs and 15.5 on punts), but he simply was not as good as Cribbs last year. Cribbs was a huge reason why the Browns had a winning record in 2007. This blog entry also makes the case for Cribbs. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=536
Revis might just match, and even exceed the other 3 Jets named. This guy will be a franchise Jet in every sense, hopefully for many years to come.
And you got nominated for "Most Knowledgeable Poster" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
