December 20, 2019 4:37 AM EET
at running back for the NFL’s All-Time Team.As part of its celebration of its centennial season
Byron Cowart NFL Jersey , the league announced Friday night the first portion of the squad. A 26-member panel is selecting the team.Also chosen were two coaches, Paul Brown and Bill Belichick. Eight more coaches will be selected over the next month.Joining Brown and Payton in the backfield are fellow Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith, the career rushing leader; Marion Motley; Barry Sanders; Steve Van Buren; Gale Sayers; Earl Campbell; Lenny Moore; O.J. Simpson; Eric Dickerson; and Dutch Clark.“It is cool to be with the legend himself
Byron Cowart NFL Draft ,” Smith said of joining Brown on the squad. “The man who inspired so many other players to come from behind him. He paved the way for many of us, his passing the torch to Walter and so many others. He set the standard pretty high.”One hundred players will make the team. Rob Gronkowski was perhaps the greatest receiving tight end in NFL history, and the Patriots will miss him now that he’s retired. But even when he wasn’t running a route
Byron Cowart Buffalo Bills Jersey , Gronk was an integral part of the Patriots’ passing game.Gronkowski was also a great pass blocker, and Mike Reiss of ESPN notes that Gronk may have been the best pass-blocking tight end in the league.According to ESPN’s “pass-block win rate” stat — which gives blockers a “win” every time they hold their pass block for at least 2.5 seconds — Gronk was tied with Josh Hill of the Saints as the No. 1 pass blocking tight ends in the NFL. Gronk won on 98 percent of his pass blocks, which was also better than any offensive lineman in the NFL last season (although obviously tight ends are rarely matched one-on-one with an opposing team’s best pass rusher).Gronkowski’s primary role was as a receiver
Infant Jacob Bailey Jersey , but even if other Patriots can make up for the catches that will be lost to his retirement, his contributions as a blocker will be hard to replace.