Be The GM: Who\'s Your Pick To Build An NFL Franchise Around?

[RealGM Articles]

The mythical question of which player you would want to build an NFL franchise around is one that always triggers intriguing debate and scrutiny. The Indianapolis Colts have had this question posed to them in a microcosm twice in the last 15 years when they chose between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf in 1998, and Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III in 2012.

We will attempt to answer the question with a tournament-style contest where you get to vote one matchup at a time.

In order to create a field of 32 candidates, we selected the most franchise-player worthy player from every NFL team.

Quarterbacks are unquestionably the most valuable commodity in the NFL, but only 25 percent of the players in this poll play the position. Since you are starting a franchise from scratch in this scenario, age matters (ruling out the likes of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees), while players with a teammate that were clearly amongst the best at their position were picked over quarterbacks that are only slightly above league average.

We last did this exercise in 2006 for the NFL and the Final Four players were Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush, Tom Brady and Eli Manning. 

NFC West 1

Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

NFC West 2

Patrick Peterson, Arizona Cardinals

Chris Long, St. Louis Rams

NFC South 1

Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers

Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

NFC South 2

Darrelle Revis, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Jimmy Graham, New Orleans Saints

NFC North 1

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears

NFC North 2

Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions

NFC East 1

Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins

Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys

NFC East 2

Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants

LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles

AFC West 1

Jared Veldheer, Oakland Raiders

Eric Weddle, San Diego Chargers

AFC West 2

Von Miller, Denver Broncos

Jamaal Charles, Kansas City Chiefs

AFC South 1

J.J. Watt, Houston Texans

Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans

AFC South 2

Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Paul Posulszny, Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC North 1

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens 

AFC North 2

Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns

A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

AFC East 1 

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots

Jarius Byrd, Buffalo Bills

AFC East 2

Dion Jordan, Miami Dolphins

Muhammad Wilkerson, New york Jets