ESPN's #NFLRank project is currently counting down the Top 100 players on each side of the ball, and it inspired us to ask a related, team-building question: If you were able to start a roster from scratch by choosing any 10 current NFL players, which ones would you pick? (We performed a similar exercise back in 2013 with our "building block players.")
I've made my 10 selections below, and in coming up with them I employed the collective wisdom of ESPN's Bill Polian and a current NFL general manager. I took a long view, picking players who would have success in the NFL over a long period of time, not just in 2014.
"You want as many dominant guys as you can get -- guys who affect the game and have to be game-planned against," Polian said.
That thinking aligns with the way top coaches view the game. The best ones -- Bill Belichick among them -- have sought to take away the one thing an opponent does best. Our hypothetical team will make that exceedingly difficult. Here's the list: