All-Time Redskins Team: A player from each decade

OFFENSE

Quarterback – Sammy Baugh (1940s)

There are three players on my team whose longevity allowed me to have them represent more than one decade. It doesn’t matter with Sammy Baugh. Even if you restrict his years to the ‘40s, Sammy Baugh was among the greatest and most influential quarterbacks the league has ever seen. I grew up with Sonny, but even he has to take second place to Sammy.

Running Backs – Cliff Battles (1930s) and John Riggins (1980s)

It hurts to leave Larry Brown off this team, but Battles, who played most of his Redskins career in Boston, was a true giant of the early NFL, and Riggins was the best and most iconic back who ever played for the Redskins.

Wide Receivers – Charley Taylor (1970s) and Art Monk (1980s, at-large)

This leaves Hall of Famers like Wayne Millner and Bobby Mitchell off the team, but it’s hard to ignore Charley Taylor and Art Monk. I want to take this moment to thank Charley Taylor for being so good for so long. Like Baugh, he could have represented multiple decades. He was actually on the 1960s NFL all-decade team, but his play throughout the first half of the ‘70s was just as good. Monk is “at-large” because I already have Riggins from the ‘80s. You may notice a trend there. The ‘80s constituted the Redskins’ greatest decade, so it’s not surprising that it has the most players competing for a spot.

Tight End – Chris Cooley (2000s)

The Redskins have had a lot of good tight ends, but never an all-timer. Jerry Smith and Jordan Reed were Cooley’s equals as pass catchers, and no one was more beloved as a blocker than Donny Warren, but Cooley is a solid choice, who benefits a bit from playing in a decade when the Redskins did not have many superstars.

Offensive Tackle – Jim Lachey (1990s) and Trent Williams (2010s)

This is where it really gets tricky. A lot of Redskins tackles – Turk Edwards, Joe Jacoby, Chris Samuels – had longer and more storied careers than Lachey. But the years he was here, Lachey was among the greatest tackles I ever saw. And despite the acrimonious ending of the tenure, Trent Williams was among the league’s best for the entire decade. Edwards and Samuels could easily be here, but the rules work against them.

Offensive Guards – Dick Stanfel (1950s) and Russ Grimm (1980s, at-large)

Stanfel played longer for Detroit than for Washington, but his time in DC was extremely productive. And Grimm – man, those teams in the 1980s were good.

Center – Len Hauss (1960s)

Lenny was a rock, and though in my mind, he will always be snapping the ball to Sonny, I have no problem with him snapping to Sammy Baugh on this team.