It's safe to say that Ted Trump did not make the All-Decade team...

Holy Crap it's 2009.  Only the rest of this year left in the 2000's, and what a ride it's been for Rutgers football.  The football team has gone from laughingstock to national title contender, and now sits firmly on the fringes of the Top 25 entering 2009-2010.  What I'm going to do here is attempt to sort through the last decade of Rutgers football (starting with the 2000-2001 season) and name my all-decade team.  My criteria will be overall performance, longevity, and value/contribution to the Rutgers football program.  We'll start with the offense today:

OFFENSE

QB- Mike Teel

RB- Ray Rice

FB-  Brian Leonard

OL-  Anthony Davis

OL-  Darnell Stapleton

OL-  Jeremy Zuttah

OL-  Pedro Sosa

OL-  Cameron Stephenson

TE-  LJ Smith

WR-  Kenny Britt

WR-  Tres Moses

Read why I selected these players, and who else was considered after the jump...And as always, leave your comments whether you agree or disagree, or let us know what your team would look like....

Here's the breakdown of my all-decade team.  If you disagree (and I'm sure you do), leave some comments and let me know who you think she be in.

QB-  Mike Teel

I'm not sure if there really was any other choice.  At the time that he decided to attend RU, he was the most heralded recruit ever to come to the Banks.  Teel finished his career as the all-time winningest quarterback in Rutgers history leading the team to a 29-13 record, while amassing 9,383 yards and 59 touchdowns (both school records).  Teel was selected in the 7th round of this year's NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.  Also considered:  Ryan Hart, Mike McMahon.

And for those of you Mike Teel haters who don't think he'll be missed this season, just trying replacing some of these throws that he made:

RB- Ray Rice

You could argue for Brian Leonard, but since we've gone with the old pro style offense with a FB, Ray is the overwhelming choice.  Rice was originally destined for Syracuse, but the firing of Paul Pasqualoni made him rethink his decision and he ended up on the banks.  Rice rushed for 4,926 yards and 49 touchdowns in his 3 years at Rutgers, and had he bypassed the NFL Draft and stayed his last season he would have had a chance to break the all-time NCAA rushing record.  Rice's best performance was his 2008 International Bowl show, but I'll best remember him for strapping the team to his back in 2006 in the upset of #3 Louisville.  Rice was drafted in the 2008 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens.  Others considered:  Brian Leonard, and not much else (Justise Hairston, Marcus Faycson).

FB- Brian Leonard

In my opinion, no player has meant more to Rutgers than Brian Leonard.  He did things the right way, he always played hard, never complained, was a great teammate and most of all, was a great talent on the field.  The man could both catch and run, and he also could block a little bit leading the way for Ray Rice to break the 2000 yard barrier in 2007.  Oh yeah, then there was this:

Others considered:  None.

Wide Receiver:  Kenny Britt and Tres Moses

Kenny Britt became the 1st Rutgers player ever to be drafted in the 1st round of the NFL Draft.  In his 3 year career at Rutgers he caught 178 passes for 3,043 yards and 17 touchdowns.  Britt's numbers are staggering, but the sight of him on the field against the Big East Cornerbacks (especially last season) was something truly special.  He ran over, around, and through defenses on his way to a 1300+ yard season.  The second spot was not as easy to pick, but I think that Tres Moses would be the guy to start opposite Britt.  Tiquan Underwood's stats are a little bit better than Moses' but those came over a 4 year career.  In 2 years at Rutgers Moses racked up 126 catches for 1,814 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Moses was also valuable as a returner (though he did muff a punt which resulted in a damaging loss to UConn in 2004) .  And if that's not enough, I got to take a picture with him on the field after RU upset Pitt....check and mate.  Others considered:  Tiquan Underwood, Shawn Tucker, Tim Brown.

OL- Davis, Stapleton, Sosa, Stephenson, Zuttah

I mean, just give me all the guys who blocked for Ray-Ray.  You don't get 2,000+ yards in a season, and close to 5,000 over a 3 year span without the big hog-mollies up front doing some serious work in the trenches.  This might be the most difficult position to judge, since not hearing your name called during a football telecast is a good thing as an offensive lineman.  Others considered:  Mike Fladell, John Glass Jr.

TE-  LJ Smith

Even though his statistics aren't as great as Clark Harris', and he played a full 4 years (compared to Harris' 3 seasons), Smith is the pick here.  Do you remember how truly awful RU was in the early 2000's?  Here's the 3 quaterbacks who threw to him in this decade:  McMahon, Cubit, and Trump.  Not exactly the caliber of Hart and Teel who Harris had throwing to him.  Even without the most eye-popping stats, the other coaches took notice and voted Smith to the All-Big East team in both his junior and senior seasons.  He finished his RU career with 122 receptions for 1458 yards and 10 touchdowns.  Others considered:  Clark Harris

I'll be back in the next day or so with the picks for the defense and special teams.