Football is back! Here’s a list compiling all-time offensive greats featuring the best of the best to ever suit up on gridirons across the West Coast. In a simulation universe, these guys put together would probably be good enough to win every game on their team’s galactic schedule, before randomly losing to Eli Manning and the 8-8 New York Giants in the season finale. 

Editor’s Note: This is the first article of a two-part retrospective on the NFC West. A second edition featuring defensive players will be released shortly.

QB: Steve Young, San Francisco 49ers (1987-1999)

Honorable Mentions: Joe Montana, Kurt Warner, Russell Wilson

While the legendary Montana might be the favorite in most cases, the Brigham Young University lefty who took his reins into a new decade thrusted Bill Walsh’s 49er offense to soaring heights. Young commandeered the West Coast aerial attack with such transcendent accuracy that it served as a precursor for the short darts and quick backfield reads that Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy currently employ to breeze past modern defenses. Young topped the league in completion percentage over five seasons, sported the highest passer rating for six, and in 1994, finally got the monkey off his back, tossing 6 touchdowns en route to Super Bowl MVP honors in a 49-26 drubbing of the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX.

FB: Larry Centers, Phoenix Cardinals (1990-1998)

Honorable Mentions: Tom Rathman, Kyle Juszczyk

In a modern football landscape where the fullback position over the years is seemingly left with a vestigial reputation at best, it might come as a surprise that the NFL’s all-time leading receiver from the running back position remains fullback Larry Centers, who racked up over 800 receptions over a prolific near decade long tenure wearing Cardinal red. In 1996, Centers garnered 99 receptions, and two years later, helped lead the Cardinals to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years, catching a touchdown pass from Jake Plummer to eliminate the three-time champion Cowboys in the Cardinals’ first-ever road playoff win.

RB: Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks (2010-2015, 2019)

Honorable Mentions: Roger Craig, OJ Anderson, Frank Gore, Shawn Alexander

For a generation of young Seattleites, Marshawn Lynch’s “beast-quakes” and thunderous strikes inspired a long-moribund franchise. His runs struck terror in opposing linebackers and safeties, aided no doubt by Lynch’s propensity to mercilessly stiff arm not one, not two, but however many defenders he needed to carry along with him to the endzone. Maybe they thought he’d have some Skittles to share, but he never did. He’d stroll past a fired up Coach Carroll working on a mouthful of gum, congratulate the team, perch up on the bench, feast, and wait to do it all over again.

WR: Jerry Rice, San Francisco 49ers (1985-2000)

Honorable Mentions: Torry Holt, Larry Fitzgerald, Isaac Bruce, Steve Largent, Terrell Owens

If someone could earn a PhD in football, it would be Jerry Rice. In 1987, the Mississippi Valley State star scored 22 touchdowns in a strike shortened 12 game NFL season. Fifteen years later, he caught five passes for 77 yards and a score in Super Bowl XXXVII, reflecting a career of ultimate resilience paired with production never again to be replicated. Perhaps the most underrated aspect of his career, though? Switching from catching Joe Montana’s righty spirals to Steve Young’s lefty ones smack dab in the middle of his career and not missing a beat. Come on, now. It’s Jerry Rice, the best to ever catch ‘em.

TE: Dwight Clark, San Francisco 49ers (1979-1987)

Honorable Mentions: Jimmy Graham, George Kittle

Dwight Clark wasn’t exactly destined to become a 49er household name. He ended up at Clemson University after saying goodbye to his basketball dreams and had a chance meeting with San Francisco 49er head coach Bill Walsh, a meeting that took his professional football career from up in the air to the back corner of Candlestick Park on Jan. 10, 1982. That day, Joe Montana hoisted an endzone prayer over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-9-inch Dallas Cowboy Ed “Too Tall” Jones. Not tall enough, though, as Dwight Clark soared into the San Francisco fog to snare it, sending the 49ers to Super Bowl XVI. That win sparked into existence the team of the 1980s and inspired a new generation of young Niner fans in attendance that day, including a kid named Tom Brady.

LT: Walter Jones, Seattle Seahawks (1997-2009)

Honorable Mentions: Orlando Pace, Trent Williams

For an offensive lineman, the one thing that you try to avoid is screen time — that fateful camera pan after a flag that negates a huge gain for your offense. In over a decade of holding down Seattle’s trenches, Jones netted only nine holding calls — an impossibly incredible feat — speaking to his tremendous work ethic and Seahawk spirit. This consistency led to nine Pro Bowls and helped running back Shawn Alexander run for nearly 10,000 yards in his storied career. The day after he retired, Aug. 30, was named Walter Jones Day in the state of Washington.

LG: Tom Mack, Los Angeles Rams (1966-1978)

Honorable Mention: Steve Hutchinson

Tom Mack trained as an engineer at the University of Michigan but found work in the trenches on the Rams’ offensive line. In Los Angeles, Mack blocked with Jackie Slater, practiced against Jack Youngblood and Merlin Olsen, and for over 12 seasons, never missed a game. Were it not for a faulty call in the 1974 NFC Championship, Mack would have earned a Super Bowl ring to add to his 11 Pro Bowl selections and eight division titles. He retired in 1978, one season before the Rams finally made it to the Super Bowl.

C: Randy Cross, San Francisco 49ers (1976-1988)

Honorable Mention: Dan Dierdorf, Kevin Mawae

Dennis Cross was just a teenager when he joined the Marines and battled in Guadalcanal, but his son, Randy Cross, saw action at center on the UCLA team that won the 1976 Rose Bowl over the previously undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes. He made the Bruin Hall of Fame and remained in the Golden State, earning three All-Pro nods and anchoring a dominant 49er offensive line that, in 1986, saw Roger Craig become the first running back in NFL history to achieve 1,000 yards on the ground and through the air. Cross flattened defenders on the way to three Super Bowl rings, and in his final game, threw his last block, helping Joe Montana hit John Taylor for the touchdown strike that won Super Bowl XXII.

RG: Woody Peoples (1968-1977), San Francisco 49ers

Honorable Mention: Guy McIntyre

Woody Peoples took a circuitous route to becoming a pillar of the San Francisco offensive line in the 1970s. Undrafted out of Grambling in 1965, Peoples made two Pro Bowls and helped instill a toughness in a 49er offensive line steadily paving the West Coast offense towards the dynasty it would forge in the ensuing decade.

RT: Jackie Slater, St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (1976-1995)

Honorable Mention: Bob St. Clair

For nearly a quarter of a century, football’s most unstoppable object was found in the Rams’ formidable Jackie Slater. The Jackson State tackle blocked in front of Walter Payton in their college years before staving off NFL rushers for 19 seasons, earning seven Pro Bowl selections and, in 1979, a shot at a Super Bowl title against a Pittsburgh Steeler juggernaut. His son, Matthew, earned three rings with the New England Patriots, the last of which was a defensive classic in Super Bowl LIII against the Rams.