Of the 25 Canton-eligible, post-merger defenders who were

Did everyone enjoy their NASCAR-off weekend? Yes? Great. (This is part where all of the Xfinity teams who are still draining the rainwater out of their roll cages are saying, What off weekend, jerk?)I spent my two days off already dreaming of two days on that are still three weeks away from now: the Southern 500 and second annual Darlington Raceway Throwback weekend. This years throwback theme focuses on the era of 1975-84, that crucible of a decade in time that dared to mix old-school vets including?Richard Petty and David Pearson with brash youngsters such as Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip.Last years event was brilliant. The best part of it all was the long line of throwback paint schemes being used by todays stars. The guys who inexplicably chose not to participate (Im looking at you,?Jeff Gordon) ended up feeling like that one dude who thought he was too cool to wear a tux to prom and wound up looking like the kitchen help.One year ago, I wrote a piece offering up some last-minute suggestions for any teams wanting to throw their old trucker hats into the oval, pointing out throwback paint schemes we wouldnt see at Darlington but I thought we should.This year, because Im a good guy, Im doing it again. So, race teams, take notes and grab a bucket of paint. Theres still time to get on board. You can thank me at the racetrack over Labor Day weekend. Ill be the dude dressed like Chris Economaki.10. Jamie McMurray in the No. 1 UNO ChevyUNO-sponsored cars ran the gamut for General Motors, from Oldsmobiles to Buicks to Chevys. They were owned by Hoss Ellington and driven by the likes of Buddy Baker, Lake Speed, Tim Richmond and Kyle Petty. Yes, this is the card game UNO. I mean, really, does it get more early 1980s than playing a game of UNO? No! So get this paint scheme off the Discard pile!9. Or ... Jamie McMurray in the No. 1 Hawaiian Tropic ChevyIf family card games arent your thing, then we could go with Ellingtons more famous sponsor: Hawaiian Tropic suntan lotions. Even if this car doesnt run the Southern 500, a team could still paint one up and then have Terry Bradshaw drive it into a motel swimming pool. Thats ... thats ... thats ... p-p-p-p-perfect.8. Matt DiBenedetto in the No. 82 Cougar Coal ToyotaOK, I know BK Racing runs No.83, but it will be the closest on the Darlington entry list to 82. OK, I have zero recollection of the paint scheme that Ferrell Harris used on his Dodge back in 1975-80. And OK, I dont even remember Ferrell Harris. But I have this picture in my mind of the prerace grid and photographers snapping shots of the Cougar Coal car surrounded by a dozen lascivious 40-something women holding chunks of coal in one hand and inappropriately squeezing 25-year-old DiBenedetto with the other.7. Chris Buescher in the No. 72 Kings Row Fireplace FordWhy this pairing? Because of the joint Front Row Motorsports/Roush Fenway Racing all-hands-on-deck repair efforts at Watkins Glen, all to get back out and snatch up only a few points toward making the Chase. It reminded me so much of the multiteam scramble to get Benny Parsons destroyed ride back out onto the track at the 1972 season finale at Rockingham. Their efforts won BP and his low-budget DeWitt Racing team the Winston Cup title over big-money headliner Cale Yarborough.6. Jimmie Johnson in the No. 49 Brewster Baker ChevyYeah, yeah, I know Johnson has already unveiled his Darlington ride, a tribute to Dale Earnhardts 1979 rookie of the year ride with Rod Osterlund. But its no secret that Johnson loves the 1982 movie Six Pack. Plus, the fitness nut has an actual six pack. Plus, he has also been known to drink an entire six pack. Plus, he owns a six pack of Cup titles, even using #SixPack as a hashtag during his chase for that sixth championship. Plus, he can grow a full beard in like four days -- so as to pay full tribute to Kenny Rogers. Maybe we can coax Diane Lane out to the track? Please?5. Kyle Larson in the No. 42 7-Eleven ChevyKyle Petty ran with the 7-Eleven colors in the mid-1980s. If Im being totally honest with you, this is just a shameless ploy to get Larson to wear that awesome Kyle Petty afro wig he had on with the Mello Yello car last year.4. Matt Kenseth in the Dave Marcis TributeKenseth will unveil his retro Darlington scheme on Tuesday, but why not pay tribute to his fellow Wisconsinite? Marcis was a Cup Series title contender in the mid-1970s but by 1984 was on his way to becoming The Last of the Independents. During one of NASCARs longest careers, he ran a countless number of sponsors on the hood, including a whopping 35 between 1975-84. But he started that era in the orangest car of all time: the K&K Insurance machine of Nord Krauskopf. So, combine his two biggest backers of that era by painting the car really, really orange and then slapping a Shoneys Big Boy on the hood. And hey Matty, dont forget to wear the wingtip shoes.3. The Chaw SpecialWe could fill an entire starting grid with the paint schemes of chewing tobacco sponsors, but instead, just run them all on one car as if it were a brown juice-stained quilt. The Chattanooga Chew/Copenhagen/Levi Garrett/Skoal/Skoal Bandits ride. But wed also have to run a second car, wallpapered with nothing more than one giant surgeon generals warning.2. Paul Menard in the No. 27 Old Milwaukee ChevyI do like Menards Valvoline Al Unser Jr. tribute, but if youre going to run a car with 27 on the door in a race honoring the early 1980s, you gotta go full Tim Richmond, right? Then again, perhaps Rick Hendrick is already thinking about something honoring his 86 Southern 500 win with Richmond next year. Hmm...1. Anyone, I mean anyone, in the Cale Yarborough No. 28 Hardees ChevyNo car was badder, brighter or faster than Cales orange-and-white Harry Ranier Hardees machine, which won nine races running a part-time schedule from 1980-85. Every kids toy box in the southeast was full of 25-cent Cale cars you got with the purchase of a cheeseburger. Heck, this car was on The Dukes of Hazzard! Yet no one is running these colors during a 1975-84 throwback weekend? Speedy McGreedy would be ashamed. Teams, you have three weeks to fix this. So do it. Sonny Jurgensen Redskins Jersey . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Wes Martin Youth Jersey . Galatasaray said in a statement on its website Monday that Mancini signed a three-year contract and will be paid 3.5 million euros for the upcoming season, with his salary upped to 4. https://www.redskinssportsgoods.com/Womens-Sam-Huff-Inverted-Jersey/ . Burris threw two TD passes, including a key 15-yard fourth-quarter strike to Bakari Grant that effectively countered a Toronto comeback bid and led Hamilton to a 33-19 victory. Wes Martin Womens Jersey . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Sonny Jurgensen Jersey . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. The NFL can seem like a world dominated by quarterbacks, but did you notice who won the Super Bowl last season? It was the Broncos, who had Peyton Manning in name alone; the future Hall of Famer threw nearly twice as many interceptions (17) as touchdowns (nine). The Broncos were led to that Super Bowl by their defense, which dominated the regular season and held three of the leagues best offenses to a combined 44 points in the playoffs.The centerpiece of that defense: star pass rusher Von Miller, who piled up five sacks in three games and was named Super Bowl MVP. If Miller was the best defender in the postseason, the best defensive player of the 2015 regular season was otherworldly Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, who led the league in sacks (17.5) and quarterback hurries (50). In addition to serving as helpful ambulatory examples of the word disruptive, Watt and Miller have something else in common: They were both taken in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft.We have a ways to go, but we may very well be watching the prime years of the best defensive draft class to ever play the game.The 2011 class did deliver a certain MVP named Cam Newton, but the vast majority of the drafts output has been from the other side of the line of scrimmage. In fact, forming a starting lineup from that 2011 class produces a terrifying defense. If you line them up in a 4-3, you can go with Watt at one defensive end spot across from the Rams Robert Quinn, who had a 19-sack season as recently as 2013. Jets end Muhammad Wilkerson would kick inside to play tackle alongside massive Bills nose tackle Marcell Dareus, forming a devastating two-way front four.Now consider the back end. The AFC West came away from the 2011 draft with a pair of terrors at outside linebacker. We can slot Miller alongside Chiefs star Justin Houston, who has averaged more than one sack per game over the past three seasons. The interior isnt quite as laden with talent, but we can move Seahawks cover linebacker K.J. Wright into the middle.Throwing on this team? Good luck. Our cornerbacks are an NFC West tandem; Arizonas Patrick Peterson and Seattles Richard Sherman are both capable of shutting down top talent. The lone weak spot comes at safety, where the likes of DaNorris Searcy and Chris Conte would be competing for starting reps. But thats not much of a complaint.The scariest thing, perhaps, is the players I havent named who narrowly miss out on this team. Chris Harris was an undrafted free agent in 2011 before turning into a perennial Pro Bowl corner in Denver. Jimmy Smith, Byron Maxwell and Buster Skrine could easily step in as nickel corners. Aldon Smith was as dominant a pass rusher as there was in the league before his career unraveled.dddddddddddd Ryan Kerrigan and Pernell McPhee are dominant at their best, as is defensive tackle Jurrell Casey. Cameron Jordan has made two Pro Bowls and cant even sniff this team. The talent level in this class is unreal. It is already historic.What can rival it? The best defensive draft in post-merger NFL history is almost definitely the class of 1981, which produced five Hall of Famers on the defensive side of the ball: Lawrence Taylor, Ronnie Lott, Howie Long, Mike Singletary and Rickey Jackson.That 81 class made 15 first-team All-Pro appearances through its first five seasons in the league, a staggering number. The defenders of 2011? They have 16 All-Pro appearances in their first five seasons. Watt, Peterson, Sherman and Miller have been awarded the honor multiple times. The offensive players from that same draft have combined for just four All-Pro appearances over that span.Can the class of 2011 live up to the lofty heights of 1981 and send five defenders to Canton? Its not out of the question. Watt faces some injury concerns, but hes probably already done enough to justify enshrinement. Every eligible two-time defensive player of the year has made it to the Hall of Fame, and Watt has already won the award three times.The same logic also suggests that Peterson and Sherman have already done enough to get in. Of the 25 Canton-eligible, post-merger defenders who were named first-team All-Pros three times during their careers, 16 (64 percent) made the Hall of Fame. Both NFC West cornerbacks have done that before the sixth year of their respective careers. Miller, who has racked up the same honor two times, is knocking on the door. The fifth Hall of Famer isnt quite as clear, but with Dareus (when not suspended), Houston and Quinn all regularly producing dominant seasons, there are reasons to be optimistic.You can make the case that this is an offensive era. Enlightened by college football, its a pass-heavy league with tempo everywhere. Offenses averaged 22.8 points per game last year, the fifth-highest figure in NFL history.But ... Denvers run to the Super Bowl with some of the leagues worst quarterback play tells us again just how impactful a team with several star defenders can be. Offenses are better-schemed and better-coached than ever, but a great defense can still rip their plan to shreds. And the class of 2011 has delivered more world-class, game-changing, opponent-destroying defenders than any other draft in 30 years. ' ' '